Malibu

Overview

Malibu is a dive site on the east coast of Nusa Penida. nusapenida.org, a Nusa Penida dive guide, places it just north of Atuh Beach and says the dive begins in a small, discreet creek directly in front of Pantai Sharon, then opens onto exposed walls and deep blue water. It calls the site rarely dived. Diving Squad, a dive travel site, names Malibu with Semaya and Batu Abah among the less frequently visited sites on the east side of the island, and says these sites usually take about 60 minutes to reach from most dive centres, which are in the north-west of the island. Diving Squad lists Malibu and Semaya as separate sites, and Semaya has its own record.

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

How the site is dived

nusapenida.org describes Malibu as one site with three possible profiles from a single entry point in the creek. The creek itself is usually sheltered and the sea there is often calm, which it says lets divers descend, get neutrally buoyant and check the conditions before choosing how far to go. Heading south from the creek leads to a wall that drops away more steeply, is more exposed and can feel very different depending on the tide and the swell. The northern wall is the most exposed section: steeper, with vertical relief, and open to the deep blue of the Indian Ocean. The page says the southern wall suits divers practising controlled drift along the reef, and that on the northern wall divers should stay close to the reef, watch their depth and the current, and keep an eye on the blue.

Depth

nusapenida.org gives an entry depth of around 8 to 10 metres in the creek and says the southern and northern walls drop more steeply into the blue from there, so divers choose their depth by level and conditions. It gives no maximum depth, and no other source used here gives a depth. This record sets no minimum or maximum depth: the 8 to 10 metres is the depth of the entry, not the shallowest point of the site.

Level

nusapenida.org says Malibu is not recommended for discovery (try) dives, that certified Open Water divers can dive it by staying inside the creek, and that the walls are best for advanced divers comfortable with current and blue water. Because the source ties the level to the section of the site, this record sets no single difficulty and no certification requirement.

Current

nusapenida.org says the entry creek is usually protected from strong currents but can throw sudden "washing-machine" currents, and that the walls are more exposed, with mild to strong current. It advises always diving with a local guide who checks the conditions first. No source gives a current strength for the site, and this record sets none.

Marine life

nusapenida.org says turtles are everywhere in the creek, often sleeping under rocks or in coral ledges, and names green and hawksbill turtles, frogfish, yellow and blue ribbon eels, lionfish, stonefish, lobsters and other reef crustaceans as common sightings. It describes the creek's corals as healthy and colourful, with overhangs, rocks and bommies, and says fish life increases on the southern wall. For the northern wall it says divers have reported thresher sharks, hammerhead sharks and mola mola passing by, and that nothing is guaranteed. Diving Squad says, of Malibu, Semaya and Batu Abah together, that there is spectacular coral reef and manta rays, and that divers sometimes see blacktip and whitetip reef sharks and thresher sharks; it does not say which of the three sites these refer to. No source gives a measured sighting rate for any animal.

Conditions

No source used here gives visibility, water temperature or a best season for Malibu, and this record sets none.

Sources and lineage

nusapenida.org is written by Blaise Jaeger, whom the page describes as a PADI Master Scuba Diver based on Nusa Penida who opened the island's first PADI dive centre in 2017; the page promotes an instructor of the Dune Penida dive centre and the centre itself, and was updated in July 2026. Its account of a recent dive in the creek is one diver's report. Diving Squad describes the east-side sites as a group, not Malibu alone. The two texts are worded independently. Nobody has verified this record in person; it was researched and written by an automated process from the sources named here.