Bunutan

Overview

Bunutan is a reef slope and wall on the Amed coast of north-east Bali, about 1.1 kilometres north-west of Lipah Bay and about 1.8 kilometres east of Jemeluk Bay. Amed Jepun Divers calls it Bunutan Wall, also known as the House of Barracudas, and one of Amed's most exhilarating drift dives. SSI's dive site guide on scubago gives the position -8.3442, 115.6757, which is the point used here; it lies within about 20 metres of the OpenStreetMap coastline, so it marks the shore rather than a position over the dive.

How the site is dived

Amed Jepun Divers says the site is typically reached by boat. SSI says it is usually dived by boat and mostly as a drift, and that it can be done from shore, but divers then walk up the hill back to the car for pick-up. Bali Fab Dive describes a boat ride to the site, and Two Fish Divers names it among the Amed sites it dives for more current and more big fish. Amed Jepun Divers describes a gently sloping reef that turns into a wall with sea fans, barrel sponges and table corals: the dive starts in shallow garden eel fields and goes down into richer reef, and towards the end pinnacles rise towards the surface. Two Fish Divers works out from a sandy slope to a corner, then up the reef slope to finish in the protected shallows among huge barrel sponges and coral bommies with gorgonian fans. Bali Fab Dive describes a sandy start with garden eels, a steeper slope where the current carries divers east, a less steep section in the middle of the dive and a finish among giant porites corals. Dive Concepts describes a coral garden finished as a drift along the reef.

Current

Dive Concepts says the current can be medium to very strong and that it times the dive by the tides. Bali Fab Dive gives the current as none to moderate, and also says it is sometimes gentle and at other times strong. Amed Jepun Divers says currents often build here. Because the sources disagree, this record sets no current strength.

Depth

Amed Jepun Divers gives a maximum depth of 40 metres and an average of 18 metres, and Dive Concepts gives 5 to 40 metres; this record uses 40 metres as the maximum and 5 metres as the minimum. Two Fish Divers gives 5 to more than 30 metres and says the fish life is especially good from 20 metres down. Bali Fab Dive gives 15 to 35 metres, so this record marks both the minimum and the maximum as disputed.

Marine life

Amed Jepun Divers names schools of barracuda and giant trevally, octopus and moray eels in the coral overhangs, garden eels in the shallows, honeycomb morays and reef sharks resting under coral shelves deeper down, juvenile reef sharks by the pinnacles, and nudibranchs and shrimp among the sponges. SSI names green sea turtles, hundreds of garden eels, huge sponges, sometimes schools of barracuda, and massive and gorgonian fan corals. Dive Concepts names lionfish, triggerfish, barracuda, moray eels, grouper, blacktip reef sharks, trevally, turtles and pufferfish among barrel sponges and gorgonian fans. Two Fish Divers names shoals of snapper and fusiliers, with sharks and trevallies often seen at the corner, and says that at Bunutan and Gili Selang divers may see sharks, barracuda and occasionally the ocean sunfish (mola mola). Bali Fab Dive names barracuda, reef sharks, giant trevallies, sometimes blacktip reef sharks and sea turtles.

Conditions and level

Amed Jepun Divers lists advanced diver certification and calls the site best suited for experienced divers. Bali Fab Dive lists Open Water (level 1) as the level required while calling Bunutan an experience every experienced diver must undertake. This record rates the site advanced, marks that rating as disputed and sets no certification requirement. Bali Fab Dive gives visibility of 15 to 30 metres and a water temperature of 26 to 30 degrees; this record does not use those single-operator figures. These are operator statements, not measurements. None of the five sources gives a season.