Scuba diving in Candidasa: Padang Bai, the closest dive base

Are you staying in Candidasa and want to dive some of the amazing Bali sites? Why not join us for a few days of scuba diving from Padang Bai? This Balinese village is the most convenient location to dive from for Candidasa holiday-goers, just 20 minutes away from the island's resort town. Candidasa dive operators actually either moor their boats in Padang Bai or rent boats located here. The same commute will be needed when scuba diving with a Candidasa dive centre!

Scuba diving Padang Bai from Candidasa

While a few dive sites are accessible by tiny traditional jukung boats from Candidasa, most dive sites are only reachable via Padang Bai. The reason for this is that there is no pier or any form of mooring available for dive speedboats directly in Candidasa. The few Candidasa dive operators that operate their own dive boats have them moored in Padang Bai harbour. Their guests hop on a bus for the 12Km / 8 miles or 20 minutes journey to Padang Bai.

This village is an easy base to dive from while sleeping at a resort in Candidasa. You can easily leave your hotel around 7:30am, do 2 dives at local Padang Bai scuba sites and be back to your Candidasa hotel by 2:30pm. You can choose to use your own transport or have the Geko Dive Team organise it for you (at a supplement). Please contact Geko Dive Bali by email for a quote for return transport from Candidasa to Padang Bai at the time of booking.

Beginner dive sites close to Candidasa

If you are a dive beginner staying in Sanur, the Geko Dive Team recommends that you join us for a halfday PADI Discover Scuba Diving program with one or two dives at our local Padang Bai diving sites. The other option is to take a 3 days PADI Open Water Dive Course with ocean dives in Padang Bai or Tulamben.

For Open Water certified divers, the Geko Dive Team also recommends diving Padang Bai dive sites from Candidasa with a local operator. At these sites, divers can encounter whitetip reef sharks, turtles, pelagic, schools of tropical fish, nice corals and great macro. Another option is to dive Tulamben's USAT Liberty shipwreck and have the Geko Dive Team pick you up at your Candidasa's hotel lobby on the way to this fabulous diving site.

Learn about the PADI Discover Scuba Diving Program in Padang Bai

Check out the PADI Open Water Diver Course in Padang Bai

Read more about scuba diving in Padang Bai

Have a look at scuba diving Tulamben's USAT Liberty shipwreck from Candidasa

Advanced dive sites near Candidasa

For Advanced Open Water divers and up, there are more great sites available to dive from Padang Bai while staying in Candidasa. These include Manta Point, Nusa Penida North and the Gili Islands of Biaha, Tepekong and Mimpang.

Learn about diving Manta Point from Padang Bai

Check out scuba diving Gili Biaha from Padang Bai

Read about staying in Padang Bai.

Check out Padang Bai as a dive base.

Look at photo galleries from Padangbai.