Nusa Penida is where Bali’s diving gets serious. Manta rays cruise past cleaning stations year-round. From July to November, the Great Sunfish (Mola Ramsayi) rise from the deep into diveable depth at sites you can reach in minutes from shore. The reef walls drop into blue water alive with sharks, turtles, and coral diversity that ranks among the best in the Coral Triangle.
Our PADI 5-Star centre is on the quieter north-east coast, away from the busy north-west strip. We’re in Batumulapan, and our partner hotels are a short walk away. Most Nusa Penida diving runs as day trips from Sanur, 45 minutes by fast boat each way. Stay on the island and you dive earlier, often before the day-trip boats arrive, and reach north and east coast sites that a day trip can’t fit in.
We work with a few partner hotels, such as La Roja Bungalows, a quiet garden property around an outdoor pool, with breakfast included. The longer you stay, the more dives you get at the manta and mola sites. There are no more than 4 divers per guide, and Discover Scuba and Open Water are capped at 2 students per instructor.
We run PADI courses from Discover Scuba and Open Water through Advanced, Rescue and Specialty, plus Divemaster Internships, the IDC and Instructor Internships.
La Roja and our other partner hotels · Dive & Stay packages and prices
La Roja is one of our partner hotels in Nusa Penida, a quiet garden property within walking distance of our dive centre in Batumulapan. Walk to the boat in the morning and back to the pool after diving, with no fast-boat crossing at either end of the day.
Superior Garden Room from IDR 625,000 per room per night (January to March), breakfast included. Dive & Stay at La Roja from IDR 4,587,000 per person for 3 nights with 4 dives (January to March), two sharing.
Also a short walk away: Alana Hotel on the beachfront, and Favourit Villas and Spa.
See La Roja and our other partners · See Dive & Stay packages
Nusa Penida is one of the best places on earth to dive with manta rays — cruising the cleaning stations year-round — and the oceanic mola mola, the giant sunfish that rises from the deep in season; it is also one of the last parts of Bali that still feels wild. Rugged limestone cliffs drop hundreds of metres to the ocean. Kelingking Beach and Broken Beach draw visitors from across the world for the views alone. Away from the tourist spots, the island is quiet — Hindu temples tucked into hillsides, village warungs serving nasi campur for 25,000 rupiah, and mornings so still you can hear the fishing boats heading out before dawn.
The island sits within the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area — home to 298 documented coral species and 576 fish species. The nutrient-rich Indonesian Throughflow, one of the most significant ocean current systems on earth, feeds the reef here and brings deep-water species to diveable depths. That’s why the marine life is richer and more varied than most of mainland Bali — and why manta rays and Mola are drawn to these waters.
Staying on the island means you’re part of this, not just passing through. You’ll eat where the dive guides eat, watch the sun set from the beach in front of the dive centre, and wake up to mornings that feel genuinely different from the Bali most visitors see.
Manta rays year-round, Mola Jul–Nov. Our on-island base means more chances than a day-trip ever could.
Manta Point at 15m, suitable even for newly certified divers. Will you see one Manta or twenty, it could be either.
The Nusa Penida MPA — 298 coral species, 576 fish species. Dive with a responsible operator.
If you do decide to learn here, the currents are exactly why we cap Discover Scuba and Open Water at two students to one instructor. As Steve, our Bali Director, puts it, you can’t have more guests than you have hands.
Most Nusa Penida diving is run as day trips from Sanur. Those boats arrive around 9:30–10am. We’re already in the water by 8am — diving Manta Point or Crystal Bay with just your group, before the fleet shows up.
Being based on the island means:
Below is a sample schedule, we choose sites based on conditions, dive experience and guest wish-lists.
Fast boat from Sanur (45 minutes). We meet you at the harbour and bring you to Batununggul, where the dive centre and your accommodation are within walking distance. Afternoon: set up your gear, explore the village, or take a dip in the pool.
Up early, coffee at the centre, and on the boat by 8am. First dive at Manta Point — mantas circling the cleaning station in the quiet before the day-trip boats arrive. Surface interval with snacks and stories on the boat. Second dive at Toyapakeh — one of the richest reefs in the area, with turtles, Napoleon wrasse, and schools of fusiliers. Back for lunch. Afternoon free, or add a third dive if tides allow.
If it's Mola season, Crystal Bay is the target — cold thermocline water rising from the deep, and the ocean sunfish with it. Outside season, Crystal Bay is still a stunning dive: pristine hard corals, turtles, and visibility that can reach 40 metres. Second dive at a site matched to your experience level. Log your dives with the guide, compare finds over fish-ID books, and plan tomorrow.
Three partner hotels, all a short walk from the dive centre: La Roja Bungalows, Favourit Villas and Spa, and Alana Hotel. Every hotel has a pool, rooms have A/C and hot water, and breakfast is included.
See the partner hotels →Morning dives and accommodation:
From IDR 1,825,000 for 2 Dives
From IDR 500,000 per night inc. B/Fast
We dive year-round. Manta rays every month. Mola season: July–November (peak Aug–Oct). Water warmest Dec–Jun (27–29°C).
See more about diving →15+ sites from world-class walls to gentle reefs — Manta Point, Crystal Bay, Toyapakeh, and hidden north coast gems. All within minutes by boat.
Explore our dive sites →Full PADI pathway from your first breath underwater to instructor. Learn on real reefs teeming with life, not in a pool.
See courses on Penida →Fast boats from Sanur run daily (about 45 min). We handle harbour pickups and all transfers.
Plan your journey →Nusa Penida is big-water diving — drift dives with mantas, mola mola in season, and dramatic walls in serious currents. Amed, a short boat-and-road hop away, is the polar opposite: calm shore diving on the famous Liberty wreck, easy macro reefs, and sunrise dives off the beach. The contrast between the two is one of Bali’s great combinations.
Our Bali Explorer Safari packages combine both locations — 3 nights Amed + 4 nights Penida, with all transfers included.
See the safari →
Add Manado — Fly Bali → Manado and continue with the walls and turtles of Bunaken, the muck diving of Lembeh, or both. We coordinate the full trip across locations.
Explore Manado diving →
Your loyalty points carry across all 5 locations. Every 10 dives across our centers earns you 10pts that you can redeem for a free dive at any Two Fish centre.
