Dive Sites Indonesia South Sulawesi
Selayar Dive Resort – Here at Selayar Dive Resort we offer unlimited House Reef diving
Dive Sites Indonesia South Sulawesi– and our House Reef is not just your average House Reef – from the end of our private jetty we have a stunning drop off, spectacular corals, turtles, sea snakes, nudibranch, gorgonian fans, pygmy sea horses and a host of reef fishes to keep you enthralled dive after dive.
The entire coast line of our marine park offers phenomenal diving so we have divided it up into dive sites that are back to back. The fringing reef of the east coast of Selayar Island is mainly made up of drop offs and walls characterised by numerous caves, overhangs and shelves. There are also a few sloping dive sites that we regularly visit and all of our dive sites are within a short boat ride away. Prior to the foundation of the marine park Selayar Dive Resort recognised this special area as being one of outstanding beauty and was pivotal in the creation of the park in 2002. Since the creation of the marine protected area it seems like the word has spread to the marine life and fish numbers and species variety continues to increase! The reef tops offer impressive coral growth and the walls will impress even the most seasoned of divers.
The Indo Pacific region is known as the most marine biodiverse in the world and divers at Selayar Dive Resort will not be disappointed. Selayar offers divers the opportunity to see everything from the tiny pygmy sea horse to the large grey reef shark – such diversity is common on every dive site here! To give you an overview of what Selayar has to offer here are some of our favourite dive sites Indonesia south Sulawesi Selayar Dive Resort:
Dive sites Indonesia House Reef and Appatanah cave
House Reef Diving
Diving the House Reef? A highlight? Yes, absolutely! Our House Reef can easily be ranked as amongst one of the best dive sites in Indonesia! For divers who want to make more than the two daily boat dives we offer unlimited House Reef diving from our 145 meter long jetty. Our jetty has high and low ladders to make entries and exits easy and it is just a few meters from the drop off. The reef top surrounding the jetty also offers some stunning macro opportunities with everything from sea grass to small bommies and a whole host of marine critters. The House Reef runs almost the length of the resort but we have yet to have anyone explore the entire area – the wall is so densely packed with life that you do not need to swim so far and getting bored with the House Reef is just not an option! More about our House Reef Click here: House Reef
Shark Point dive sites Indonesia
This site is a 10 minute boat ride from the resort and starts as a deep wall which bottoms out to a sandy slope at around 30 meters. We start the dive along the wall which is covered with gorgonians, black corals and colourful sponges. Before dropping down to the slope we swim through schools of snappers, jacks and schooling bannerfish – a resident great barracuda is also known to hang in the shallows here too! Once on the slope we follow the reef down to around 40 meters where both white tip and grey reef sharks are frequently patrolling the reef and the blue. This is also an ideal spot for seeing large marble rays, tuna and napoleons as well as eagle rays passing overhead. On days when the larger predators are not present this site still offers fantastic diversity and numerous turtles can be seen on every dive here as well as leaf fish, sea snakes, huge giant trevallies and small schools of barracudas. The reef top at the end of the dive offers beautiful corals and this is often where we find interesting critters including various shrimps, orang-utan crabs, giant clams and blue spotted stingrays.
Caves and Overhangs dive sites Indonesia
This dive site is just a 5 minute boat ride from the resort and offers a wall which drops down to 45 meters. The wall is characterised by numerous caves and overhangs which are ideal places to discover a range of nudibranchs, crabs, shrimps and other shade dwellers. The wall also offers numerous gorgonian fans and soft corals which makes Caves and Overhangs an ideal site for both macro and wide angle photographers. This site is home to both the Denise and Bargibante species of Pygmy Sea Horse and with a slight drift to the north it is a wonderful site to explore.
Dive sites Indonesia House Reef Kauri and Caves and Overhangs Pygmy Seahorse
More Dive Sites Indonesia south Sulawesi Selayar Dive Resort
Opera Wall dive sites Indonesia
This is a stunning wall with huge black coral formations in the deeper sections. The dive can be dived both deep and shallow and all depth levels offer beautiful macro opportunities. We usually aim to swim a little along the wall which enables us to cross over the top of our Shark Point site – here we swim through a ‘fish soup’ of schooling bannerfish and snappers, huge barracuda are often resting here and large marble rays are not uncommon. We finish the dive along the reef top where there are usually too many turtles to count, sea snakes and for those looking for smaller critters, leaf fish, orang-utan crabs, shrimps, velutinids and nudibranch are all residing here!
Little Wall dive sites Indonesia
This dive site begins as a sloping reef which leads into a small wall which extends down to around 30 meters. Coral coverage on the wall is excellent and this is a great place for finding nudibranch, leaf fish, all manner of shrimps and even pygmy sea horses! For those who prefer t see larger marine life there is also a small cave at the foot of the wall which is a favourite resting place of the white tip reef sharks. The reef top is home to many green turtles, blue spotted stingrays and octopus can be found hiding out amongst the corals.
Steps dive sites Indonesia
A breath taking overhanging wall with numerous, large black coral formations, an abundance of soft corals and large gorgonian fans in a range of colours. This dive can be dived deep! For those who would rather not make deep dives the wall offers many small overhangs which house a myriad of critters, occasional passing eagle rays in the blue and, with a little current, some impressive schools of snappers. On the top of the reef there is a stunning plateau where numerous green turtles rest and occasionally larger stingrays are also found taking a break.
