Where and when to see eels

Eel diving offers very different encounters: morays in reef crevices, ribbon and snake eels on muck slopes, and garden-eel colonies above sandy burrows. Choose a region for the kinds of eels you want to watch, then ask a local guide for the right sites. These are resident animals; weather, current, time of day and patient observation usually matter more than a particular month.

This guide documents sightings in 16 Good Dives regions.

Colored-pencil illustration: one adult Gymnothorax javanicus (giant moray eel).

Where to plan your trip

Our picks for a trip focused on eels, chosen for the encounters below. Calendar peaks describe timing, not a ranking of destinations.

Moray abundance and variety
Scuba diving
Poor Knights Islands
A strong choice for a trip devoted to morays, with grey, yellow, mosaic and lowfin morays among the local mix. Explore rocky reef and kelp rather than expecting a tropical coral setting.
Ask about: Middle Arch · Northern Arch
Sources
- Moray eels: Poor Knights and Kanduohgiri (Nigel Marsh, X-Ray Mag)
- Middle Arch marine life (Dive Now)
Concentrated moray encounters
Scuba diving
North Malé Atoll
Kanduohgiri has reports of unusually dense groups of honeycomb and giant morays. The site is beside a tuna-processing plant, so this is a human-influenced aggregation; confirm current access and conditions with your operator.
Ask about: Kanduohgiri (Fish Factory)
Sources
- Moray eels: Poor Knights and Kanduohgiri (Nigel Marsh, X-Ray Mag)
Ribbon and snake eels
Scuba diving
Lembeh Strait
A good choice for small eel photography: ribbon eels on the house reef and snake eels at Hairball complement reef morays. Ask your guide for recent finds on the muck sites.
Ask about: Lembeh Resort House Reef · Hairball
Sources
- Lembeh dive sites and resident critters (Murex Resorts)
- Moray critter log (Lembeh Resort)
Ribbon eels and garden-eel colonies
Scuba diving
Wakatobi
Combine ribbon eels at reef sites with garden eels on sand. This is a useful choice when you want several eel encounters on a reef-diving holiday.
Ask about: Roma · Mari Mabuk · Pantai Waitii
Sources
- Wakatobi dive sites (Wakatobi Resort)
Shore access for patient eel watching
Scuba diving
Tulamben & Amed
Ribbon eels at Coral Garden and garden eels at Emerald make repeat shore dives worthwhile. Stay still and let garden eels emerge rather than swimming into their colony.
Ask about: Coral Garden · Emerald
Sources
- Tulamben Coral Garden and Seraya Secrets (Tulamben Dive Resort)
- Tulamben Emerald and Segara dive sites (Bali Dive Resort and Spa)
Several moray species on one itinerary
Scuba diving
Similan Islands
Richelieu Rock and Boonsung Wreck offer different moray encounters, including honeycomb morays at the wreck. Check the regional boat and park season before booking.
Ask about: Richelieu Rock · Boonsung Wreck
Sources
- Moray eels at Richelieu Rock and Boonsung (Similan Diving Tours)

Eels sighting calendar

Calendar months, every year

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Poor Knights IslandsNew Zealand	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
North Malé AtollMaldives	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Lembeh StraitIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
WakatobiIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Tulamben & AmedIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Similan IslandsThailand	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
AlorIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
AnilaoPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
BonaireCaribbean Netherlands	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Dauin & Apo IslandPhilippines	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Koh TaoThailand	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Kona (Big Island)United States	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Malta & GozoMalta	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
MauritiusMauritius	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Northern Red SeaEgypt	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Raja AmpatIndonesia	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●

Peak = best odds · ● = regularly seen · blank = unlikely.

Calendars describe animal presence, not weather or site access; check each region’s dive season. For grouped animals, a marked month may apply to only one member of the group. Sightings vary by site and dive.

Where and when to see eels

Where to plan your trip

Eels sighting calendar

Explore all 16 documented regions