Amed snorkeling: Jemeluk Bay and the Japanese wreck

Two sites, one mask

The water off Amed runs 26 to 30 degrees C, with 10 to 30 meters of visibility, and the shops that work this coast rate it calm enough for a first-timer. Black volcanic sand at your feet. Coral a short swim out. Two hours pass before you think about the time. ⁸

Amed sits on Bali's east coast, in Karangasem Regency, and snorkelers come for two places. Jemeluk Bay is the coral garden you walk into from the beach, described by one operator as calm and clear with a short swim from shore. The Japanese wreck lies down the coast in 2 to 12 meters of water, which is why its operator lists it for snorkelers alongside divers. ^{8, 3}

This page prices a day in that water from the shops' own pages, read on 26 September 2026: the gear, the boats, the per-person trips. It also sorts out which of Amed's well-known depth numbers belong to divers. For the wider cost of basing yourself here, MMT prices a stay in Amed for a diving month.

What does snorkeling in Amed cost?

Every figure below was read on the shop's own page on 26 September 2026. Rupiah first; dollars at Bank Indonesia's JISDOR reference rate for 25 September 2026.

A day in the water starts at Rp100,000, the price of a rented set. That is about USD 5.58 for a mask, snorkel, booties, fins and a life jacket from Bintang Divers, back in the shop by 17:00 the same day. Add a guided boat and the day runs from Rp170,000 to Rp350,000 a head, depending on how many of you share it. ^{1, 3, 2}

The seasonal split is real and small. Amed Dive Center prices its roughly two-hour snorkel trip at Rp340,000 per person from 1 July to 30 September and Rp320,000 from 1 October to 30 June. That is Rp20,000 between high and low season, about USD 1.12, with 10% VAT already inside both figures. ^{5, 2}

Budget in rupiah while you are here. Bank Indonesia's JISDOR reference rate put the dollar at Rp17,917.00 on 25 September 2026, and the bank's own transaction rates the same day quoted Rp17,987.49 to sell and Rp17,808.51 to buy, a spread of Rp178.98. The wider Bali picture, islands and arrival included, sits in MMT's Indonesia guide. ^{2, 9}

Do you need a boat, or can you swim in from shore?

Jemeluk Bay is the shore swim. The wreck and the Pyramid are the boat. That single line decides most Amed days. Blue Season Bali's own copy calls Jemeluk Bay calm and clear with coral gardens a short swim out; every operator page read here sells the wreck as a boat trip. ^{8, 1, 3}

• Shore, Jemeluk Bay. Rent the set for Rp100,000, walk down, swim out. One day of gear and no booking. ¹
• Boat, the Japanese wreck at Lipah. Bintang Divers runs 8:00 to 13:00 for Rp550,000 a boat plus the Rp300,000 guide, with transport, tickets, pickup within 3 km of Amed and drinking water included. ¹
• Boat, the Pyramid and Jemeluk together. The 8:30 to 12:00 slot gives two hours of swimming for Rp380,000 a boat. Sunrise and sunset slots cost Rp550,000 and give one hour, split into two half-hour swims. ¹
• Per-person, guide included. Dive Concepts covers the wreck and Jemeluk Bay in a half day for Rp350,000; Amed Dive Center runs about two hours for Rp320,000 to Rp340,000 by season. Better value for one or two people. ^{3, 5}

Ten days of swimming on rented gear is Rp1,000,000, about USD 55.81, which is where bringing your own mask starts to pay. MMT's buying versus renting worksheet runs that break-even, and the tropics packing list says what a mask displaces in a carry-on. ^{1, 2}

Jemeluk Bay: the shelf, not the wall

Jemeluk's headline number, 10 to 40 meters, belongs to the dive wall. Dive Concepts publishes that vertical wall as a site for open water level and above. Snorkelers stay on the shallow shelf inside the bay, which is the water Blue Season Bali describes as calm with excellent visibility and coral gardens. Two different places, one bay name. ^{4, 8}

