Bali Mola mola photos - Sunfish pictures.

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Bali in recent years has been better known as a tropical paradise and an idyllic honeymoon destination with it’s year round cooling breezes and warm, but not hot, climate it’s been a tourist mecca for decades. Recently though, Bali and diving, are words you hear together in the same sentence more and more often and for very good reason. Macro to massive, Bali has it all and, surprisingly, is one of South East Asia’s less dived spots for some unknown reason. Off the corner of a sloping reef next to Lembongan and Nusa Penida islands is the ominous sounding Jurassic park, sometimes called blue corner. Strap yourself in tight kids and pack a change of undies because this name is meant to put off the more conservative of you, this is not a dive for the faint hearted. The rocky slope descends from the shallows to a wall at 18 metres that leads to a massive underwater trench. Drop up current with a negative descent and swim like hell for the wall. Flip yourself over the edge of the wall and it all stops. The temperature drops 9 degrees, the current disappears and the visibility bangs out to 40 metres plus. Hanging there trying to get your breath back and panting like an asthmatic marathon runner you wonder what you’ve got yourself into. Then you realise you are not alone. Big blobby football looking things with wings are hanging near you just off the wall in the blue. Mola mola, a name to excite even the most jaded of been there done that’s. They are huge, docile, placid and just so damn cool looking. No one seems to have definitive answer as to why they come here to this point every year, but they do and so should you!
Max. Depth: 50+m
Visibility: 20-40+m
Level of Experience: Experienced only
Most Photogenic Critter: Oceanic sunfish (Mola mola)
How to Get There: Fly to Bali’s Denpasar Airport; from there it’s you can access the island of Nusa Penida off Bali’s east coast by speedboat in about 40 minutes or take a daily ferry to the island and stay on site.
Best Time to Dive: All year but for Molas Mid August to mid October
Tips: Streamline your gear, jump up current if possible and kick real hard for the wall!! Dress for 17 degree water and take a really wide angle lens.
Best of the Rest: Manta point (err..mantas) Crystal bay(another possible mola site, not so advanced-not such a strong current)

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