Did you know it’s pretty easy to swim with turtles in Bali? The Island of a Thousand Temples is well known for its stunning beaches, vibrant culture, and incredible landscapes. And it offers a unique opportunity for wildlife enthusiasts and ocean lovers alike – swimming with turtles. There is nothing quite like swimming alongside these gentle creatures, and Bali provides several beautiful reefs where you can immerse yourself in their natural habitat. In this guide, we’ll explore the best places to swim with turtles in Bali, ensuring an unforgettable (and ethical) encounter with turtles for every wildlife lover travelling to Bali.
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Which Species of Sea Turtle Live in Bali?
Indonesia is home to six of the world’s seven sea turtle species, and four of them are fairly abundant in Bali’s waters.
The two most common species to see on the shores of Bali are the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), which are listed as Endangered and Critically Endangered, respectively, on the IUCN Red List.
5 Tips to Ensuring Ethical Encounters: Respecting Turtles and Their Habitat
While you swim with turtles in Bali, it is essential that you approach these encounters with the utmost respect for the turtles and their environment. By following ethical guidelines and practicing responsible tourism, you can ensure that your interactions with these majestic creatures are both safe and sustainable.
- Maintain a Respectful Distance: When encountering turtles in their natural habitat, it is so important to maintain a respectful distance. While they are extremely gentle creatures, don’t forget that turtles are wild animals and need their space to feel safe and undisturbed. Also, try to avoid swimming directly above turtles, as you could be unknowingly blocking their path to the surface to breathe, which is extremely stressful for them.
- Do Not Feed or Touch: Feeding turtles or attempting to touch them can have detrimental effects on their health and behaviour. Feeding wild animals can disrupt their natural diet and lead them to become dependent on humans for food.
- Respect the Reef: Many of the best turtle-watching sites in Bali are located on delicate coral reefs. These fragile ecosystems are often irreversibly damaged by people walking on or touching them. By maintaining your distance and being extra mindful of your surroundings, you can minimise your impact on the marine environment and help preserve it for future generations.
- Choose Responsible Tour Operators: If booking snorkelling or diving excursions, make sure you read the reviews and opt for reputable tour operators that really care for the ocean and its wildlife.
- Dispose of Waste Properly: Help keep Bali’s oceans clean and free from pollution by properly disposing of any waste or litter. Our oceans extremely polluted and we all need to do our bit to recovering their habitats.
By following ethical guidelines and being conscious of your actions, you can ensure that your encounters with turtles in Bali are not only amazing for you but also respectful and sustainable for the turtles. We all need to strive to protect these magnificent creatures and their home for generations to come.
The 5 Best Places to Swim With Turtles In Bali
1) Amed
Amed is a hidden gem on Bali’s northeast coast and is renowned for its vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life. It is a pretty well-known destination amongst divers, but seems to be a lot less know by tourists in general.
Amed’s great snorkelling and diving conditions make it a prime spot for seeing sea turtles – and one where you can easily do it yourself for free! You don’t need to worry about spending lots of money on a tour or boat trip, instead you can see them right off of the beach by yourself. Amed is home to both hawksbill and green turtles, as well as countless other incredible marine life, so you will love it!
With its beautiful reefs and some stunning landscapes, Amed is arguably our favourite place in the whole of Bali, and our top recommendation for wildlife enthusiasts or anybody who wants to swim with turtles in Bali.
Amed Beach – Turtles On Your Doorstep, Literally
Amed Beach is our favourite place to swim with turtles in Bali! It offers some incredible snorkelling right off of the beach where you can see critically endangered hawksbill turtles regularly. The best spot to see the turtles is around the “Pyramids” which refers to the interesting pyramid sculptures on the ocean floor in the area.
Just head to the “Pyramid snorkelling spot” near Warung Bobo, bring your snorkel and flippers, wade into the water, and you’re straight into turtle habitat. We saw turtles every time we went in the water – sometimes straight away, and sometimes it would take an hour of searching the reef around the area for them. And not only are there turtles, but there are so many other cool creatures such as clownfish (Nemo), blue-spotted stingray, banded sea snake, and a whole host of colourful and vibrant fish in all directions.
Where to stay
What made it even more special was that we stayed right on the beach in an amazing guesthouse called Tudes Homestay. The property literally backed onto the beach, so each morning we would jump out of bed and be in the ocean looking for turtles within seconds. Oh yeah, and if that isn’t enough, look at the sunset view from the shore directly outside our backyard…
Jemeluk Bay
Jemeluk Bay is a beautiful calm bay with some incredible corals and very picturesque underwater statues. It was a lot harder for us to find turtles here than at Amed Beach, but you should definitely visit if you are in Amed as the general marine life and corals were beautiful and extremely abundant.
2) Gili Islands
Although not technically located in Bali, being part of a neighbouring island called Lombok, the Gili Islands are easily accessible from Bali via a short ferry ride. The Gilis are made up of three islands: Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan, all offering a different experience, but all being great for snorkelling and seeing turtles.
If your primary goal is to enjoy the wildlife and have some time to relax, it is best to stay on the less crowded islands of Gili Air and Gili Meno. “Gili T” is a lot more popular amongst tourists for its party vibe, so the choice of island depends on what you are after.
Gili Air: Turtle Beach
Turtle Beach, aptly named for its abundance of green and hawksbill sea turtles, is a haven for turtles and snorkelers alike. Located on the eastern coast of Gili Air, it is a beach offering crystal-clear waters and the opportunity to snorkel with turtles by yourself for free. And it also happens to be an incredible place to watch the sunrise!
