Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida is Bali's offshore island and one of Indonesia's most thrilling dive destinations, famous worldwide as the best place on Earth to encounter the ocean sunfish (mola mola) from July through October. The island sits at the confluence of upwelling cold water from the deep Lombok Strait, fueling extraordinary marine productivity. Dramatic underwater topography — sheer walls dropping hundreds of metres, submerged pinnacles, and sweeping drift channels — combines with the nutrient-rich current to attract manta rays year-round, schooling fish in vast numbers, and the bizarre mola mola coming up from the deep to be cleaned. Currents here can be powerful and unpredictable, making many sites intermediate to advanced territory.