Scuba Diving in Japanese Wreck, Gili Islands

The Japanese Wreck (or Jap wreck as it's called) is by far the wreck with most marine life and historical interest. Lying on a depth of 45 meters, in the channel between Gili Air and Lombok, the wreck is completely solitary, with only sand surrounding.

The person actually discovering the Japaneese wreck is the owner of Dive Central Gili, Simon Liddiard. The story says that Simon heard a rumour coming from Lombok, where this old fisherman saw the ship sink. So for 60 years the ship remained untouched, lying on the sandy bottom, at the end tip of Lombok Straight, with only one man with the knowledge of its whereabouts.  Simon went to Lombok, found the fisherman and asked him to point out the rough location of where the boat sunk. Upon finding the location, the only thing left was to actually go searching. One day, many months later he discovered the 20 m long patrol boat, covered in beautiful coral, huge groupers, batfish and rarest of the nudies.

Most people find the wreck itself amazing, including the animals and the position of the dive site. But a lot of the time, divers want to go there to experience nitrogen narcosis.