Bali Diving - PJ

Bali Diving - Puri Jati (PJ)

Welcome to the house reef of Blue Season Zen Resort and what a house reef it is! Probably the best muck dive site that Bali offers and only a five minute walk from Zen Resort Bali. If you would like to see strange, small marine critters that you’ve never saw before, even for divers with more than 500 dives under their belts, then this is the place to be without any doubt! Almost no coral, dark volcanic sand and some concrete cylinders to protect the area from fishermen doesn’t sound that interesting but you will realize why this dive site is so great after some diving in this mysterious place.

BIG FISH

Don't expect big stuff when you're diving PJ. Puri Jati is a dive for macro photographers looking for small marine life although it’s possible to see a Barracuda or Talang queenfish hunting after Sardines. If you’re lucky you might spot dolphins on the surface while you’re diving but let’s focus about the small things you might spot.

SMALL FISH

You name it. It’s there! Starting from the shore at 2-6 meters you can find:

Deeper than 6 meters you can spot:

RARE BUT THERE !

Diving PJ is always a surprise, even for our experienced Blue Season Zen Resort diveguides. The following things are not that common but there's always a chance to see those special creatures when you're diving PJ:

TARGET

Mimic Octopus

Macro photographers from all over the world come to this intriguing place to find that special Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus Mimicus). An octopus that has the ability to imitate other creatures such as snake eels, lionfish, flounders and many other species to defend themselves from their predators. You have the biggest chance to spot Mimic Octopus at around 9 meters although it’s possible to find them between three and fifteen meters, depending on the swell. It’s hard to tell for divers that they saw either a Mimic Octopus or Coconut Octopus so an experienced Blue Season Zen Resort dive guide is essential not just to recognize but also to find this unique creature!  

Janolus sp 2

Why not going deeper to 25-30 meters and look for that strange but beautiful Nudibranch called Janolus sp. 2!


DIVING FACILITIES & CONDITIONS

Everything is at your disposal before you start your dive at PJ. There are large bamboo gear benches to put all your equipment into place. Showers, toilets and a change room. Separate rinsing tanks to keep your camera's and equipment in good shape. Also the friendly local helpers will give you a hand to put your gear on or help you when you come back on land. The whole area is covered with trees to make sure that you won't catch a nasty sunburn although it's advisable to put some sunscreen on you as the Bali sun can be very aggressive. There's also a small shop where you can buy snacks although there's lunch and beverages included while you do at least two dives with Blue Season Zen Resort Bali.

In general, Puri Jati has very good conditions the whole year round. The visibility varies between 5 and 15 meters and you'll dive in at least 28° Celsius. Normally there's no current or big swell while diving Puri Jati what makes it easier to take that picture of that pipe horse, hiding in the sea grass!

DIVE BRIEFING

You will be surprised when you walk down from our dive shop as you will notice that all equipment is already set-up and ready for diving! You just have to put on your mask, weight belt and wetsuit. And in case that you need help with putting on your fins, well, our Blue Season Zen Resort dive guide will help you as it’s our commitment to give you the best possible service you can get. Even above the water!

We put our fins on in the water as diving PJ is a shore entry dive. The best part is that there’s no surface swim. The fun starts almost below your feet! Diving is really easy as we normally go straight north. The first 150 meters looks dead flat but it’s not. It starts at 2 meters and goes down to 10 meters so don’t forget to equalize even though you don’t feel any discomfort as you still remember from your PADI Open Water Diver Course. After that you’ll have a 45° angle that slopes down where we usually dive until 15-20 meters.  When we reached that depth we choose either east or west, depending that there’s current or not and depends about what you would like to see. After 20-25 minutes  we swim back to our starting point. In between we do our 5 meter/3 minute safety stop although it’s more like continuing your dive without thinking about doing a stop as there’s a lot to see at 5 meters. and take our fins of before heading to the showers. The dive-time will be about 60-75 minutes depending on your air consumption.

DIVING PJ – TIPS FROM THE PRO'S

The following key points are vital to have a good dive. In other words, how to make your dive an enjoyable and rewarding dive:

Buoyancy – Try to make sure that you don’t have too much weight but it’s also important to have an extra weight than what you normally wear as the diving here is shallow. Also it’s important not to touch the ground as you never know what’s underneath the volcanic sand.
Frog kick – Better to dive by using the frog kick style. The sand in PJ is very thin and loose, especially when you go deeper than 10 meters. Use the frog kick if you would like to have a good visibility on your second dive and if you’re not doing a second dive. Think about the other divers after you.
Dive Slow – It takes about 20 minutes to complete 150 meters distance… if you don’t see that much!  It happens that you reach that point after 40 minutes because we saw so many things on the way while diving slow. The slower you dive, the more chance to see great stuff!
Look – Open your eyes! Look close, even at things that you don’t expect to see fish in. A coconut shell, a piece of wood, tubes of toothpaste, little pieces of plastic, bra’s! Everything is good to hide for the PJ marine life. A dead leaf is not always a leaf. It can be that Juvenile Circular Spadefish that you were looking for!
Equalize – As we said before. Don’t forget to equalize before feeling any discomfort. Even if you think it’s flat. Rely on your dive watch or depth gauge, don’t trust your eyes too much!
Patience – Even if you don’t see that much after 10 minutes. You’ll never know what you will see after that so dive slow and keep your eyes open!
Gloves – Protect yourself! You never know what’s hiding under the sand or you would be surprised how well camouflaged those Lion Fish are!
Dive Knife – Although the area is protected, there’s always a possibility that there are boats in the neighborhood dragging with fishing nets to make their catch of the day. However Blue Season Zen Resort Bali has a 100% safety record, it’s always useful to wear a dive knife just in case.  It’s also a life saver for fish stuck in a lost piece of fishing net.  
Stay Together – In general you’ll have an average of 10 meters visibility when you dive PJ so it’s important to stay close and follow the dive guide.
Be Grateful – It’s always great to spot a mimic octopus but there are times that you won’t see them. Even though our dive guides are masters in finding the fish you want. It’s possible that it’s not there at that time. We have to be humble from the moment that we enter the underwater world, show respect to this unique environment and appreciate the things that we did see! This is nature after all. Remember a bad day diving is always better than a good day at the office!


BALI MUCK DIVE PACKAGES

We have great deals for our macro photographers and critter lovers. Please have a look at our Bali Dive Packages 2010. We’re sure that there’s something that suit your needs.

Click here to find out more about our brand new Bali Dive Packages 2010.


GO DIGITAL !

Puri Jati is a gem for Macro photographers so don’t forget to bring your underwater camera or rent an underwater camera in our dive shop to share your fantastic Bali diving experience with your friends or why not going for a PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Course to make sure you’ve got the perfect picture of that Ambon Scorpionfish you've always wanted?

Click here to find out more about the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Course with Blue Season Zen Resort




More Muck Diving Bali? Go Dive Secret Bay or how about Seraya Secrets?
Best Wall Diving Bali? Go Dive Menjangan Island!
Wreck Diving Bali? Go Dive Tulamben!

Multi Dive Packages for PJ available now!!! 10 Dives, 20 dives or 30 dives? Have a look at our Bali Diving Pricelist

!!!Click here for Bali's Best Muck Dive Package!!!