One of the best kept secrets for divers is East Timor, or as some know it Timor Leste. East Timor might be known for its coffee, but it’s Southeast Asia’s newest nation. When you come to East Timor, you will want to experience the waters and the rural landscape. The regions to dive in East Timor are Atauro Island, Dili West, East From Dili, and around Lospalos. Those regions offer ten well known dive sites that any diver will want to visit, including: Big Fish, Manta Cove, North Point, Dili Rock, Cave, Secret Garden, K 41, K 57, Backside of Jesus and Jako Island. Let’s take a closer look!
Big Fish
One of the most popular dive sites in East Timor is Big Fish, on Atauro Island. This dive site is known well by those who deep dive, noted for thousands of pelagics, sharks, trevally and barracuda hence it’s name “Big Fish”. Although it’s a great dive, the currents can be strong here. This is definitely a dive for those who are more experienced, so ensure you are prepared before you head out to this one.
Manta Cove
Manta Cove known for the famous mantas is another favored dive site in Atauro Island. This dive is in a small cove, with a rather large 80 meter wall that has overhangs, and has an abundance of various marine life and corals to view. The waters in this particular area are pretty calm, making it a smooth dive experience for divers of all skill levels. This dive site has a lot to offer, and is only accessible by boat.
North Point
North Point is a wall dive, and a fantastic one at that, known for its outstanding visibility of up to 40 meters. On this dive you will find that it has a sandy flat bottom, with a plethora of sharks. This dive site is in a fantastic location, and is easy to find at the tip of Atauro Island and will allow divers to experience some small bands of corals, but the sharks remain the main attraction.
Dili Rock
One of the most famous dive sites in the region of Dili West, is called “Dili Rock”. Dili Rock is easy to access as it is a shore dive as well as an excellent training site. At the beginning of the dive you will see a slope, with a nice drop-off. This site has a nice variety of marine life including garden eels, frog fish, leaf scorpion fish, ghost pipe fish, anglers and a wide array of tropical fish all around.
Dili Harbor Wreck
The Dili Harbor Wreck, located in Dili West is an Indonesian made cargo ship. This ship is roughly 42 meters long, 7 meters wide. She was bombed during WWII and now lies in about 15 meters of water. Her rudder and propeller are still intact and divers can clearly see the wheel house, the engine, and the boiler even though the visibility for this site is only about 3 meters most of the time. The copper is still showing even after more than 60 years below the water, but is now wearing thin.
Secret Garden
Secret Garden is another great dive site in East from Dili, with outstanding visibility of up to 30 meters. The dive is about a 40 meter swim from the shore, but is well worth the workout. The only challenge here is when the tide is out, which can make cutting through the water more difficult than when in the shallow waters. However, it is always recommended to dive at high tide, so that the corals don’t get damaged. There are plenty of reef fish and several species of anemones in the Secret Garden.
K 41
K 41 is another crowd-pleasing dive site, known as a place where even the locals love to come and take the plunge. K41 is a wall dive, with nearly18 to 20 meters in depth. What you will see here is nothing short of spectacular with soft corals, sea fans and sponges. The further one goes east, the wall begins to slope down and becomes a wonderland of coral gardens.
K57
K 57, or “Jim’s Crack”, is another popular spot favored by the locals in East Timor. This site gets its name from its distance being 57 kilometers outside of Dili and is just a hop, skip and a jump from Manatutu. At this site, there is a nice stretch of beach, and a wall at the beginning of the dive. Some nice touches on this dive are tiny rays of light that peek through about 4 or 5 crevasses, shining down on the corals there. The marine life here is incredible with large gorgonians, daisy brown corals, purple fans, barracuda, napoleons and angel fish.
Backside of Jesus
The Backside of Jesus is a fabulous dive in East from Dili, getting its name from the statue of Jesus atop the Cape Fatucama. This statue, known by the locals as Cristo Rei, raises its arms in blessing, all things great and small, even below the waters. This site provides an underwater wonderland teeming with fish of all kinds, where you can see large groupings of bumphead parrotfish, breathtaking corals, anemones, sponges and giant clams. Imagine, seeing all of this at the Backside of Jesus!
Jako Island
The best diving in the south of East Timor is done around Lospalos, where you will find Jako Island. Jako Island is also home to Tutulala Beach, a favorite among the locals and visitors alike. Jako was once considered one of the most remote locations of East Timor to visit, but today it remains one of the most popular places to visit. Jako Island showcases an abundance of reefs and a wide array of marine life and tropical fish, and is a great location for underwater photography.
It has been said that the marine life in East Timor is so vast due to strong currents that draw nutrients toward it. Diving in East Timor will not disappoint, and will give you plenty of opportunities to catch photographs of the underwater world that so few have experienced.