Dive Sumbawa

Sangeang Island

Located 45 km north east of Bima in the north east of Sumbawa, Sangeang is a quite spectacular small and active volcanic island. You can easily make out the lava ridges running down its rather steep green sides.

The dive site of Bubble Reef is rather typical for this area, with good visibility, warm waters, and a mixture of soft, hard and black corals. Black featherstars, white stinging hydroids, anemones, leather corals and plate corals are all found in healthy numbers here.

Fish common to the area are red-cheeked fairy basslets, pink anthias and yellow-bellied damsels. Basslets, or anthias, are seen in large congregations in shades of purple, violet, blue, orange, yellow, pink and green, hovering above hard corals. They are small, gregarious fish with forked tails. At the slightest hint of danger they quickly dart to refuge in the coral folds and branches.

At 18m the reef breaks up over dark brown volcanic ash, sandy patches. Look carefully and you'll see volcanic bubbles escaping from the sea bed through air vents. The black sand and fresh water creeks that sometimes overflow into the sea provide ideal muck diving conditions. Pipefish, ornate ghostpipefish, nudibranchs of every conceivable colour, pygmy seahorses and sea moths are resident here and usually found by sharp-eyed dive guides. Sometimes the visibility can be washed out as larger air exchanges disturbed the sediment on the sea floor.

Sangeang Island Reef Basics: Fringing reef with volcanic air vents
Depth: 5 - >30m
Visibility: 10 - 35m
Currents: Easy
Surface conditions: Calm
Water temperature: 24 - 28°C
Experience level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 4
Diving season: March to December
Distance: ~365 km east of Bali (19 hours)
Access: Sumbawa dive liveaboard to Komodo

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