Bali’s quiet north-west, where the reef starts at the shore

Pemuteran: Menjangan Island Snorkeling Trip with Lunch

The best-reviewed Menjangan trip on the market. A boat takes you into West Bali National Park to snorkel the island’s famous reef walls, where the coral drops away into deep blue just metres from the surface. Lunch is on the beach, often watched by the island’s tame Javan deer.

• Two snorkel stops on Menjangan’s coral gardens and walls
• Picnic lunch on the island, with wild deer nearby
• Hotel pickup in Pemuteran, gear included

Bali: Basic Snorkeling at Menjangan Island

A well-reviewed snorkelling trip that leaves from Banyuwedang, on the national park side of Pemuteran, so you spend less time on the boat and more in the water. A simple, reliable way to see Menjangan’s walls and coral gardens.

• Short crossing from the closest harbour to Menjangan
• Snorkel some of the best-preserved reefs in Bali
• Equipment and guide included

Basic Fun Dive at Menjangan Island

Menjangan’s walls start in a metre or two of water and drop to 30 metres or more, covered in sea fans, sponges and reef fish. This fun-dive trip from a Pemuteran dive centre is an easy way to dive it — check whether you need to be certified for the option you choose.

• Wall diving on one of Bali’s classic dive sites
• Gentle conditions most of the year
• Transfer from Pemuteran and guiding included

Bali: Banyuwedang Bay Mangrove Kayaking Tour

A gentle guided paddle through the mangroves on the edge of West Bali National Park, a short drive from Pemuteran. The water is sheltered and flat, which makes it a good choice for beginners and a calm-sea alternative on windy days.

• Paddle quiet mangrove channels in Banyuwedang Bay
• Look for herons, kingfishers and other water birds
• Learn how mangroves protect the coast and the reef

Pemuteran: Cooking Class — 3 Courses of Balinese Dishes

A relaxed, hands-on class in Pemuteran covering the building blocks of Balinese cooking — spice paste, sate and sambal. Highly rated, short and a good way to spend a hot afternoon or a rainy morning.

• Cook three Balinese dishes with local chefs
• Learn to make base genep, the island’s spice paste
• Eat everything you make

Pemuteran: West Bali Private Temple Tour with Melukat Ritual

A private day with a guide and driver visiting the sea and forest temples around Pemuteran, with the chance to take part in a melukat blessing. A new listing without reviews yet; sarongs and offerings are explained on the day.

• Four temples of the north-west, including Pura Pulaki
• Pura Teluk Terima inside the national park
• Optional melukat water-purification ritual

From West Bali: Ijen Blue Fire & Sunrise Tour

Pemuteran is one of the closest places in Bali to Ijen. This tour collects you around midnight, crosses the strait by ferry and climbs the volcano with a local guide in time for the blue flames and sunrise, returning by early afternoon. New on GetYourGuide, with few reviews so far.

• Night crossing to Java on the Gilimanuk ferry
• Blue fire in the crater before dawn
• Sunrise over Ijen’s turquoise acid lake

Lovina: Sunrise Dolphin Watching, Swimming & Snorkeling

The classic North Bali experience: a traditional jukung outrigger heads out at dawn to find the dolphin pods off Lovina, followed by a snorkel. Lovina is about an hour east of Pemuteran, so do it on the way in or out, or stay a night in Lovina.

• Wild spinner dolphins at sunrise
• Snorkel stop over a coral reef
• More than 3,000 reviews

North Bali: Dolphins, Ulun Danu Temple & Banyumala Waterfall

A well-paced full day combining the three highlights of the north: dolphins at dawn, the lake temple in the cool highlands and one of Bali’s prettiest waterfalls. Rated 4.9 by nearly 500 travellers.

• Sunrise dolphin watching off Lovina
• Pura Ulun Danu Bratan on its mountain lake
• Swim at the twin Banyumala waterfall

Pemuteran Beach

A calm, dark-sand bay with the reef at your feet

A long curve of grey volcanic sand on a sheltered bay, backed by the hills of West Bali National Park. The sea is flat for most of the year, fishing boats are drawn up on the sand, and the Biorock reef lies just offshore — this is a beach for snorkelling and sunsets rather than sunbathing.

Biorock Reef

One of the world’s largest coral restoration projects

Since 2000 the village has grown new reef on dozens of steel structures charged with a safe, low-voltage current, which helps coral grow faster and survive heat stress. Today the structures are covered in coral and fish, and you can snorkel over them straight from the beach.

Underwater Temple Garden

Statues and shrines on the sea floor

Off Pemuteran, Balinese-style statues and temple gates have been sunk as artificial reefs. The deeper garden is a dive site; newer statues set among the Biorock structures sit in shallow water, where snorkellers can see them grow a skin of coral and sponges.

Pura Pulaki

A sea temple guarded by monkeys

A major temple built against a cliff above the coast road a few kilometres east of Pemuteran, linked to the 16th-century priest Dang Hyang Nirartha. Hundreds of long-tailed macaques live around it, and nearby temples such as Pura Melanting make a short, atmospheric circuit.

Menjangan Island

Bali’s best snorkelling and wall diving

A small, uninhabited island inside West Bali National Park, 30–45 minutes by boat from Pemuteran. Its protected reefs drop away in steep walls covered in sea fans and soft corals, the water is usually calm and clear, and the island is named after the deer that roam its dry forest.

West Bali National Park

Savanna, monsoon forest and the rarest bird in Bali

Taman Nasional Bali Barat covers the far west of the island: dry savanna, monsoon forest, mangroves and coral reefs, including Menjangan. It is the last wild home of the critically endangered Bali starling, and deer, macaques, monitor lizards and hornbills are common.