Amed publishes no gate price for Jemeluk Bay, and the conservation area covering these waters lists no visitor fee either. Travel blogs describe a small motorbike parking charge at the beach; carry a few small notes and ask on the sand. ¹⁰

The Japanese wreck: shallow enough for a mask

A small steel hull in 2 to 12 meters of water, on a slope that runs to 35. Dive Concepts, an Amed shop, publishes those depths and calls the site accessible for snorkelers and experienced divers who love underwater photography. Leaf scorpionfish, nudibranchs, shrimp, crabs and ghost pipefish live on it, by the same page. ³

Shallow does change the plan. From the surface in 10 to 30 meters of visibility, the top of the hull reads clearly, and a snorkeler with a good breath sees the rest. The boat is the practical way in: Bintang Divers runs 8:00 to 13:00, and Dive Concepts folds the wreck and Jemeluk Bay into one half day for Rp350,000. ^{8, 1, 3}

One loose end worth knowing before you book. Bintang Divers' own trip listing places the wreck at Lipah; other, weaker sources put it nearer Bunutan or Banyuning. Made Amed Snorkeling Tour, based in Bunutan, names the Japanese shipwreck, Lipah Coral Garden, Jemeluk Bay and Pyramid Turtle Point as its four sites, and publishes no prices at all. Ask for the pickup point in writing. ^{1, 11}

How strong are the currents in Amed?

One morning's official forecast, two adjacent zones, twice the current in one of them. The lesson is the habit, not the number.

On 26 September 2026 Indonesia's weather agency logged 1.05 to 1.1 knots north of Bali and 1.7 to 2.1 knots in the northern Lombok Strait, the water just east of Amed. Twice the speed, same morning, adjoining zones. Both carried an advisory for moderate waves. ^{6, 7}

Operators sell Amed as calm water, and their own conditions pages say so. BMKG's figures show why the habit still matters: the forecast moves by the hour, and the shop that launched a boat at sunrise has better information than any page written in advance. Two minutes on the forecast site the night before is the whole cost. ^{8, 6}

A first morning in the water

Amed rewards an early start, and the shops price it that way. Bintang Divers' boats leave at 8:00 and 8:30; sunrise slots go at 5:30. Here is the order that puts you in Jemeluk Bay before the day warms up. ¹

1. 01

   The night before, read the forecast

   Open maritim.bmkg.go.id and look up Perairan Utara P. Bali and Selat Lombok Bagian Utara. Note the current and the wave height for the morning. ^{6, 7}

2. 02

   Book the boat a day ahead if the wreck is the goal

   Bintang Divers runs Lipah 8:00 to 13:00 at Rp550,000 a boat for one to four people, plus Rp300,000 for the guide. Confirm the pickup point and whether you sit inside the 3 km pickup radius. ¹

3. 03

   Collect a set in the morning

   Rp100,000 buys mask, snorkel, booties, fins and a life jacket for the day from Bintang Divers, with the set back in the shop by 17:00. Check the mask seal at the counter. ¹

4. 04

   Start on the shelf in Jemeluk Bay

   The bay is the calm, clear entry an operator describes as a short swim from shore, and the water sits at 26 to 30 degrees C. Leave the 10 to 40 meter wall to the dive boats. ^{8, 4}

5. 05

   Ask what a per-person trip includes

   Amed Dive Center itemizes gear for its certified-diver packages and leaves the snorkeling line unitemized, so confirm whether a mask and fins come with the Rp320,000 to Rp340,000 trip, and that it starts from its base at Hotel Uyah Amed. ⁵

What the conservation area covers

Amed's water sits inside a marine conservation area, and Indonesia's own scorecard rates it minimally managed. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries lists a conservation area across the waters of Karangasem Regency, scores its management effectiveness at 18.31% and labels it Dikelola Minimum. The page publishes no visitor fee and no snorkeling rule. ¹⁰

For a snorkeler, that means the good behavior is yours to bring: fins off the coral, hands off everything, sunscreen chosen with the reef in mind. Elsewhere in the region, marine parks bill for access, and MMT tracks those lines in marine park and conservation fees. Amed charges none that a government page publishes.