A remote frontier dive area on the east coast of Halmahera in North Maluku, eastern Indonesia, Weda Bay pairs near-pristine coral gardens and walls with Lembeh-grade muck diving, and is the type locality of the endemic Halmahera 'walking' shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera), described in 2013.
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Water and air temperature across the year.
Weda Bay sits on the sheltered east coast of Halmahera, the largest island of North Maluku, in one of the most biodiverse and least-visited corners of the Coral Triangle. The bay offers protected, mostly current-free diving across more than 40 sites within an hour's boat ride: shallow coral gardens starting at 2–3 m, steep drop-offs riddled with caverns, black-sand muck slopes compared by divers to Lembeh Strait, an offshore seamount with pelagics, and a 35 m Japanese WWII sub-chaser wreck (the Foya, found in 2014). Its signature animal is the endemic Halmahera walking shark, Hemiscyllium halmahera (Allen, Erdmann & Dudgeon, 2013), a small nocturnal carpet shark that 'walks' on its fins; the bay also holds pygmy seahorses, bobbit worms, frogfish, turtles, giant groupers and schooling jacks. Water is a warm 28–30°C year-round with visibility 10–25 m inshore and 20–40 m offshore. The land-based Weda Reef & Rainforest Resort — historically the only dive base here — closed in 2022 after rapid nickel mining and the adjacent Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) degraded the local environment, and as of 2025 it is being reopened as a nature-lodge with diving still suspended. Access today is chiefly by liveaboard, which also reaches nearby Goraici, Bacan and the pelagic Patinti Strait.
What makes this dive worth the trip.
34 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
8 signature sites at this destination.
A black-sand muck and critter site about 10 minutes from the former resort, dived both by day and at night. Guides search the dark sandy bottom for bobbit worms, seahorses and other small cryptic critters; the muck life here is compared by divers to Lembeh Strait. A slow, shallow site best for macro photography rather than wide-angle.
Named 'white sand' for the bright beach above it, this coral garden begins at just 3 m and slopes gently down. The healthy hard-coral garden holds pygmy seahorses and longnose hawkfish among the gorgonians, while schooling jacks and bumphead parrotfish pass over the reef. About 5 minutes by boat from the former resort; an easy, sheltered dive good for all levels.
A shallow coral reef about 10 minutes by boat from the former resort and the most reliable Weda Bay site for the endemic Halmahera walking shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera), which can be found among the coral, especially on dusk and night dives. Clouds of glassfish and cardinalfish shelter in the coral heads. An easy, sheltered dive with minimal current, suited to all experience levels.
An offshore seamount about 11 km from the nearest shore whose shallowest point is around 31 m, this is Weda Bay's premier pelagic site and the one exposed dive that demands experience and good gas planning. The resort reported 'hardly ever a dive without sharks' here, alongside schooling jacks, barracuda, Napoleon wrasse and tuna cruising the blue. Currents are stronger and less predictable than on the sheltered inshore reefs; depth is kept within the 33 m limit.
A large atoll-shaped offshore reef 45–60 minutes by boat from the former resort, ringed by steep walls that drop to a white sandy bottom around 35–45 m and pierced by countless caverns and caves. The clearer offshore water and dramatic wall topography make it a wide-angle highlight; it is split into north-west, north, south-west and south sections dived according to wind and current.
A 35 m Japanese WWII sub-chaser ('steamer') discovered by the resort in 2014 and reported in excellent condition, lying in 10–30 m of water. The shallow, sheltered position makes it an accessible wreck dive; its structure has become an artificial reef colonised by encrusting life and small fish. A historically significant site and a change of pace from Weda Bay's reefs and muck.
A liveaboard-accessed channel between Halmahera and Bacan to the south of Weda Bay, and the area's standout drift/pelagic dive. Coral-covered walls fall away while large pelagics cross outside; currents can run so hard that exhaled bubbles are pulled downward, so it is reserved for experienced drift divers. Reef sharks, tuna and mackerel patrol the strait, with healthy hard and soft coral on the wall.
A muck and critter site beneath and around a jetty roughly 30 minutes by boat, with a Lembeh-like substrate that rewards slow, careful searching by day and at night. A companion site, Gemaf Reef, nearby offers a coral and sponge landscape. The jetty pilings and dark sand host a range of cryptic critters for macro photographers.
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
Verified dive centers, resorts, and hotels around Halmahera (Weda Bay) will list here — pricing, photos, and direct contact.
