We had some wonderful diving this weekend around Pemuteran and Menjangan and wanted to place a new Geocache to commemorate the occasion! This is Gavin's first cache and he invites you to write about anything you've seen on your dives or snorkels around the area. While there is a real lack of large fish on these reefs, the substrate is beautiful and the soft coral Gorgonian sea fans are impressive - one even completely dwarfed Gavin head to fin-tip! Our most exciting find was a giant frogfish!
Menjangan Island (Menjangan literally translates to 'deer' and there is a species native to this region) is part of the Bali Barat (West Bali) National Park. As per August 2020, the daily entrance fees for the park were 200,000 IDR for foreigners and 10,000 IDR for Indonesian citizens and residents - One base ticket covers you for the day whether diving or hiking, but additional fees apply depending on your additional activities (for example, diving is an additional 25,000 IDR per person per day).
Getting to Menjangan Island: There are no public ferries to the island, but there is a cooperative of boat operators that have permits to operate to the park and have set fixed-rate fees. To charter a boat for the day from Banyumandi jetty was 525,000 IDR at the time of cache placement. If you are travelling solo, you could ask the friendly people at either of the two boat departure points (Banyumandi or Labuan Lalang) to help you set up a shared trip.
Please be VERY stealthy while finding the cache as muggles usually abound and you will need to provide clever cover to retrieve, sign and replace without being seen!!!
We hope you enjoy your visit to Menjangan Island and Bali Barat (West Bali) National Park! For additional information on visiting the National Park, you can check out the following links:
https://wikitravel.org/en/West_Bali_National_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bali_National_Park