West Bali National Park

Taman Nasional Bali Barat covers about a hundred and ninety square kilometres at the western end of Bali, including savanna, monsoon forest, mangrove and the sea around Menjangan island, and it is the last refuge of the Bali starling - a white bird with a blue eye mask, endemic to this island, which fell to a handful of wild individuals in the 2000s through trapping for the cage-bird trade and survives now only through captive breeding and releases inside the park and on Nusa Penida. Menjangan, an uninhabited island in the park, has a wall dive and clear shallow reef and is the best diving in Bali by general agreement. Deer swim between the island and the mainland, which is what menjangan means.

What you actually see

• The Bali starling - the endemic bird brought back from near-extinction by breeding.
• Menjangan wall diving - the clearest and best reef diving in Bali.
• Savanna and monsoon forest - dry western Bali, unlike the south of the island.
• Swimming deer - the animals that gave Menjangan its name.

When to go

April to October. Two days.

Honest expectations

Starling sightings are managed and not casual - ask at the breeding centre. Menjangan needs a boat and park fees, and day-trip crowds arrive mid-morning. Trails need a guide.

Nearby

Pemuteran is east on the coast; Gilimanuk and the Java ferry are west.