Dive sites – boat local
Any site less than a 20/30minute boat ride away from the harbour.
Pinnacle
A uniqueness in Timor leste, located really local just 10 mins from the Marine Police harbour. This sandbank dive site cannot be seen at the surface. Submerged around 12-15m below the surface it is a hotspot for fish. Probably the best chance to see white tip reef sharks, barracudas and the odd spanish mackerel. Additionally look out for the big schools of fusiliers, snappers, sweetlips and banner fish.
Although this site can have current it is usually an easy drift. It is usually a 30-45 minute dive depending on current, air consumption and no deco time. Totally worth every second. Why not book an early morning or sunset dive to pinnacle to increase the chance of seeing the bigger fish hunting!!!
Hera Banks
Another sand bank site or rather a series of sand banks located straight out from the Hera navy base. Unfortunately the visability is not always super clear here but the site makes up for that. Full of colourful corals and sponges the reef just goes on and on. In the sandy areas look for stingrays or sleeping whitetips. If you are lucky we may be able to find some pygmy seahorses in the sea fans!
Enjoy the stunning coral formations from around 12m-22m but don’t forget to keep an eye out in the blue for something bigger passing by.
Photo by Tom Barbour
Cristo Rey Front (can also be shore dive)
Even though you can dive this one by shore, you need high tide as it is quite a swim out to the drop off. If you do not wish to be dragging your equipments or yourself along the bottom and the tide is low better just to enter by boat.
A steep slope with lots of soft corals in the shallows. and some giant sponges, sean fans and whip corals as you get deeper. Keep an eye out for bumphead parrot fish swimming by. If you are lucky you may even see an eagle ray. Look under the corals for lobsters and blue spotted stingrays.
Cristo Rey Back (can also be shore dive)
Due to the lack of road hugging the coast if you opt for a shore dive it’s around a 45 minute drive out of Dili. Whereas by boat it is less than 15mins for the harbour.
Similar to the front side you will find a sloping reef but more gentle. There are massive coral formations in the shallows. Giant frogfish, ribbon eels and even the odd reef shark have been spotted here so eyes open!
Pertamina Pier (can also be shore dive)
Underneath the jetty of Pertamina -the Indonesian fuel company lies a completely different world. A shallow dive site with the end of the pier being around 15m. The poles shallow up quite quickly so you can end up spending a lot of time between 10 and 5m. Each pole is covered with hydroids, sponges or sea fans. This is a great habitat for schools of large Sweetlips, Barracudas, Batfish, Snappers and a lot of huge Scorpionfish, lionfish and FROGFISH. Look along the rocky/sandy bottom for Nudibranchs, Shrimps, and Eels.
If diving from shore be careful with the current- better to dive at slack tide.
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