Dive sites Indonesia House Reef schooling Jacks and Shark Point
Unspunnenstein dive sites Indonesia
A bizarre name for a dive site, typically Swiss 😉 This site is another steeply sloping reef and wall combination characterised by many alcoves and channels in which numerous hiding reef fish can be found. The site boasts good patches of Halimeda algae and with a bit of luck and a trained eye, it is possible to see the Halimeda Ghost Pipe Fish hiding in here along with some beautiful flat worms, nudibranch and shrimps. As with almost all of our dive spots here, turtles are seen on most visits as are a host of colourful reef fish.
Doda dive sites Indonesia
Similar topography to Unspunnenstein – A deep sloping reef and wall with lots of soft corals, gorgonians and sponges of all shapes and colours. There is a particularly beautiful reef flat here with many staghorn corals which are home to wrasse, harlequin sweetlips fish and other colourful species of reef fish. Highlights at Doda can include ghost pipefish, leaf fish, numerous shrimp and crab species as well as green turtles and banded sea snakes.
Appatanah cave dive sites Indonesia
This is not an actual cave, but rather a deep overhanging cavern which is thickly dotted with many soft corals and gorgonians. From the outer overhang it is worth looking into the blue water – often big fish, such as white tip sharks, eagle rays, napoleons and large groupers are seen passing through. Again, this can be a deep dive for those who wish to do so. The reef top here makes this dive site quite different to our other dive spots, there is a wide, white sand area with scattered coral bommies and formations – many of which are shrouded in colourful glass fish. Amongst these coral bommies we find mantis shrimp, leaf fish, various cleaner shrimps and crabs, nudibranch, stonefish and moray eels. The sand is also home to hundreds of garden eels, flounders and blue spotted stingrays.
Dive sites Indonesia Shark Point Marble Ray and Appatanah Cave Giant Grouper
Opera Sand dive sites Indonesia
We have a muck diving site too! Opera Sand is a sloping sand site which has scattered coral formations from the reef top down to the drop off at around 30 meters. Usually we head down to the deepest corals first and then slowly make our way back up the slope visiting each formation in turn. This site is fantastic for macro photographers and those who love critters – or divers who just want a change from the wall sites. At Opera Sand our usual sightings include leaf fish, cockatoo wasp fish, reef octopus, halimeda ghost pipefish, cleaner shrimps, harlequin crab, commensal shrimps, snake eels, garden eels, moray eels, nudibranch, pipefish and with the help of our guides, anything is possible!
Kolo Kolo dive sites Indonesia
This is a deep wall site which never disappoints! There are an abundance of fan corals, table corals and interesting caves and overhangs to explore. This is a very popular dive site where you can make many dives at all different depths. At Kolo Kolo we often see the scorpion leaf fish, nudibranch, squat lobsters and plenty of macrolife – there are numerous photography opportunities for all! In deeper regions of the wall there is also the chance of pygmy seahorses and of course green turtles and sea snakes are often seen in the shallower areas and on the reef top.
Net 1 dive sites Indonesia
Net 1 is a popular site for all divers as it can be dived shallow or deep and it offers both macro and wide angle photography opportunities. There are numerous gorgonian fans and beautiful, colourful soft corals. Along the wall we have several caverns and ledges where gobies and shrimps can be seen working together and leaf fish, ribbon eels and nudibranch are commonly found. The site can be dived in either direction so we check the current first and aim to have a gentle drift which makes this a very easy and relaxing dive.
Dive sites Indonesia House Reef Cuttlefish and Sargassum Frogfish
Net 2 dive sites Indonesia
This is a stunning wall dive site which we usually dive when we have a slight drift to ease us along. Towards the end of the site there is a very old fishing net draped on the wall at 14 meters. The net is now completely encrusted by corals and hangs like a curtain – quite a sight! The net is now occupied by all sorts of nudibranch and critters – especially at night . The wall is also a beautiful dive with many small niches and caves where there is always something new to discover.
Karl `s Corner dive sites Indonesia
This can be either dived shallow or deep but when making a deep dive here we recommend it for experienced divers only! The site is a wall dive with a sandy slope below which descends to around 55 meters. From the sandy slope it is possible to look out to the blue and this is where we hope to see grey reef sharks and white tips patrolling in the blue. On ascent we pass many large gorgonians and colourful soft corals with plenty of reef fish and occasionally tuna and trevally. This dive site is usually a drift dive and at times is can be quite a ride!
Outside dive sites Indonesia
The Outside dive site starts as a sandy slope which we usually drift along in the current – here we hope to see large napoleons, schools of bat fish and occasionally large rays. The slope soon becomes a stunning vertical wall which is pocked with ledges, caverns and interesting formations. Along the wall look out for nudibranch, shrimps, beautiful anemones and some large sweetlips as well as sea snakes and long-nose hawkfish amongst the soft corals.
Canyon dive sites Indonesia
Canyon is where we often see schools of bat fish and on the deep sand bottom we sometimes see sharks passing back and forth. Stingrays are not uncommon here and it is not unusual to see an eagle ray swooping by overhead or in the blue. This is a beautiful dive site, best dived when the currents are running a little stronger.
Dive sites Indonesia House Reef Bat Fish and Shark Point Eagle Ray
