Scuba diving with Mola alexandrini at Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia

On a dawn dive (6:30am!) at Blue Corner site on Nusa Lembongan, near Bali in Indonesia, we saw seven (7!) Mola alexandrini (Ramsay's sunfish, southern ocean sunfish, short sunfish or bump-head sunfish)! An usually high number, making us some very lucky divers.
* Please forgive the incorrect labeling in this video. They are not Mola mola, but are definitely Mola alexandrini. I wasn't corrected until after I published, and I've since changed video editing software*
There are 3/6 species of Mola: Mola mola, Mola tecta and Mola alexandrini (once doubly named Mola ramsayi, now depreciated). Mola alexandrini are found only in the Southern hemisphere, while Mola Mola can be found almost everywhere. Masturus lanceolatus and Masturus oxyuropterus are less well known. Ranzania laevis is a bit of an outlier. I say 3/6, because 3 are "Mola" and 2 are "Masturus" and 1 is Ranzania. All are Sunfish, of the family Molidae, but only three are Mola. en.wikipedia.o...
Species distribution near Australia: www.sciencedir...
Diving was with Blue Corner Dive, Nusa Lembongan: www.bluecorner...
A good shop, with high standards and friendly staff. They are one of the few places in the area which can train divers all the way up past Instructor to IDC Staff Instructor (teaching other people to become instructors). Plus, most importantly, they're really close to the site(s) you're most likely to see Molas.
Dress warm, though! It can be about 21C in the water, down at 30m. Meanwhile, the rest of the diving you'll be doing will be 26C to 28C in the middle of the year like this (and will get to 30C over Dec-Feb fairly easily - but not down deep at Nusa Lembongan).

[@greatwhitesharky3261]

Hi, Do you know what time of year please? Were these the large adult mola? Nice video. Thanks

[@divingaround]

I put this video together and up pretty quickly - it was probably on 21st of August, 2018. These were Mola alexandrini, not Mola mola (I'll edit the text right now!), and yes - adults. They don't get that much larger than this, with the largest at around 3.3m long (Mola alexandrini are very similar in body size and weight to Mola mola). Check out the Wikipedia articles on the three species! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_(fish)

[@greatwhitesharky3261]

@@divingaround I'll be back in Lembongan end of September hoping to see them. 3.3m is a good size to dive with. Did you dive South Lombok by any chance, we plan on a few day's diving at the Bay of Belongas. Nice video.

[@divingaround]

@@greatwhitesharky3261 I think these might have been closer to 2.5m or so, which is still pretty big! September should still be fine, but check with the dive shop. I went to Blue Corner Dive (see my updated description), which I highly recommend. As by my name, I've dived most of Asia - and yes, South Lombok too. South Lombok is very bare post-Covid; but hopefully some of the dive shops have recovered. I've been there twice, and stayed in Kuta (Kuta Lombok is almost the opposite of Kuta in Bali!). I don't recommend staying near the centre of town (the mosque can be a bit loud for those not accustomed to it); a guest house at the far north or, even quieter, far east of town, would be best - though you will need to have your own transport the further out you are. The area you're talking about, Belongas, I haven't been to yet! My strong suggestion is to make sure your group is very experienced. Some shops will not take you unless you have 100 dives and/or a Divemaster or above. Doing a negative entry straight down to 30m in high currents is not for the faint hearted, or inexperienced. Check out Two Fish Divers there, I'm a big fan of their other dive resorts in Lembeh and Amed. twofishdivers.com/ (I haven't been to any of the current dive shops; the dive shop I dove with before closed several years ago) You've got me thinking about going there in September/October as well now, actually!

[@erikfranata8415]

Deepth?

[@divingaround]

Depth for them was about 27m-40m. 21C in the water, too. Brrr!

[@erikfranata8415]

How lucky u are