Bali's north coast sees fewer divers than the rest of the island as the drive there can take as much as 4-5 hours from the airport, longer if you stop for some sightseeing on the way. Yet with three distinct scuba diving regions, the trek is an absolute must.

Menjangan Marine Park | This tiny, unpopulated island and a national park. Ringed by steep walls, there are large fans and whip corals smothering the depths while the shallower landscape is one of hard corals with schools of fish. There is a wreck, said to be an old slave boat, sitting on a gentle sandy slope at around 40 metres.

Secret Bay | More properly known as Gilimanuk, this broad bay is less than 12 metres deep and protected by an offshore reef. Currents that sweep up the Bali Strait are funnelled into the shallow cove bringing all sorts of small and strange animals into it. Seahorses, octopus and the Ambon scorpionfish are a few of the more unusual creatures.

Puri Jati | This bay has a flat sea floor with a maximum depth of ten metres. It extends for some distance from the beach until there is a sudden drop to about 30 metres. Seagrass and large leaved halameda algae create a prolific nursery ground with just-born filefish, cockatoo waspfish, newly laid squid eggs and frogfish the size of a pea.