Best time to visit Bali and the Gili Islands for diving

You can dive in Bali and the Gili Islands all year round. The dry season from April to October is best. Then the east monsoon blows from east to southeast, the sea is calmest and visibility is best. From December to March, the northwest wind brings the rainy season with more rain and rougher seas in February. Anyone who wants to see sunfish at Nusa Penida should travel between July and October and pack a thick wetsuit.

Dry Season and Rainy Season

According to the 1991 to 2020 averages of the Indonesian meteorological service BMKG, the dry season begins between mid-March and mid-April depending on the area, earliest at Nusa Penida. It peaks in August. The rainy season begins in the south and at Padang Bai in early November, at Pemuteran only in mid-December. January and February are the wettest. In Denpasar, according to the 1961 to 1990 averages, it rains on 4 days a month in July and August, and on 27 in January. According to Two Fish Divers, the rain usually falls at night.

The start of the rainy season varies from year to year. For 2026/2027, the Bali and NTB weather stations expect it later than average, in the south of Bali and on the northwest coast of Lombok between December 11 and 20, on the east and north coasts of Bali between December 21 and 31.

The most guests come in July and August, the fewest in January and February. On the Nyepi holiday, the airport and boats rest for a whole day, in 2027 on March 8.

Water and Visibility by Month

According to the SSI app logbooks at 170 sites between Menjangan and Lombok, the water is 28 to 29 °C on average. Visibility is 15 m on average, slightly higher in September and October. For their own sites, the locals say more in the dry season, in Amed and Tulamben 20 to 30 m, at the Gilis usually 25 to 30 m.

Month	Rainy Days in Denpasar	Water	Visibility	Note
January	27	28 °C	15 m	Peak of the rainy season
February	22	28 °C	15 m	fewest dives
March	20	28 °C	15 m	Nyepi 2027 on March 8
April	9	29 °C	15 m	Dry season from mid-April
May	8	29 °C	15 m	Dry season
June	6	28 °C	15 m	Dry season
July	4	28 °C	15 m	Sunfish, strongest current
August	4	28 °C	15 m	Sunfish, most dives
September	8	28 °C	18 m	Sunfish, strongest current
October	12	28 °C	17 m	Sunfish according to the locals
November	16	29 °C	15 m	Rainy season from early November in the south
December	22	29 °C	15 m	Rainy season, many guests for the New Year

Water and visibility are medians over all sites. In Tulamben, on the north coast and at the Gilis, a 3-mm wetsuit is usually enough.

Sunfish and Mantas at Nusa Penida

The sunfish come with the cold water that rises from the depths off the south coasts during the east monsoon, most strongly in August. The fish appear most often at the cleaning station at Crystal Bay, where wrasses and parrotfish clean them at 18 to 30 m. The sources call the season differently. The Bali Province management plan says July to September, most locals say July to October, and in the SSI app logbooks, sightings cluster from August to October. August and September cover all three.

During this time, the locals measure around 18 to 21 °C at depth, up to 16 °C in thermoclines. You need at least a long 5-mm wetsuit, if you get cold easily, take a 7-mm or a hood. From July to September, the current is also strongest. For the corner to the channel, many locals require an Advanced certificate. Which species swims here is disputed. The management plan says Mola mola, a 2016 study says today's Mola alexandrini.

You see reef mantas at Manta Point all year round, usually 4 to 12 animals at cleaning stations between 5 and 12 m. Whether most come in the rainy season or the dry season, the sources say differently. At swell from the south, the boats go to Manta Bay.

Tulamben, Amed and the North Coast

On the east coast you go from the shore into the water, and in Tulamben it stays around 28 °C all year round. From December to March, visibility there is worse, at the Coral Garden the river carries suspended matter into the sea after rain. In return, you share the sites with fewer divers. In August and September, the waves rise, and entering over the rocks at Liberty becomes difficult. The Jemeluk Bay in Amed is then sheltered from the wind.

Before Padang Bai and Candidasa, according to Gangga Divers, the water cools to around 21 °C from August to October. In Pemuteran and at Menjangan, according to Easy Divers, it is calmest in June and from September to December, in July and August, waves and currents are stronger.

The Gili Islands

You can also dive at the Gilis all year round, best from April to October. In the dry season, visibility according to Manta Dive is usually 25 to 30 m, in the rainy season 10 to 25 m. From December to February, the sea is choppier, in January and early February there are more days with waves. However, according to Gili Air Divers, it is only completely canceled once or twice a year. The current changes without warning, it is usually strongest in July and August.

If the waves rise in the Lombok Strait, the port authorities often close the speedboats between Bali and the Gilis for several days, for example in January 2026. Eka Jaya advises a 24-hour buffer before continuing the journey. The official forecast for wind and waves is issued by the BMKG on maritim.bmkg.go.id.

The travel season by month, the wind and coast table and the portraits from the Liberty to the Crystal Bay are in the Bali and Gili Islands Dive Atlas.