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Diving with manta rays off Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida

Manta Point is one of the most reliable places in the world to see them. Here’s how to get there without the day-trip crowds.

Nusa Penida is a 40-minute boat ride from Sanur, but most visitors see it on a frantic day trip: a speedboat, a minibus, three viewpoints and back. Stay a few nights instead and the island is yours, and so is the water.

Manta Point, off the south-west coast, is a cleaning station where reef manta rays come to have parasites picked off by smaller fish. They are there almost all year. We saw nine on one dive, some over four metres across, circling slowly just above us. Snorkellers see them too.

Before you book

The currents around Penida are strong and cold (the water can drop to 18°C from July to October, when mola mola arrive). Dive with an operator who briefs you properly, and have at least 20 logged dives for the drift sites.