DiveZone Lombok

Dear Scuba Enthusiast and DiveZone friends,
only one more week until the DEEP Indonesia 2011 in Jakarta! We would like to invite you to come and visit us at our booth B45 from March 31^st until April 3^rd, and find out more about our new 2011 program!

Our dive sites in South Lombok await you with pristine reefs and an abundance of marine diversity. In South Lombok, every diver can find his favorite dive adventure!

This year our focus will be on Sekotong, and it's mild and relaxed conditions in the protected bay, as well as it's exciting, adventurous diving around BangkoBangko,. Also we will feature our new resort, Pearl Beach on Gili Asahan. The Pearl Beach Resort is an idylic boutique resort at the east side of Gili Asahan set right at the beach and with it's 4 spacious bungalows offers you a experience of a life time.

Of course you'll also find special offers for our signature dive region, Belongas Bay. Come and dive the pristine reefs with plentiful macro life, and an abundance of fish as to be found nowhere else around Lombok.  Tuna, barracuda, napoleon, white- and black tip reef sharks, Eagle rays and not to forget the possibility of schooling hammerhead sharks at "The Magnet!

We're looking forward to seeing you in Jakarta, and many greetings from Lombok!
George and the DiveZone Team!

Witnessing big reef breaks, and having been told about strong currents, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into, concerning the diving, but I thought to myself, "Ok, now let's see". Crossing the bay on one of the little local outrigger boats we came to a massive sheer cliff, and dropped into one of the most amazing underwater sceneries that I've ever seen. Descending down along a steep slope lined with massive, coral rich, boulders we were joined by Giant Trevally and massive Grunts. Descending down towards where the big shadows were moving about, I was amazed by the abundance of macro life and huge lobsters we encountered on the way. At around 30m, we realized that the shadows we seen from above were huge potato groupers zipping in and out of the many crevices. As we continued on, a slight current carried us toward the mouth of the bay, and as we slowly ascended to around 15m a giant school of Mobula rays darkened the sky above us. They just wouldn't stop circling, and it seemed like the school had no beginning or end. As we continued ascending we went right through the school of Mobula, and they weren't at all bothered by our presence. On the contrary, it seemed more like they were enjoying the sight of the "strange creatures" they had encountered. Up until this day I've had plenty of great diving around Lombok, but this day ended for me with a huge smile on my face and a certainty that this is the place to set up a new dive shop in South Lombok.

From Kuta it's easy to take daytrips to all of the pristine dive locations around Lombok. Whether you want to experience Sekotong, Gili Trawangan, Belongas Bay or the not so well know dive sites of East Lombok, we've specializes in organizing these dive daytrips and cater to your wishes in a professional manner. On these daytrips you can enjoy good service, the landscapes of Lombok, and visit the best dive sites around the island.

Living, enjoying live and diving on Lombok, Indonesia for more than 7 years!

"The Magnet" in South-East Lombok, is a pinnacle in the open sea. It rises from a depth of about 80m and can be reached in approximately 25 minutes from the mainland. The pinnacle lies in an area amidst strong currents and it's constantly battered by waves and big surge. Due to its location the trip to the dive site can already be quite spectacular.

Apart from the prevailing currents, the surge can reach down to a depth of over 20 meters. Diving here, the sighting of school of hammerhead sharks, barracudas, tunas, and other pelagic life is quite realistic. Apart from mantas and eagle rays, also mola mola have occasionally been sighted there. Due to the existing rough conditions at "The Magnet" we recommend diving here only to the more experienced diver!

In the beginning of 2007 the local government decided to build a light tower on the protruding pinnacle, in order to make the boat traffic in the area more save and manageable. As the seas are quite rough in the area, unfortunately one of the construction barges had to drop it's load, so it could make it back to save harbor.

In April 2008, we were joined by 10 instructors from Gili Trawangan to do an initial assessment and cleanup of the damage. After descending to around 40 meters at the north wall, we made our way around to the east side of the pinnacle and found around 1 - 2 tons of sand and cement bags, as well as building iron scattered amongst the bottom. The bottom time and the necessary equipment being the problem, we brought up a mere 50 kilos of debris, but still we were quite successful in planning our next steps, as now the situation is clear. We will now fit a barge with the necessary equipment, such as double tanks compressor, nets and lift bags, etc., as well as a number of ambitious divers, and hopefully over the next few months we'll get "The Magnet"  cleaned up.

This project will be fairly long term, and if you are an experienced diver, and interested in marine conservation, we'll be happy to hear from you with your comments and suggestions.

DiveZone is proud to announce that after much hard work and dedication, we have finally launched our new website. We want to extend our warmest thanks to Greg Berlin for his great support and effort to make this project come to life!

We tried to make our new website even more informative, easier to navigate, and more interactive than before. Please tell all your friends and blog on our site about your scuba diving and Lombok experiences. Refer the page that you particularly like to your dive buddies via the share link, and let us know how you like our new "look and feel" via our guestbook.

We hope you like what we came up with, and encourage you to explore, enjoy the photos (which were all taken at local divesites here in South Lombok), and contact us to discuss your next dive trip to underwater paradise in  South Lombok.