This is a new dive site for muckdiving lying a couple kilometers west of Seririt (near to the Zen Hotel). It can be reached either from Lovina or Permuteran. There are no dive facilities on place, but a small Warung which supplies a tarp and fresh water to rinse your equipment. There is also a small river close by where you can take a dip.
Muck DivingBali Dives
You will dive from the beach on very fine gray volcanic sand and some seaweed similar to Seraya, Gilimanuk or Lembeh. First you swim out in shallow water - look closely, there are snails, slugs and seahares and we even found a small while frogfish (probably A. striatus) among the seaweed on one of our dives. Soon you reach a large flat area with sea grass. We will found more than half a dozen coconut octopuses, hiding in burrows made with shells and pieces of rubbish. On this flat area (6-10m) you also find seahorses, several types of eels, flying gunard and with good eyes some hidden scorpionfishes, mostly lionfishes but also the rare Ambon scopionfish and on one dive we even saw a stargazer by day.
Towards the west there is also a deeper are, mostly just sand with some fields of broccoli corals and a occasional hydroid bush. If you want to spend some time here you have to swim straight away here from the beach and visit the shallow parts later, because you want to go get quite deep, up to 30 meters or so. You will found three ghostpipefishes among the broccoli corals and interesting slugs and several gunard lionfishes.
Conditions in Puri Jati were varied, on one dive we had a lot of current (change of tides) and if there are waves, visibility drops a bit and in the shallower parts it is difficult to make any photos, because you get thrown about a bit. With luck you can also see larger fish, we saw a group of mackerels and some large groupers and the usual mullets.
Puri Jati west: Along the beach a small road goes west for a short stretch. We will made an explorer dive here to see if there was anything interesting to find. The flat plateau is here not so extensive but abruptly stops and forms a steep slope, probably the continuation of the slope east of it. Not much grows here, but there is rubbish all over. Mainly wood and bamboo, but also old clothing, plastic and cans - thi is real muckdiving!
It is always astonishing what can be found even in places like this - from small slugs to 2 species of ghostpipefishes (Solenostomus cyanopterus and Solenostomus leptosomus) and crabs.
Conditions on this dive sites are not so good. The sand here is very fine, mixed in with pieces of rotten wood and the slightest movement worsens visibility.we would no suggest to dive here if the current or the swell is strong, it would probably be impossible to see anything.
Diving Rates in Puri Jati
2 dives in this area will cost US$ 80 per pax includes transport from your hotels in Lovina to the Dive Sites, Lunch box, Soft drinks, Dive Guide, and Equipment. Please visit: http://balidivingcentre.co.cc/
