August brought some unusual conditions for diving in the Gili Islands. The water has been exceptionally clear, with visibility reaching up to 35 metres, particularly on morning dives. At the same time, the water has been surprisingly cold, with temperatures dropping to around 26°C at times.
Even the currents have been behaving differently from what we normally expect in August. They have been unusually mild, making many of our dives very relaxed.
Very Low Tides
One of the more noticeable changes this month has been the extremely low afternoon tides. On some days, the difference between high and low tide has been only around 10 centimetres.
The beach in front of Divine Divers is slowly coming back, and we’ve made the most of it by putting a volleyball net directly on the beach. With the tide so low, there is plenty of space to play, relax and enjoy the afternoon.
Windy Days and Big Waves
August also brought plenty of wind, and at times the waves were simply too big to make the trip to some of the northern dive sites worthwhile.
That meant changing plans depending on the conditions, with the more sheltered sites becoming particularly valuable on windy days. One of the advantages of diving the Gili Islands is having a good variety of sites to choose from when conditions change.
Halik Is Full of Turtles
If there is one dive site that has stood out this month, it is Halik.
The site has been absolutely packed with turtles. We’ve had dives where nine turtles were visible at the same time, and quite often we counted more than 20 turtles during a dive.
Most of them have been relatively small green turtles, but we’ve also been seeing plenty of hawksbill turtles.
Watching several turtles feeding, swimming and resting around the reef at the same time is always special—and August has delivered some seriously impressive turtle dives.
Big Fish Activity
There has also been plenty happening with the larger marine life.
We’ve had numerous mobula ray sightings, often with several animals swimming together in formation. Seeing mobulas moving as a group through the blue is one of those encounters that can completely change the atmosphere of a dive.
There have also been three reports of whale sharks during the month. Whale shark sightings are never guaranteed, of course, but hearing about them is always a good reminder that you never really know what might turn up during a dive around the Gilis.
Frogfish Are Showing Up Everywhere
August has also been a surprisingly good month for frogfish.
We’ve now been finding them at several of our regular dive sites. At Bounty, we currently have three rather large frogfish, while Turtle City and Hans Reef have also been producing frogfish encounters.
They are exactly the kind of animals that make you slow down and look twice. Once you know where to look, you start noticing just how much is hiding among the reef.
August in a Nutshell
Exceptionally clear water, unusually mild currents, colder-than-normal temperatures, very low tides and plenty of wind made August an interesting month for diving in the Gili Islands.
But the marine life certainly made up for the unpredictable conditions.
More than 20 turtles at Halik, mobulas in formation, frogfish appearing at several sites and even reports of whale sharks—it’s been a pretty good month underwater.
We’ll be back next month with another update from beneath the surface.
Planning a trip? See how diving conditions, marine life and visibility change from month to month in the Gili Islands. Explore all our monthly diving reports here: