Lots of soft coral and other life on this Buddha head statue
One of the many heads in Temple Garden Pemuteran
Constructed as one of the three BRF/Aus Aid funded projects, with the local divecentres. this spooky location consists of a small temple garden starting at 30m and works its way back to the dive site Temple Wall. Statues of Buddha, Ganesha, turtles and more abound behind an ornate Balinese gateway. Behind the central statue is an interesting little bommie with Buddha heads covered in cleaning shrimps. Up the wall and in the crevices behind you can find electric clams sparking away. Then at 15m you come to area of plinths and statue heads sitting in communion.
Is Temple Garden a snorkeling site?
No, not really. The statues are at a depth of 15-30 metres, and the visibility is often not the best due to its location in the bay. From the surface, you won’t be able to distinguish any real structural features because everything is covered with marine life. A better choice for snorkeling if you want to see statues and structures is Biorock.
NOTE; You may have seen pictures like these below on the internet showing statues and snorkelers. This is NOT the Temple Garden in Pemuteran.
NOT the Underwater Temple Garden in Pemuteran
Also, NOT the UW Temple Garden in Pemuteran
Can I dive Temple Garden as part of an Introductory Dive Course or Discover Scuba Diving experience?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. If you complete the introductory dive course with us, you will have a temporary certificate that is valid for 14 days. This allows you to dive under the direct supervision of a divemaster or instructor to a maximum depth of 12 metres (Temple Garden is at 15-30 metres). But you CAN join us on any of our other normal trips.
I am an Open Water Diver. Can I go to Temple Garden?
If you have lots of diving experience, including deep dives (bring your logbook) and you’ve done a dive with one of our staff, then most certainly you can go.
If you want to get your Advanced Adventurer or Advanced Diver certifications or Deep Diver specialty, with a little bit of bookwork, we can take you there as your deep training dive.
Even if you don’t want to get a certification, you can sit down with one of our instructors, get a deep diver orientation and he will accompany you on the dive.
I have Advanced and/or Deep Diver certification, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been diving. What about me?
Yes, but not as your first/only dive with us. Consider taking a refresher course or a gentle refresher dive with one of our instructors/divemasters first. Get your feet wet on a slow and easy dive, sort out any equipment/buoyancy issues, and then you’ll be ready to go.
Temple Garden is one of the premier sites in Pemuteran, and we want to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for our brethren.
Anne and her mother stayed here this month and spent a week in ‘Mucky Pirates Bay’ looking for critters and finding many. Here are just some of the photo’s she left for me to share with the Brethren. Enjoy
From the Jakarta Post, by Ni Komang Erviani on 2012-06-27
A coral reef restoration project in Pemuteran bay, Buleleng, North Bali — about 130 kilometers from Denpasar — was awarded the Equator Prize by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Karang Lestari, the community-based foundation that initiated the project in Pemuteran, has been recognized for its outstanding success in promoting local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.
The award was presented by Helen Clark, UNDP administrator, to I Gusti Agung Prana, the representative of the Karang Lestari Foundation, on June 20 during the Equator initiative gala event at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Karang Lestari was one of 25 recipients from 812 nominations submitted by communities in 113 countries across the developing world. The recipients of the Equator Prize 2012 will each receive US$5,000, with 10 selected for special recognition and a total of $20,000.
In addition to the Equator Prize, Karang Lestari Foundation also won the UNDP Special Award for marine and coastal zone management. The award was given on June 21 during the conference.
“This award, obviously, is for all Pemuteran people as the project would not run smoothly without the support of the community,” the chairman of the Karang Lestari Foundation, I Gusti Agung Prana, said on Tuesday.
Karang Lestari received the Equator Prize in the oceans category. Other recipients were the Pacari Network (Brazil) in the biodiversity category; the Namdrik Atoll Local Resources Committee (Marshall Islands) in the community-based adaptation category; the Abrha Weatsbha Natural Resource Management Initiative (Ethiopia) in the dry lands category; the Medicinal Plants Association (Egypt) in the energy category; Women and Land (Tajikistan) in the food category; the West Africa Initiative of Liberia (Liberia) in the forest category; the United Women Artisans’ Association of Los Límites (Colombia) in the waste category; Shashwat (India) in the water category; and Swazi Indigenous Products (Swaziland) in the women’s empowerment category.
The Equator Initiative is a partnership that brings together the UN, governments, civil society, businesses and grass roots organizations to advance local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities. As a part of the Initiative, the Equator Prize helps share the message that biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, which are being lost and degraded at alarming rates, are essential to ensuring global sustainability.
“We were really surprised at the award because the selection process was very tight and took a long time. We did not even know when the team was coming to Pemuteran. They did it without informing us. They did it quietly,” Prana said.
Pemuteran’s coral restoration project has been running since 2000 as a collaboration between the Karang Lestari Foundation and the Global Coral Reef Alliance. The project, which has planted around 70 “bio-rock” coral reef structures, each of a different size and shape, has restored the devastated coral reefs and fisheries of Pemuteran bay. The alliance claimed the project to be the world’s largest, longest running and best coral reef
restoration project.
Previously, the project had received numerous accolades, including the Konas Award from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry for the Best Community Based Coastal Management in 2002, the Asianta Award and Kalpataru Award from the President of Indonesia in 2005, the Pioneering award from the Bali administration in 2007, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award in 2008, and the Tri Hita Karana Award in 2011.
Former minister of tourism and culture and the project’s sole advisor, I Gde Ardika, said that he was elated to hear about the UNDP recognition.
“This proves that the project is recognized by the world,” he said from Bandung during a teleconference meeting with Karang Lestari’s stakeholders.
“This project is real evidence that the tourism sector can work side by side with the community in preserving the environment. It should be replicated by the Bali tourist industry.”
Buleleng Marine and Fishery Agency head, Nyoman Sutrisna, said that the Buleleng administration would follow the success of the Pemuteran coral reef restoration project. The same project would be replicated on other parts of
Buleleng’s coastline.
“Buleleng has 157.05 kilometers of coastline. We expect that we can implement the same method of coral reef restoration in Lovina, Kerobokan and other beaches,” Sutrisna stated.
Recent visit by the Green School out of the landlocked Port of Ubud, (http://www.greenschool.org) turned out to be a good opportunity to put the Nasty Nemo through her paces. And she handled it all with easy and space to spare.
The Green School was up on a field trip to the Biorock Project. Where they learn how to electrify coral to good effect 😉 After a morning of learning and snorkeling the projects they took a break to explore a local reef (Close Encounters) where they got to see first hand what can happen when local businesses work with the village and fishing community to help protect the local marine environment in a sustainable way.
The Next day they head out again this time to visit the Solar Powered Biorock offshore structures. The Biowreck and BioBoomer. The later named in honour of the once long time resident of the of the Turtle Project, run by my old mate Chris Brown just down the beach from us. Another longtime resident and local Eco warrior.
Then its prepare for the beach and Mucky Pirates Bay clean up.
DiveMaster Made and Captain Sahari lend a helping hand.
Despite the lousy visibility everyone heads out with a modicum of enthusiasm on their perilous mission to rid our bay of marauding plastic.
A Junior Eco Wench is Joined by Captain Botac scouring the Bay for hidden enemies amongst the fishing boats.
After a hard morning of snorkeling, diving and rescuing our beloved and now not so Mucky Pirates Bay. The lads and lasses of the Green School sit down to enjoy a well earned Nasi Bungkus.
And thus their day ends with a swift voyage home and memories of noble deeds and plastic vanquished on the shores of Pemuteran.
Garr! Guys n we be hopin’ ta seeing ye all again.
The Captain
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