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.
How come you haven’t taken us there! Two trips with you!
Clearly we have to come back!
Temple Garden is a deep/advanced dive, and conditions are not always optimal. Having said that, we definitely agree that ‘clearly you must come back!’ Be sure to request it and we will do our best to add it to your next itinerary.