Snorkeling in Amed: A Guide to the Best Bays and Beaches

Great choice to go snorkeling in Amed; it’s got some of the calmest and clearest water in all of Bali, and also some of the shallowest reefs too. While it is a very popular scuba diving destination, it’s also a place where scuba isn’t entirely necessary with so many amazing places to snorkel in Amed right from the beach.

Amed is a smaller fishing village on Bali’s northeast coast. It’s got a much slower pace than most of Bali’s tourism centers, so you can feel good about kicking back and relaxing here. Amed has some amazing mountain/volcano views, food and drink options, and plenty of advetures that involve water.

If you are making a trip out to go snorkeling in Amed, here are the things you must know before you go.

Before Getting to Amed

Getting to Amed

Amed is about 2-2.5 hours from Ngurah Rai International Airport and other popular areas such as Seminyak and Canggu. While it is possible to rent a car or hire a driver, it’s easiest to reach Amed by renting a scooter. Most accommodations will offer scooter rental, or there are lots of shops in popular tourist areas.

You can also book a ferry transfer from Lombok or the Gili Islands or rides from Sanur, Ubud, and more. View ways to get to Amed here.

Where to Stay + What to Do in Amed

I could go on forever about things to do in Amed, beautiful road trips around Amed, AMAZING food options all over town, and also some awesome accommodation options… Which is why I have actually already written a whole article about it!

For more info apart from just snorkeling in Amed, click for my Amed Travel Guide Here. If you are looking to do some scuba diving, check out our other article about the Best Scuba sites in Bali.

Renting a Mask and Snorkel in Amed

If you just want to snorkel for a few hours, it might suffice to rent snorkeling gear from vendors on the beaches. All of the most popular snorkeling beaches in Amed will have places to rent a snorkel, mask, and fins… often from beachside restaurants that also offer water sports and snorkel rentals.

The best way to find a place to rent a snorkel in Amed is to have a look along the beach to see if you can see a rack of masks and goggles hanging anywhere – they are usually hung in an obvious place so people will see them. If not, ask a local and many of them have masks at their home that they will rent to you for a cheap price (or know someone who will). 

I had someone run home and be back with a mask for me in 5 minutes! Most will rent you a mask for about 20k for an hour, give or take – try haggling for more masks and more time if you want.

Buying Snorkel Gear in Amed 

If you are planning a more intense Amed snorkeling trip, you might want to buy your own snorkeling gear so you aren’t tied to a rental time limit. A lot of the shops along the main Amed road will sell snorkel gear of varying qualities that you can pick up.

Be warned, however – snorkeling gear in Bali is NOT cheap for whatever areas on. Most masks and snorkels I have seen are at least 450kIDR to 650kIDR (about $32-45$USD), and even more if you want fins. So, it might be better to rent three separate times for 20k each time if you aren’t staying or traveling with snorkel gear.

The Best Places to Go Snorkeling in Amed

Here are the best beaches for snorkeling and renting gear in Amed:

Jemeluk Bay Snorkeling

Jemeluk Bay is a beautiful, long, curved bay situated right in the middle of Amed. The bay is at the base of the hill that houses popular spots like Sunset Point and Blue Heaven Restaurant/Yoga Shala. It’s also bordered by some great restaurants that look right out onto the water and the rocky beach full of colorful fishing boats.

You can rent snorkel gear in Jemeluk Bay from most of the restaurants and dive/freedive shops that border it. The coral is wonderful for the whole stretch of beach from the eastern edge – so just enter the water and explore away! I most highly recommend snorkeling at the easternmost part of the beach (nearer to the hill) to find and awesome underwater temple to freedive/snorkel over.

The underwater temple is easy to find – just look for the buoy out past the reef shelf. The temple is about 2-5m deep. It’s great to dive down to and take pictured with as the entire thing has become its own reef teeming with sea life.

Lipah Bay Snorkeling

Lipah Bay is perhaps the most famous spot not only for snorkeling in Amed but also for scuba diving (read more about Bali scuba diving here). This beach is a rare site where you can scuba dive AND snorkel right from the beach. The best reefs and underwater sights are to the east of the beach (go right if you are facing the water – see a map here).

Here you can expect TONS of colorful sea life, a few ‘coral gardens’ with fresh growing coral, and if you are lucky, an underwater bicycle which is really fun for photos. There have been mantis shrimps spotted here (tiny shrimps best spotted by a guide or expert), the occasional reef shark, squids, surgeonfish, triggerfish, angelifish, and much more.

Lipah Bay is best for snorkeling when it’s mid to lower tide, as the coral will be just below your nose! It’s better at higher tide for scuba as sometimes yo could hit your gear on the coral if you get too close.

Japanese Wreck Snorkeling in Amed

The ‘Japanese Wreck’ snorkeling site is one of the rare places you can visit a real wreck just with a snorkel and without diving down 10+ meters. Located in a bay called Banyuning Bay off a point aptly named ‘Japanese Ship Wreck Point,’ you can view it a mere 10ish meters fro the beach.

This wreck is a bit deeper from the surface, starting from maybe 4-6 meters for the shallowest part depending on the tide. You can explore the wreck from the front to the end of the boat, which is not large but still very interesting. From the wreck you should explore to the east (right) for interesting coral and colorful sea life.

Be aware that there can sometimes be a current here – especially from around the wreck pulling out west around the point. This is more true for scuba but it’s good to be aware! Oftentimes the toughest part of this Amed snorkel site is entering the water with huge boulders and the occasional small wave.

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That covers it for the best places for snorkeling in Amed! I’ll be adding more places to the list as I find them, so comment below with any more ideas!