Top Snorkeling and Scuba Diving in Dili

Occupying 24,000 square kilometers on the eastern half of an island in the Timor Sea between Indonesia and Australia, East Timor has a population of approximately 800,000 people.

Dili Rock is also known as Pedra de Dili.

Tasi Tolu is a small critter dive site. It is especially interesting at night when many burrowing crabs, crustaceans and cephalopods come out of the sand to look for food. The slope is a very gradual sandy bank and one must be carefull to check depth to avoid going too deep. It is not uncommon to see rhinopias, sea horses, frogfish and harlequin ghost pipefish. At night, small octopus and well camouflaged pink soft coral crabs often highlight the dive. The site is only 15-20 minutes from the center of Dili. The turn off is located after having passed the road to the airport and is basically where the ocean is first visible. You turn to the right on a dirt track and can park your car 10 m from the water. The entry is a very easy gradual sandy entry.

Outer Reef is also known as Atauro.

Praia da Acrema is also known as Praia da Akrema.

Small and big fauna can be found here.. The reef is healthy and water so clear. Beautiful scenery. The Adara is located in north of Atauro island and can be reach by dive operator boat from Dili. You can find Compass Charters & Ocean Adventures who organize dive trip to Atauro daily.

The site is covered in many different kinds of coral. Big schools of bumphead wrasse have been spotted here. In the 5-10 meter zone there are many giant clams with irridescent colors. This site is also a great nudibranch zone. This side of Christo Rei is a 20 minute drive from Dili center. You must take the road towards Baucau and once over the first hill there is a turn-off to the left onto a gravel road. Take the gravel road and drive along the coast for 10 - 15 minutes until you reach the end at a very nice beach. There are some scrubby trees on the beach that offer some shade where you can gear up. The best entry point is in about the middle of the bay in a sandy/sea grass area. Be careful where you step as that is where Charlie the seahorse was spotted clinging to a blade of sea grass. The entry is gradual and will then turn to a nice small wall of coral that follows the coast most of the way around the bay. Cristo Rei East is also known as Bakside of Cristo Rei.

Halfway between the two entries to the parking lot for the Christo Rei statue climb there is a small tree with a rock step stone going to the beach. The entry is characterized by a good distance of broken coral bottom marked by locally made rock-walled fish traps. During low tide, one must walk quite some distance before reaching adequate depth. To the East of the entry there is a resident Blue Moray eel in one of the coral formations. Also seen: Black tipped reef sharks, blue groper, blue spotted rays, very large slipper crab. Beware of strong currents beyond the point at the North end of the site. A great site only 10 minutes by car from Central Dili. Approximately 6KM East of Dili. On the beach road almost to the end under the Christo Rei statue overlooking Dili.

This dive site is a bit hidden at 34.8km East of Dili. It is located behind a grove of palm trees. One must drive slowly once the grove of trees is see form the road because the dirt track leading through the trees to the beach is not well marked. Once in the water, the best direction to take is East if you are interested more in corals. To the West the coral is not as abundant and soon the area is dominated by sandy rubble. On either side the slope tends to drop off rather quickly to 20-25 meters. This site is nudibranch central. It is rare to dive at this site and not come up wondering if you just discovered a new species of sea slug. Lots of coral formations and to the East of the site there is lots of coral cover on the slopes. An excellent picnic spot for family and non-diving friends as there are several shade trees in the sandy area close to the beach. Be careful at low tide when the coral is close to the surface and could scratch passing swimmers. This site has a relatively long, shallow entry. It takes some distance to get to deeper water but well worth it. Try not to come at low tide when some of the coral is very close to the surface and could make getting across it a bit challenging. Secret Spot is also known as Secret Garden.

Dili Rock West is different than its neighbor Dili Rock in the sense that it does not have areas of sandy bottom. On the contrary, the area is covered in hard and soft corals harboring many fish. In one area just west of the entry point there is a large expanse of the bulbous kind of staghorn or acropora coral which is always teaming with anthias and damselfish. This site is also very popular with anemones and their anemonefish (nemo) hosts. Dili Rock West is located just past Dili rock dive site ont he northern coast road from Dili to Liquica. Coming from Dili you drive past the airport to an area called Tasi Tolu. After passing a military facility to your left you can start looking for the dirt tracks leading to the shore not far from the rock formation "Dili Rock". Once on the dirt tracks follow them to the West side of the rock. There is a small area you can park in near the statur in the form of a rock that greets people coming to Dili from the West. The Entry requires a bit of walking on a dead coral shelf. Be careful to watch out for cracks in the rock surface. You will come to a ledge from which you can do a giant stride entry right into the coral reef area.

Atauro has a number of breathtaking walls to explore. If the current is not too strong, you can just drift as you look at the thousands of species of animals growing on the wall. Be careful not to lose track of your depth because the bottom is not visible from 15-20 meters depth and it is easy to lose yourself in the magic of the corals. In the deep blue water that surrounds the island big fish like tuna and swordfish are known to swim by. It is common to hear of turtle sitings while diving Ataturo's walls. You need to hire a boat to get out to Atauro island. Dive Timor Lorosae offers trips to the island but will only go, once they have a minimum of 8 divers. The boat trip is approximately 45-50 minutes to the dive site. The entry is off the boat which puts you at the top of a 40-50 meter deep wall covered in corals.