Pyramids

Overview

Pyramids is an artificial reef off the beach of Amed village on the Amed coast of north-east Bali, where concrete pyramid structures stand on a sandy slope beside a natural reef. Amed Jepun Divers calls it Pyramids Point and says the pyramids were placed just off the beach and have been flourishing with marine life after more than 15 years underwater. PADI's dive guide says the structures were planted more than 25 years ago, and Evolution Diver says they were sunk in the mid-1990s. SSI's dive site guide on scubago, which names it Pyramid Point, says the base of the coral growth is rectangular concrete arranged like a small pyramid; Bali Fab Dive, which lists it as Jemeluk – Pyramids, instead describes pyramid-shaped structures in groups of three made of metal pieces or rubber tyres. The sources do not agree on the material, and this record does not settle it.

SSI gives the position -8.3341, 115.6518, which is the point used here. It lies about 85 metres offshore of the OpenStreetMap coastline. PADI gives -8.33338, 115.65299, about 150 metres east of it, and OpenStreetMap marks a dive attraction named "Pyramids" about 200 metres east. Evolution Diver's page carries a point at its own dive centre on the shore, which is not used. The point used is about 1.1 kilometres west of the Jemeluk Bay record, whose sources mention small pyramids and other artificial structures in that bay; Amed Jepun Divers describes Pyramids and Jemeluk Bay on separate pages, and this record is the Pyramids site off Amed village.

How the site is dived

Amed Jepun Divers lists it as a shore dive and a drift dive and says often mild currents turn it into a drift. Its dive starts on sandy slopes with garden eels, stingrays and snake eels, then drifts past coral-encrusted pyramids that serve as cleaning stations. Further to the right, it says, the reef becomes a wall starting at 26 metres, which it calls its "Secret Wall", where large pelagics such as sharks or rays can be spotted on lucky days. This record does not establish whether that wall is the same as the Jemeluk Secret Wall that SSI and Bali Fab Dive describe. PADI lists boat and shore entry, and Evolution Diver says the site is dived from a boat or from the beach depending on the current. Evolution Diver describes a multi-level site with a natural reef, the artificial structures and a deep drop-off with schools of fish, and Bali Fab Dive also describes a second, natural reef within the artificial one.

Depth

The sources give different depths, and they do not all describe the same part of the site. SSI and Amed Jepun Divers say the artificial reef lies at depths of 10 to 25 metres, and Bali Fab Dive says its structures rest on the sand at 20 metres. For the site as a whole, Bali Fab Dive gives 6 to 20 metres, Amed Jepun Divers a maximum of 30 metres and an average of 14 metres, Evolution Diver 5 to 40 metres and PADI a maximum of 40 metres. This record uses 40 metres as the maximum, from PADI and Evolution Diver, and marks it as disputed. It sets no minimum depth, because the two minimums given (5 and 6 metres) come from site ranges that disagree at their other end.

Marine life

Amed Jepun Divers names hawksbill sea turtles, large groups of fusiliers, sweetlips, angelfish, clownfish, moray eels in the pyramid crevices, flounders, stingrays, the occasional leaf scorpionfish, pygmy seahorses on sea fans and nudibranchs, and says it has been surprised by whale sharks, mola mola and blacktip reef sharks around the wall. SSI lists sweetlips, clownfish, angelfish, stingrays, flounders, groupers, scorpionfish, lionfish, pygmy seahorses, turtles and triggerfish. Bali Fab Dive names turtles, pufferfish, moray eels, pygmy seahorses, large schools of fish, blue-spotted rays and a field of garden eels. PADI says it is one of the few sites around Amed where turtles are almost guaranteed and lists barracuda, whitetip reef sharks and ribbon eels among its common sightings; Evolution Diver calls it the best place to observe turtles up close. These are operator statements, not survey results.

Conditions and level

Amed Jepun Divers rates it for all levels and says beginners and photographers alike enjoy it, and Bali Fab Dive calls it suitable for all levels and lists Open Water (level 1) as the level required; this record rates it for beginners on that basis. The wall Amed Jepun Divers describes starts at 26 metres, which is deeper than that rating covers. Bali Fab Dive describes the current as mild to moderate and also lists it as none to moderate, with visibility of 15 to 30 metres and a water temperature of 26 to 30 degrees; this record does not use those figures as values. None of the sources gives a season.