Once you arrive on the beach, strap on your snorkel gear and venture into the turquoise waters. The reef is easily accessible from the shore, making it ideal for snorkelers wanting to experience turtles without the need to pay for an expensive tour. You’re almost guaranteed to encounter both green and hawksbill turtles here gliding through the coral gardens.
A little tip when arriving at Gili Air – as soon as you get off of the boat at the harbour, if you walk immediately to the right onto the concrete area and have a look in the water near to the docked boats, you may be greeted by some turtles feeding on the algae there. We saw four or five enormous green turtles chilling right there below us in the water (no swimming here though as it is an active harbour!).
Gili Meno: Turtle Heaven
Gili Meno, like all of the Gili Islands, is surrounded by turtles! And again, here you can easily swim with them yourself right off of the beach with no need to spend money on an expensive tour. We found the best place to see the turtles, quite unsurprisingly, was the area called Turtle Heaven to the northeast of the island.
Again, head to the beach near here using your phone’s map, pop your snorkelling mask on and hop into the water. After a little bit of time exploring around the coral reef you should be able to spot yourself a turtle! We saw three turtles all swimming together at one time here which was pretty incredible!
3) Nusa Penida
Just a short 45-minute boat ride from Bali’s southeastern coast, Nusa Penida (and its sister island Nusa Lembongan) are renowned for breathtaking landscapes and idyllic waters. The islands offer some exceptional snorkelling and diving sites, where not only can you see sea turtles, but you can also have encounters with gigantic manta rays and even sunfish at certain times of year.
Head to locations like Crystal Bay or Gamat Bay, where nutrient-rich waters attract an abundance of marine biodiversity, including resident green and hawksbill turtles. With its rugged coastlines of spectacular cliffs and blue waters, Nusa Penida provides an unparalleled setting for swimming alongside these magnificent creatures.
Most of the best spots in Nusa Penida are only accessible via boat, so you will have to do the majority of your underwater exploration via a tour. We only managed to see two turtles in Nusa Penida, but the overall snorkelling experience was incredible as we got to swim alongside gigantic reef manta rays, as well as snorkelling on reefs that were so vibrant it felt like being inside an aquarium.
We did our snorkelling tour with Discover Nusa Penida (because they had great reviews on TripAdvisor), and it was an absolutely incredible experience and one we fully recommend it to anybody who wants the chance to see turtles and manta rays!
IMPORTANT! The currents around some of Nusa Penida’s beaches are insanely strong and EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! So please please please do not just go to a beach and swim like you would in other places. Many people have drowned by being caught in the currents in Nusa Penida, so please be careful and only swim where it is safe to do so.
And if you are interested in snorkelling with manta rays in Nusa Penida, be sure to check out our article on snorkelling with manta rays which is coming soon!
4) Menjangan Island
As part of West Bali National Park, Menjangan Island offers a secluded haven for a whole host of marine life making another great location to swim with turtles in Bali. With pristine waters and vibrant coral reefs, it is a great place for ocean lovers.
You will have to visit as part of a tour though, due to it being part of the National Park, so it is not as easily accessible as some of the other locations, and it will also cost you money to pay for the tour. If you do visit, renowned snorkelling sites like Eel Garden or Coral Garden are great for turtle sightings.
5) Padang Bai
Located on the eastern coast of Bali, Padang Bai is another place boasting crystal-clear waters teeming with marine life. It is a village renowned for its relaxed atmosphere and excellent snorkelling opportunities. Snorkelling off of Blue Lagoon Beach gives you decent chance of seeing green sea turtles, though not as high as at some of the previous locations we mentioned. Snorkelling trips and boat tours are readily available at Padang Bai, allowing you to explore the underwater world and swim alongside these gentle giants.
Conclusion
If you are planning on travelling to Bali and already can’t contain your excitement at the prospect of getting to swim with turtles in Bali, then you’re in luck. Bali hosts many destinations with almost guaranteed turtle sightings, providing the chance to have some unforgettable wildlife experiences where you have the opportunity to connect with these gentle creatures in some of the world’s most stunning destinations. And the best part – you have the choice to experience it by yourself for free or to join a guided boat tour, depending on your preference.
If you want the opportunity to easily swim with turtles by yourself and on your own time schedule, we recommend Amed and the Gili Islands. In both of these places, there are beaches where you can simply turn up, grab a snorkel and some fins, enter the water, and get out there there with the turtles.
There are also many places where you can instead join a guided boat tour to see turtles. In fact, all of the locations mentioned here will have plenty of snorkelling and diving tour options where you can join to see turtles. And despite our preference being to experience it by ourselves and on our own schedule, some of these tours definitely have their own advantages in terms of offering the chance to go to locations where you would otherwise not be able to experience. This is especially true in Nusa Penida, where being on a boat gives you the opportunity to travel to otherwise inaccessible spots providing unparalleled experiences swimming with manta rays and spectacular views of the coastline.
Whether you’re exploring the vibrant coral reefs of the Gilis, the tranquil shores of Amed, or the colder nutrient-rich waters of the Nusa Penida, encountering the gentle giants we call turtles will leave you in complete awe. So, pack your snorkel gear, dive into the turquoise waters, and embark on the adventure of a lifetime as you swim with turtles in the tropical paradise of Bali.
For more wildlife and travel content in Bali (and Indonesia more generally), keep an eye out here: Indonesia, as we will be posting many more guides on the best places and experiences in Indonesia for wildlife lovers in the coming months! And give us a follow on Pinterest and Instagram! Happy Travels!
