Diving Indonesia: Bali – Seraya Secrets

Diving Bali: Seraya Secrets

Just 3km east from Tulamben Bay is Seraya Secrets, the house reef of the Scuba Seraya dive resort and one of the best critter diving sites in Bali.

The resort was established in 2003 by the Bali based Swiss expat Patrick Schwartz who planned to offer scuba diving at all the Tulamben Bay sites, using inflatable boats boarded from the black sand beach in front of the resort.

The concept being that the discerning diver could take in all the sites in the general area, rather than being based in Tulamben itself and limited to the Liberty wreck, Tulamben reef & the Drop-Off shore dives.

That was until Christiane Waldrich discovered the quite amazing diversity that is literally on the doorstep of the resort.

Christiane is from Munich in Germany, and met Patrick Schwartz in 2001 when he was looking at setting up the resort and people to invest into it.

She became Patrick’s first investor and began dividing her year equally between her “day job” as a dealer in antique & contemporary glass art and her new second home at Seraya.

When the resort opened Patrick & Christiane began conducting exploratory dives to identify alternative sites to the west & east of Scuba Seraya, but never really investigated the area in front of the resort because Patrick’s few dives there had not been very productive.

In November 2003 Christiane decided to fully explore the house reef and was amazed to discover just how rich it was, particularly with nudibrancs, a critter she describes as the butterflies of the reef. Over the next three months she identified 120 different species and at the latest tally has increased that to over 300.

Diving Bali: Diving Seraya Secrets

Seraya Secrets is generally a very easy place to dive and the only time it gets less so is when the wind gets-up and the resultant waves make entry & exit on the black sand beach a touch difficult.

First impressions once underwater can be a bit underwhelming, particularly so if you have spent the last couple of days diving the Liberty wreck, because initially there does not appear to be much to see and you wonder what all the fuss was about…

The key to getting the most from diving Scuba Seraya are two things – first of all slow down and take your time, the critters are there and you just need to settle in.

Secondly, a good guide will know where everything is and can take you straight there!

The site itself is a fairly steep black sand slope populated with patches of rocks, which are the home to a quite amazing variety of creatures & critters.

Taking your time to explore these patches is a rewarding experience and one that will keep you occupied for hours.

There are things to see in the shallows from about 5m and you will keep on finding stuff down to 30m, but the majority of the critter activity seems to be between 10m and 20m, so bottom time is not a big issue.

Diving Bali: Images from Seraya Secrets

Diving Bali: Underwater Photography at Seraya Secrets

Unless you are planning to do some wide-angle macro photography, you can leave your dome port and wide-angle lenses in your bag because Seraya Secrets is very much a macro site…

All the underwater images on this page and on the main Seraya Secrets Image Gallery were taken with the either a Nikon D2X or D200 using the Nikkor 70-180 macro zoom lens – my personal favorite for macro underwater photography.

Diving Bali: Diving Seraya Secrets – Where to Stay?

There are three alternatives if you want to stay in the area and do a few dives at Seraya Secrets:

- Scuba Seraya

I have personally stayed at Scuba Seraya and really enjoyed it. The place is quiet but very relaxing and has it’s own small restaurant & bar, so you do not need to go into Tulamben unless you are looking for a “night on the town” – in which case you will probably be dissapointed and back at the resort by 21.30…

The resort has undergone a series of upgrades & renovations since I was last there and a new restaurant & kitchen have been built, complete with a proper coffee machine which serves decent cappuccinos.

Check out the images below and this LINK for the Scuba Seraya website.

- Villa Markisa

Christiane Waldrich clearly loves Seraya and the Tulamben area because she has now gone into business with Pedro Wettstein, formerly the Cruise Director on the Pindito – one of the earliest & best known liveaboards operating in Indonesia – and built a dedicated dive resort right next to Scuba Seraya called Villa Markisa.

The resort was in the final stages of completion when I was last in Tulamben, so the image below is a bit dated but you can check out Villa Markisa’s website on this LINK

- Stay in Tulamben & Sneak Down the Beach…

There is actually a public access site further just up the beach from Scuba Seraya which is used by various guides conducting dive safaris on the northeast coast. I have used this access myself and while lacking the creature comforts & support offered by the resorts it is an option…

There is running water to rinse away the salt and a local villager will look after any equipment left at the shelter whilst you are diving, but no cappuccino machine I am afraid…

Diving Bali: When to Dive Seraya Secrets

The best time of year to dive Seraya Secrets is October & November after the southeast (dry season) monsoon has ended, but before the northwest one (wet season) has begun and when you will get the calmest conditions

The period at the the start of the southeast monsoon in May, June & through to about mid July also offer good conditions, but after that for about 2 to 2.5 months high winds create rough seas and poor conditions. Around the end of September the conditions start to improve again.

Generally December through to early April when the northwest monsoon is at it’s peak are not good conditions due to strong winds & rough seas.

The best time of day is in the morning, because the wind can get up in the afternoon before dying down again in the evening. Night dives are well worth doing as you will often even more critters than during the day and quite often different ones.

What I really liked about staying at Scuba Seraya, and I think it would be the same if you stayed at Villa Markisa, is that it’s possible to use one of the inflatable boats and do early morning dives in Tulamben Bay on the Liberty wreck before it gets busy. Then you can scoot back for breakfast, feeling like the early bird who caught the worm, and then spend the rest of the day exploring Seraya Secrets.

Diving Bali: How to get to Seraya

Seraya is just 3km from Tulamben, so if you are coming from the south it’s basically just on the right before you get to Tulamben – it’s well signposted, so you can’t really miss it…

From Tulamben it’s a short 10 minute ride.

Next Page: Menjangan Island

Back To: The Liberty Wreck

Link to full Seraya Secrets Image Gallery