Batu Bolong

Overview

Bali Aqua Penida lists Batu Bolong, which it also calls Batu meling, among the west-coast sites of Nusa Penida, and says the name means pierced rock, which is what is seen from the surface. Its baliaqua.com page adds that the site is also known as Donut and calls it impressive but rarely visited, accessible only when the sea is perfectly calm. nusapenida.org, a guide written with a Dune Penida dive instructor, describes it as a rock in the open sea, fully exposed, with some of the most powerful currents around Nusa Penida.

The dive

Bali Aqua says a negative entry is necessary to reach the plateau as quickly as possible, ideally east of the drop-off with the current pushing divers onto the plateau, so that they are not carried away. The baliaqua.com page describes a wall section and a plateau with strong and unpredictable currents that require expert navigation. PADI's page for the site describes the dive from the negative entry to a safety stop drifting in the blue, surrounded by large numbers of fish. nusapenida.org says negative entries are rare around Nusa Penida and are used when a specific entry point such as Batu Bolong has to be reached.

Marine life

Bali Aqua describes thousands of moorish idols, which with angelfish it calls the best cleaner fish for mola. It says mola, eagle rays, marbled rays, tuna and sharks of all kinds visit these cleaners. The baliaqua.com page lists schooling fish, reef sharks, barracuda, eagle rays and sometimes mola during the season. Bali FUN Diving says divers at sites such as Batu Bolong sometimes encounter whitetip reef sharks resting on the bottom or cruising the current channels. nusapenida.org lists pelagics, sharks, rays and mola as the draws.

Level and conditions

nusapenida.org rates it advanced only, says it should be dived only when the guide, tide and group all say yes, and warns that a dive can be cut short by the conditions. Bali Aqua rates it expert, says few of its guides are able to guide it, and reserves it for its best divers whom it has already dived with. The stated depths differ: Bali Aqua's site listing gives a maximum depth of 40+ metres, the baliaqua.com page 10 metres to really deep, and nusapenida.org 30 metres. Bali Aqua describes the current as none to really strong, while nusapenida.org names Batu Bolong as the site with the strongest current. Both Bali Aqua pages give a water temperature range of 18 to 28 °C, with an average of 23 °C on the site listing. nusapenida.org gives a boat time of 30 minutes.