Batu Belah

Overview

Batu Belah is a shore dive east of Tulamben, past Seraya, where large blocks of coral sit on a sandy bottom. The dive centre Dive Concepts lists it among its Tulamben sites, calls it unique in the region, and says it has species of sponge and coral that are not as easy to find on the other sites nearby. Thailand Diving describes large pieces of coral on a bed of sand, a structure that stands out from the rest of the Tulamben region, and places the site about 5 kilometres east of the village of Tulamben, after Seraya. The Amed dive centre Bali Fab Dive lists Batu Belah with three parts: Temple, Muck Dive and Coral Garden.

No source gives a map position for the site, so this record has no map point.

How the site is dived

Thailand Diving says the dive is from the shore, with the entrance to the east of a local temple reserved for families with twins, and that the place is easy to find. bali.live also says diving is from the shore, with entry to the east of the Balinese temple. Dive Concepts describes it as a marine biology, macro, photography and exploration dive.

Depth

Dive Concepts gives a maximum depth of 25 metres and an average of 15 metres, and Thailand Diving and bali.live repeat both figures. This record uses 25 metres as the maximum and sets no minimum.

Level

This record rates the site as suitable for beginners. Dive Concepts says the site is accessible to all levels, and Thailand Diving and bali.live say the same. Bali Fab Dive lists the Temple and Coral Garden parts of Batu Belah (spelled Batu Bella in that list) among its sites accessible to beginner divers; it does not list the Muck Dive part there, and it says all its sites except Kubu and Gili Selang are accessible to Open Water divers. The record sets no certification requirement.

Marine life

Dive Concepts names purple leaf scorpionfish, numerous species of shrimp, barracudas, blue-spotted stingrays, green turtles, Javanese moray eels and ribbon moray eels. Thailand Diving and bali.live give much the same list. Thailand Diving's page says purple leaf scorpionfish are seen on every dive there; that is an operator's statement, not a survey result, and no source gives a measured sighting rate for any animal.

Conditions

Dive Concepts gives a weak current and visibility of 10 to 30 metres, and Thailand Diving and bali.live repeat both. No source gives a water temperature or a season.

Sources and lineage

Thailand Diving's and bali.live's accounts follow Dive Concepts' page closely in structure and wording, so the depth, visibility, current and marine life rest on one line of sources, and this record marks those values as single-source. The shore entry by the temple comes from Thailand Diving and bali.live, which share that line. Bali Fab Dive is worded independently and supports the site's name, its parts and its beginner access. Nobody has verified this record in person; it was researched and written by an automated process from the sources named here.