In some parts of the world, the humble pipefish (Syngnathinae)  is an elusive character to try and find. Related to the better-known seahorse and enigmatic seadragon, pipefish like to hide in plain sight… in between the branches of a sea fan or nestled in between the protective spikes of a sea urchin, they use their particular species stripes or patterns to blend in with their preferred habitat. Pipefish can be found in a variety of reef habitats from seagrass (above) through to reefs, wrecks and even on coral rubble (below). Pipefish in Lombok are not that rare, in fact, you’ll be struggling to come up from a dive without seeing at least one or two species, probably several. They are very beautiful creatures and quite photogenic as you can see in these photos from our guest photographer Galina. Thank you Galina!

Meanwhile, even though October is normally when the high season starts to slow down, we’re still getting a nice level of visitors making the journey “down south” to visit us. As always we have just the right amount of visitors to these parts to have the dive sites to ourselves so we can always take our time appreciating the naturally healthy soft and hard corals of the “Secret Gilis” – as well as spotting some incredible critters, unusual marine inhabitants and of course, pipefish.

 

On the training front, we had the pleasure of teaching Dominique the skills and additional awareness needed to be a PADI Rescue Diver, and sisters Malina and Luisa continued to be all things to all people as they progress in their PADI Divemaster training with us.

Have you visited South Lombok before? Did you know that there are numerous diving possibilities here? Sekotong is home to some of the most pristine reefs in Indonesia as well as phenomenal white sand muck and critter diving. Belongas Bay is where we have some more exhilarating dives at our open ocean pinnacle sites – it’s also where we see seasonal schooling hammerheads and mobula rays!

If you would like to join us or would like more information about staying and diving in South Lombok, fill in the contact form below and we will get right back to you.