Diving on Nusa Lembongan: your questions answered

Send a message on WhatsApp or email and the team will confirm your dates and course from there. Most fun dives and Discover Scuba Diving sessions can be arranged a day ahead, but PADI courses and the Divemaster programme fill up faster in peak months, so book those earlier. Check the price list first so you know exactly what to ask for.

Every course and fun dive includes equipment other than your own dive computer, the boat trip, an instructor or divemaster, and water, coffee, tea and a lunch box on the boat. Courses also include the PADI certification fee. The price list breaks down exactly what's in each package.

The PADI Open Water course costs 6,500,000 IDR and usually takes 2 to 3 days. That covers e-learning, pool sessions, two days of ocean training dives, equipment and your certification fee. See the Open Water course page for the full day-by-day plan.

Yes. Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses get 5% off when two people book together, and pairs enrolling for Divemaster should ask the team directly for a rate. Mention it when you message to book so the discount is applied from the start.

Yes. Sober Diving Center accepts cash, credit and debit cards, and bank transfer, including Wise and Revolut for guests paying from overseas. There's no need to arrive with all your rupiah in cash.

Yes, ask the team for a discounted per-dive rate once you pass six fun dives with them. It helps to mention your planned length of stay when you book so the price reflects the whole trip rather than just the first day. See the fun diving page for the standard per-dive rates.

The main things left out are your own dive computer, which rents for 150,000 IDR a day if you need one, and, for the Divemaster course, accommodation and the PADI application and membership fee. Check the Divemaster page and price list for the exclusions on each course.

Sober Diving Center sits on the main road through Jungut Batu, Nusa Lembongan, about one minute's walk from the beach and five minutes from Jungut Batu harbour by bike or car. Getting to Nusa Lembongan covers the full trip over from mainland Bali.

The fast boat from Sanur takes about 30 minutes, and there's also a crossing from Kusamba harbour in east Bali. The team can help book your boat tickets once your dates are set. Getting to Nusa Lembongan has the full range of options.

There are pool-view guesthouse rooms right next door to the centre, and the team is happy to recommend nearby hotels and resorts too. Staying close to Jungut Batu keeps you a short walk from the boat each morning. See Where to stay for the areas that work best.

Yes, there are pool-view guesthouse rooms next door to the centre. Contact the team for current availability and rates alongside your diving booking.

Base yourself on Lembongan and dive Nusa Penida's sites by boat. Most of the standout diving, including Manta Point, Crystal Bay and Blue Corner, sits around Penida, while Lembongan has calmer beaches, easier ferry access and more places to stay. Nusa Lembongan vs Nusa Penida sets out the full comparison.

Boat times run from about 5 to 30 minutes depending on the site, using the centre's own 15-seat speedboats. Shorter crossings mean more time in the water and less time getting there. Each dive site page lists the boat time from the centre.

Yes, non-divers are welcome to join the boat for the day. Mention it when you book so the crew can plan space and lunch for everyone. It's also a good way to see a site before booking your own Discover Scuba Diving session.

Yes. Discover Scuba Diving is built for exactly this, with your instructor staying beside you through the pool session and the ocean dive that follows. You don't need strong swimming skills, just reasonable comfort in the water.

No. Discover Scuba Diving lets you dive under close instructor supervision with no certification at all, down to a shallow, controlled depth. If you want to dive independently with a buddy afterwards, Open Water is the course for that. Read Diving without certification in Bali for how the uncertified option works day to day.

Courses run from Discover Scuba Diving for complete beginners through Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and Emergency First Response, up to the professional-level Divemaster course. Specialty courses such as Nitrox, Deep and Sidemount sit alongside these for certified divers who want to go further.

Groups stay small. Fun dives run at a maximum of four divers to one guide, and courses are usually taught at a ratio of one instructor to one to three students. That's part of why the centre can move at your pace rather than the group's.

Courses are taught in English, Indonesian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and French. Let the team know your preferred language when you book so they can match you with the right instructor.

Yes, up to Divemaster level. The Divemaster course is open to certified Rescue Divers with 40 logged dives and runs about four weeks. Instructor-level training isn't currently offered here, so ask the team directly for the latest before planning around it.

The Open Water course usually takes 2 to 3 days, covering e-learning, pool sessions and two days of ocean training dives. It certifies you to dive to 18 metres with a buddy anywhere in the world. See the Open Water course page for the day-by-day breakdown.

Most sites here are drift dives, so you move with the current rather than fighting it, which makes them easier than they sound. If you'd like more confidence in moving water first, the drift diving specialty is worth doing before a site like Crystal Bay. Diving conditions and safety covers what to expect site by site.

The sites around Lembongan and Nusa Penida combine healthy coral, reliable drift diving and genuinely large marine life, from manta rays to mola mola. It's a small area covering a wide range of dive styles, from easy slopes like Ped to walls like Blue Corner.

Crystal Bay is safe when dived with a guide who knows its currents, which can shift quickly and run cold when deeper water wells up through the channel. This is exactly the kind of site where local, experienced guiding earns its keep. Diving Crystal Bay safely goes through what to watch for.

The 120 rule is a simple back-up check for planning a no-decompression dive: add your depth in feet to your planned bottom time in minutes, and keep the total at or under 120. It's a rough guide from before dive computers, useful as a sanity check but never a substitute for the computer you're actually diving with. The 120 rule in diving explains it in more detail.

Yes, full equipment is included in every course and fun dive price other than your own dive computer. All of it is Scubapro, serviced in-house by the centre's own equipment team, so you're not diving on worn-out rental kit.

Both. Sites range from easy, current-light spots suited to newer divers through to walls and drift sites that ask for more experience and comfort in moving water. Your instructor or guide will match the site to your certification and comfort rather than send everyone to the same spot. Dive sites lists the level rated on each one.

Very likely. Manta rays are seen around Nusa Penida all year, most reliably at Manta Point and Manta Bay. The manta ray page has more on which site suits your level.

Mola mola season runs roughly June to October, when cold water upwelling brings them up to Crystal Bay's cleaning stations. Outside those months, sightings are rare, so time your trip for that window if seeing one matters to you. Mola mola season in Bali and the mola mola page go into more detail.

Yes, mostly white tip reef sharks and bamboo sharks, both placid bottom-dwellers that feed on small fish, crustaceans and worms rather than anything that would trouble a diver. Whale sharks, thresher sharks and hammerheads turn up too, though only occasionally, and never as something you can plan a dive around.

Alongside manta rays and mola mola, expect healthy coral, turtles, reef sharks and consistently good fish life on most dives. Occasional surprises like dolphins do show up, though that's exactly what they are, an occasional bonus rather than something to expect.

Only rarely. All three are genuine but occasional sightings here, not something any dive centre can promise, unlike the far more reliable manta rays and mola mola. Guides will tell you honestly what's actually been seen recently rather than oversell the chance.

Yes, particularly for divers. The combination of manta rays, mola mola season and strong, healthy reefs is hard to match elsewhere in Bali, even though the crossing and currents ask a little more of you than a calm house reef would. Nusa Lembongan vs Nusa Penida covers how a trip here typically works.

Both reliably deliver manta sightings, but they suit different divers. Manta Point is deeper and can have surge and current, while Manta Bay is shallow and calmer, often used for Discover Scuba Diving and snorkelling too. Manta Point vs Manta Bay breaks down which fits your certification level.

It's extremely unlikely. The sharks you'll actually come across day to day are white tip reef sharks and small bamboo sharks, both non-aggressive bottom feeders that eat small fish, crustaceans and worms, not divers. Anything larger, like a whale shark or thresher, is a rare, lucky sighting from a distance rather than a close encounter.

You need to be medically fit to dive, and if you answer yes to any question on the standard medical statement used for Open Water, Advanced Open Water and Divemaster, you'll need a doctor's sign-off first. It's worth checking that form before you travel rather than at the counter on day one.

Yes. Both of the centre's speedboats carry emergency oxygen, a first-aid kit, life jackets, a fire extinguisher and a marine radio. That's standard equipment on every trip, not only on courses.

Discover Scuba Diving and Open Water both start from age 10, while Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver start from 12. The Divemaster course requires you to be 18.

Say so when you book. Discover Scuba Diving is taught at your own pace in the pool before you ever reach the ocean, and instructors are used to working with nervous first-timers. Taking longer in the pool first is normal, not a sign you're not cut out for it.

No. Bamboo sharks are small, slow, bottom-dwelling sharks that feed on small fish, crustaceans and worms, and they have no interest in divers. You'll usually find one resting under a ledge rather than approaching you.