Sental

Overview

Sental is a dive site on the north coast of Nusa Penida, one of a chain of drift sites along that coast. nusapenida.org, a Nusa Penida dive guide, describes it in its guide to the neighbouring site Ped: it says Sental lies between SD Point and Buyuk, and that it is marked by the high-voltage submarine cables that run from Bali. The same page places Ped between SD Point and Sental. Scuba Junkie Penida, a Nusa Penida dive operator, lists Sental as a separate north-coast site alongside Sekolah Dasar, Ped, Pura Mas Gading and Buyuk, and Dive Concepts, a Bali dive operator with a centre on Nusa Lembongan, has its own page for the site under the spelling Santal. Sekolah Dasar, Ped, Pura Mas Gading and Buyuk have their own records here.

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 calls Sental exceptionally well preserved and says that, like the other north-coast sites, it is a drift dive: divers let the current carry them along the wall. It says the plateau above the wall makes the site ideal for a discovery dive or a training dive. It does not say whether divers enter from a boat or from the shore, and no source this record uses states it, so the entry type is not set.

Scuba Junkie Penida describes the whole north coast of Nusa Penida as essentially one long sloping reef, where the site names refer to reference points on land that mark the start of each dive. nusapenida.org likewise says that, depending on conditions and current, a single dive can sometimes cross several of the north-coast sites. A Sental dive may therefore run into its neighbours.

Depth

No source this record uses gives a depth range for Sental itself, so no minimum or maximum depth is set. Dive Concepts calls the site superb between 5 and 20 metres and says experienced divers can go to 30 to 40 metres to look for mola mola, but the same operator's Pura Mas Gading page uses the same depth sentence and the same coral sentence (corals on the big rocks in the 12-metre zone), so those figures read as describing the north-coast slope in general. Scuba Junkie Penida says the north-coast reef slopes gently to around 12 to 15 metres and then drops more steeply to 40 metres and beyond; that is a statement about the whole coast.

Level

nusapenida.org says the plateau suits discovery and training dives, and adds that good buoyancy is needed to find the small animals without kicking past what the guide is pointing at. Dive Concepts says the site is for everybody, in wording it also uses for Pura Mas Gading. No source this record uses states a certification, so no difficulty or certification is set.

Current

nusapenida.org describes Sental as a drift dive along the wall. Dive Concepts says it prefers to dive Santal on a rising tide, to keep the current down for beginners and leave more time for small animals, says the current is weak or absent at the right tide, and says drift-dive lovers will enjoy a falling tide; its Pura Mas Gading page says the same about that site. Scuba Junkie Penida says north-coast currents vary from none to a fast drift and that divers sometimes drift past more than one site. No current strength is set.

Marine life

nusapenida.org says guides show divers the small animals at Sental: many nudibranch species, crabs and ghost fish, which it says take patience to find. Dive Concepts says mola mola have been spotted a few times at Santal and that there seems to be a cleaning station for them there; it does not say where on the site or at what depth. Its Santal page also names the pufferfish family, including giant puffers up to 1 metre, and angelfish, scorpionfish, boxfish, clownfish, batfish, nudibranchs and mantis shrimp, but its Pura Mas Gading page carries the same list. Scuba Junkie Penida says mola mola are often spotted along the north coast in the right season and that there are several whale shark sightings each year along the coast. No source gives a measured sighting rate or a season for any animal at Sental.

Conditions

No source this record uses gives visibility, water temperature or a season for Sental, so none is set. Scuba Junkie Penida gives usual north-coast visibility as 15 to 30 metres.

Sources and lineage

nusapenida.org is written by Blaise Jaeger, whom the page describes as a PADI Master Scuba Diver based in Nusa Penida; the page promotes an instructor of the Dune Penida dive centre and was updated on 1 July 2026. Its Sental text is a section of its Ped guide, not a page of its own. Scuba Junkie Penida describes the north coast as a whole. Dive Concepts' Santal page shares most of its wording with the same operator's Pura Mas Gading page; only its mola mola sentences are specific to the site. Nobody has verified this record in person; it was researched and written by an automated process from the sources named here.