Spearfishing the Nearshore FADs in Amed, Indonesia

What are FADs/Rumpons?

A rumpon is a traditional Indonesian fish house. In Bahasa Indonesia, the word means exactly that: a home for fish.

It's a bamboo raft anchored in deep open water, with coconut palm fronds trailing below the surface to attract baitfish. Indonesian fishermen have used them for generations. The principle has not changed in centuries. Put a structure in open ocean, wait for the food chain to organize itself around it.

The Perfect Introduction to Blue Water Spearfishing

Amed's nearshore FADs are one of the best places we know to learn the ropes of blue water spearfishing. There are roughly 35 rumpons scattered just offshore, many anchored in around 400 metres of water. That puts you in a genuine open-ocean environment with nothing but blue beneath you, where you can learn how to approach a FAD, work the current, dive on pelagic fish and take shots in open water, without travelling hours offshore.

The difference is that these are our stomping grounds. They're only a short boat ride from the beach, so we can move between multiple FADs, adapt quickly when conditions change and stay much closer to shelter than we can on our offshore blue water trips. The fish tend to be small to medium-sized pelagics rather than the monsters we encounter farther offshore, which makes them ideal for learning. You still get the excitement of hunting fish in hundreds of metres of blue water, but in an environment where you can concentrate on technique, shot placement, fish behaviour, loading your gun and working safely with your buddy.

Think of it as the training ground for blue water spearfishing: real pelagic hunting, just with the difficulty turned down a notch.

The Structure

The physical structure is modest. Many bamboo poles are lashed together at the surface around styrofoam floats for buoyancy. Then palm fronds are prepared to hang below the fad for additional surface area for fish. Beneath that, open water descending several hundred metres to a seabed that is never visible.

There is no reef. No wall. No bottom. The rumpon is the only fixed point in a completely open ocean environment. The mooring line running below the surface is the only orientation axis available to a diver working at depth. Everything else is blue in every direction.

The awe of no bottom, no wall, and no reef is real. Endless blue. Some might compare it to being in outer space.

Conditions vary with the season and sea state. Visibility runs 20 to 30 metres on a good day, often cleaner than anything available inshore. Current varies with tidal movement through the Lombok Strait and can shift the character of a dive quickly. Swell is the primary access variable. Speak to us before committing to a date. The best days here are glassy and windless.

The Life

Baitfish arrive first, drawn to the shade and structure of the fronds. Predators follow. Wahoo cruise the upper water column in small packs, hunting the baitfish spiraling out from the structure. Tuna work deeper, visible in glimpses until they commit to an approach. Mahi-Mahi hold directly at the structure, curious and aggressive in equal measure. Other smaller fish like Rainbow Runners form tight schools that orbit the rumpon in constant rotation.

On a productive day, the water around a single bamboo raft holds more apex predators in one location than most divers encounter across a full week on any reef.

Who This Is For

These FADs are ideal for newer spearfishers who already have basic water confidence and want their first experience hunting pelagic fish in true blue water. They're also great for experienced spearos who want an easy half-day session close to Amed without travelling to the offshore grounds.

For complete beginners, we use the nearshore FADs as a natural progression after learning speargun handling, safety and basic hunting technique. You get to put those skills into practice around real pelagic fish while your instructor stays in the water with you.

We also have networks of FADS located further offshore for experienced hunters chasing the biggest Wahoo, Tuna, Mahi-Mahi and other serious pelagics.