Diving Blue Corner is on the wish list of many divers around the world. Because it is a great dive site in Bali and because you have good chance to meet here a Mola Mola. Blue Corner dive site is located at the end of Nusa Lembongan, the long thin island just north west of Nusa Penida. Close to Nusa Lembogan surf area, you can sometimes see the local surfers enjoying their rides.
Mola Mola
From Toyapakeh, we need about 15 minutes of navigation to join Nusa Lembongan and cruise along the Mangrove forest. We are a bit further out of the shore than usually. There are different ways to dive Blue Corner. First option is to go along the wall that gives us a point of reference to follow. The second option, and we love it, is to go down in the blue, with a compass as our unique orientation tool.
We can already spot some marble rays, aiming to the same target than us. That target is a massive angled rock, the corner, the entry of the dive site.
We then reach an impressive wall full of life, many bumps where morray eels & big lobsters are present. Those bumps are also overwhelmed by various species of nudibranchs as chromodoris, flabellina & nembrotha. With a bit of luck, splendid giant sea fans offers the possibility to watch pygmy seahorses.
Pygmy seahorse
Once again, we remain focus in the direction of the blue. And we look for thermoclines, these massive amount of water at different temperature that does not mix each other. They create different lays of water with an ecosystem that always seems different.
Crystal clear cold water surrounds the site and offers a specific playground for big pelagic fish : sharks, whit-spotted eagle rays. All of them just enjoying the current. And if we follow the bannerfish in the blue, our dear Mola Mola will appear like by magic. We will then follow on a big plateau to end the dive, where white tip reef sharks are hiding under solid table corals. Also, turtles are just cruising peacefully on this plateau. To know more about the marine fauna in Bali you can read this guide of Nusa Penida diving.
If diving Blue Corner requires good diving skills & experience, we always will have a new story to tell. That makes this dive site absolutely unique, different from any other one.
I had the chance to dive Blue corner for the first time during my Rescue Diver Course with Warnakali. I had heard a lot about that mythical dive site of Nusa Penida. Clearly I couldn’t wait to discover why it is so famous.
Obviously the Rescue course is intense. You learn a lot of skills and you need to show during the two final dives that you can use them. With my buddy, we were super focussed on how to « save » our instructor. But we could not help looking all around the specific blue surrounding us. Water was pretty cold and we reached the thermocline, where some bannerfish seemed like showing us the way.
We took a break in the course for a few minutes : it was a Mola Mola in front of us, motionless, facing the current. We had the chance to admire it for some minutes before it went back to the deep water.
And only then we completed our rescue dive !
turtle blue corner nusa lembongan
I was really looking forward to diving Blue Corner. It is with a mix of excitement, a bit of apprehension but most of all an overwhelming desire that I come on board of the diving boat that day. Finally, I was about to dive a legendary dive site.
We jump in the water, and immediately I am hit by how big this site is. We drift with the current, along the reef. I have to admit I am way more focus on the fauna than the flora, ready to spot the big species of fish that are living here.
It wasn’t pointless, here comes two Mola Mola from deep water. They are not shy and we can admire them for a little while, always keeping good distances, not to frighten them. The current is kicking in and becomes stronger, but we are safely hiding behind a massive rock. That really strategic position allows us to watch the show, impressive schools of fish comes around by thousands of them.
Then, when we ascend and arrive on the plateau, we had the chance to spot some reef sharks and turtles. We are doing our safety stop drifting on the top of this plateau full of life. It was a marvelous dive, far beyond my expectations, etched on my memory. I am so happy to finally have dived such a challenging and famous dive site.
Absolutely delightful !
Type of dive: Drift, photography, marine biology, training, technique, deep
Depth: 10 to 40 meters
Level required: for certified divers
Visibility: 10-30 meters
Current: moderate to strong
Access: 15 minutes navigation
Temperatures: 18 to 30 °
Fauna and Flora: Mola Mola, Ray, turtle, shark, moray eel, macro…
Best time: All year