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scuba diving in Indonesia

Welcome to the centre of marine life bio diversity. Following is information on diving Indonesia's spectacular underwater world and the marine life that you can expect to see. Visit the live aboard dive procedures & education page for more information.

an overview on diving indonesia

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic state, is spread in a wide arc, more than 5000 km long, from mainland Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea. It has at least 80,000 km of coastline with a staggering 3.1 million square kilometres of tropical seas.

Scuba diving in Indonesia is the dream of tropical diving, a low density of divers, warm water, stunning coral, swarms of colourful reef fish along dramatic underwater profiles, crystal visibility and endless processions of marine life. Water temperatures range from 20 to 32°C (72 - 84°F)

Liveaboard scuba diving is a relatively new addition to the Indonesian archipelago so opportunities for real adventure diving abound.

scuba diving conditions

Indonesia offers world-class scuba diving for all levels of divers. Kararu's liveaboard itineraries incorporate a broad range of dive sites to satisfy all types of scuba divers wishes.

seasons

Indonesia has two main seasons, the dry and rainy season. In most regions of Indonesia, the dry season falls broadly between the months of May and November while the rainy season is from December to April. Moving further East, Kararu's schedules are carefully selected to dive during the best seasons in each location. A fantastic way to experience entirely different scuba diving in the Komodo National Park region would be to dive it in both seasons.

water temperature

Water temperatures in Indonesia are very warm by global standards but can fall to 23°C (mid-70°F) and especially in the Komodo National Park area, cold water upwellings can bring temperatures down even further.

current patterns

Indonesia has incredibly complex current patterns that are even more difficult to predict. Tidal range is only 1 - 3 meters in most areas, however, it is the passage of the tide through more than 13,000 islands in the nation that create the unpredictably strange currents.

Combine this with the equatorial convergence of wind and weather patterns from both the northern and southern hemispheres, and the deep oceanic currents of both the Pacific and Indian oceans and the result is current patterns that affect the diving of Indonesia.

During Kararu Dive Voyages liveaboard trips, dive sites are carefully selected, checked and briefed using our vast knowledge of the region so currents should not pose problems.

marine life

The incredible variety of Indonesia's marine life has the highest fish and coral species count on the planet. Indonesia's reefs are a spiral of colour alive with marine bio diversity.

At the macro end of the scale are pigmy seahorses, bobtail squid, blennies, gobies, basslets and dottybacks to name a few.

Equally common are damselfish, clownfish, anemonefish, cardinalfish, butterflyfish, wrasse, parrotfish, angelfish, triggerfish,snappers, surgeonfish, unicornfish, jacks and trevallies.

At the big end of the spectrum are bumphead parrotfish, napoleon wrasse and giant groupers, sharks, rays, tuna, barracuda, mackerel, the mythical molamola (a huge ocean-dwelling fish that makes an occasional visit to the reefs), mantas, eagle rays, and giant morays.

On the bizarre side, frogfish, leaf scorpionfish, inimicus, rhinopias, stonefish, pegasus seamoths, mushroom coral pipefish, mimic octupus and wonderpus to name a few.

Marine mammals such as dugongs, dolphins, and whales. Others include turtles, seasnakes and perhaps a swimming Komodo Dragon!

Indonesia's colourful corals are extremely varied with Gorgonian sea fans, Tubastea, and an endless diversity of coral species both soft and hard. Sponges, anemones and bright hued algae all add to the riot of form and colour typical of the Indonesian reef.
see the underwater photography gallery for marine life