Menjangan Island : The Beauty Underwater Scenery

Bali Personal Drivers - Menjangan Island stands majestically in the middle of the ocean with a backdrop of Mount Rawung, which is located in East Java. Located about 10 miles off the North West coasts of Bali, Menjangan Island is a small island belonging to the West Bali National Park. West Bali National Park itself consists of four islands, namely Kalong Island, Gadung Island, Bird Island and the last is Menjangan Island.
The word 'menjangan' in Javanese means 'kijang' or deer in the English language. The naming of this beautiful island, based on the presence of wild deer herd swam to the island a distance of 1.2 miles each spring. In this uninhabited island, the deers is widely seen but its population has declined. Therefore, the government made conservation effort and make Menjangan Island as part of the West Bali National Park. This is done to protect deer habitat from extinction and of course to preserve nature and biodiversity of Menjangan Island and the surrounding areas.

Menjangan Island is the first place where the diving activity, engaged seriously in Bali. In 1978, the Indonesian Navy sponsoring an event gathering or diving activities along with dive clubs in Indonesia, which consists of: POSSI, Ganesha, Nusantara, and Trisakti. The event became a turning point maketh Menjangan Island as a mainstay of international diving locations in Bali. Some participants of the event later also became a pioneer in the commercial diving operations in several areas throughout Indonesia.
Besides tourism, Menjangan Island is also used as a place of worship by the people of Bali. On this island there are Pura Segara Giri Kencana which initially is a border between the islands of Bali and Java and later became the forerunner of Menjangan Island.

What is interesting here ...?

With a stretch of white sandy beaches and colorful underwater garden, Menjangan Island is the perfect definition of The Beauty Underwater Scenery of Western Bali Sea. About 20 meters from the shoreline you can instantly find a sea wall with a depth that is quite challenging for those of you who love diving or do free dive. Thousands of marine life in them are very invigorating eye. Additionally the sea around the island of Menjangan is calm and clear, so that the island is frequently visited by photographers, because here they can get underwater objects that diverse and amazing.

Menjangan Island is also known as the best wall diving in Bali, because it has an underwater garden which is very bright and colorful and rich in marine life. Menjangan island surrounded by coral reefs which are marked with a "drop off" 60 meters and the complex rock formations. The rock formations formed a number of caves both large and small, which is home for coral reefs, soft coral, large groupers and moray eels. In small caves, many small snappers and batfish look pacing. The seabed of Menjangan Island is also rich in barrel sponges and sea fans are even able to reach a very large size. The Depth and the flows of its sea that quiet, making underwater gardens around Menjangan is the perfect place to live for tuna, jackfish, batfish, angelfish, sea turtles, and even sharks.

At a depth of approximately 45 meters, there is a point Anchor Wreck diving. As the name implies, there are shipwrecks complete with a rusty anchor. The location is known as "Anker" or "Kapal Budak" (Slave Ship). Allegedly this wreck is a Netherlands ship in the 19th century were sunk during World War II. This ship named Slave Ship for allegedly transporting slaves from Bali heading to Batavia (now Jakarta). On the inside the ship, found the crates of ceramics and glass bottles that have been overgrown with soft corals. When were these wrecks are likely to encounter turtles and sharks.

Eel Garden is a diving spot which is located in the western part of Menjangan and is touted as the best dive sites in the island of Menjangan. As the name implies, in this area there is a large colony of garden eels and sea fans. The dive begins from the wall at a depth of approximately 40 meters, which is rich in gorgonians and type of biota or other marine plants. This region is also famous because, its charm white sand, were sparkling at the edge of the shoreline.

Secret Bay is a diving spot which is a paradise for macro-photographers, video-operators, and marine biologists. There are no coral reefs in this shallow dives point (no more than 9 meters); its dive activity known as "muck diving". Located near the port of Gilimanuk, this dive region has a seabed volcanic sand (muddy) is grayed out and is a habitat for marine life is rare and endemic. In fact, recently several oceanographers found 4 species of anglerfish who first discovered, including the sargassum anglerfish, Spotfin anglerfish, and especially Tono anglerfish are specifically attracted great attention from marine researchers. Besides the rare fish, the region is home to a lot of types of sea horses such as dragonets, ghostpipefish, nudibranchs, lionfish, sea shrimp, ribbon eels, and so forth.

Menjangan Island offers fantastic diving experience for you. The ocean currents are usually pretty quiet and all levels of divers can enjoy this area. Sometimes appear sighting of whales, sharks, manta rays and sea turtles swim with remora fish on his back. Menjangan Island is The Beauty Underwater Scenery

You are interested to visit Menjangan Island ...?
Read first some extra information about this island below :

• If you want to Menjangan Island and you stay in the tourist area of Kuta, Sanur or Nusa Dua (within approximately 140 miles), it takes about 4 hours or more with a line through Denpasar to get to the small harbor named Labuan Lalang in Teluk Terima bay (Terima Bay). Labuan Lalang itself is a village which is used as a central point of information on West Bali National Park. From here, you can rent a boat that is intended as a transportation to heading to Menjangan Island. Do not forget, you also have to hire a guide here, because this is a national park. Another alternative is a boat ride from a small dock on the bay named Banyuwedang in the Teluk Banyuwedang (Banyuwedang Bay), which is next door to Mimpi Resort Menjangan.

• The boat used is a traditional boat that can accommodate up to 12 passengers (2 guide and 10 guests). And, this certainly can be shared, even if you are not in a group, you can get acquainted with a fellow traveler who has the same destination. Oh yeah, the boat rental is only for 4 hours. So, you cannot stay on Menjangan Island.

• A boat trip to Menjangan Island takes between 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the weather and the boat load. When you do activities dives, boat crew will be waiting for you in a tree house in the mangrove trees that they deliberately created as a place to rest.

• As an uninhabited island, Menjangan Island does not have the form of lodging accommodations, restaurants, shops, and more. The needs of accommodation is available in nearby islands around the area of West Bali National Park and or around Pemuteran. You should bring enough food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, sunscreens, and other items you might need. Prepare to dive support tools that you can rent at a nearby resort before you head to Menjangan Island. In Labuan Lalang snorkeling equipment rentals are available. If you want to take photos in the water, there is also an underwater camera rental.

• Menjangan Island beach itself also has a view that is not less beautiful. Besides a white sand beach, on the island of Menjangan you can also see the bat caves in the cliffs at the edge of the beach, and this can be distinctive sights for us to enjoy. Not surprisingly, many tourists who come here think that 4 hours is a very less time, because it is not enough to explore the beauty of Menjangan Island as a whole.

• The best time to visit and explore The Beauty Underwater Scenery in Pulau Menjangan is in April and November.

Reference : indonesia.travel/id
Photo : commons.wikimedia.org