Balloonfish
Swim, Snorkel, Dive, See, Meet, Watch the Balloonfish
The Balloonfish can be identified by its massive head and its slender body covered with long thorns folded backward. Its skin is sandy with black and brown spots. Its belly is white.
The balloonfish dwells on rocky and coral sea floors to a depth of 100 m. When it feels threatened, it fills itself with water and draws its spines to impress its predator. The air (or water) ingested by the mouth arrives in the stomach and Its size increases by 40%. It is not a good swimmer.
Unfortunately, it is often commercialized as a decorative item.
Its predators are tuna fish, sharks, and dolphins.
CHECK SEASONALITY
Diodon holocanthus
Macro
Poisson Ballon, Balloonfish, Blotched porcupinefish, Brown porcupinefish, Fine-spotted porcupinefish, Freckled porcupinefish, Hedgehog fish, Long-spine porcupinefish, Longspined porcupinefish, Spiny puffer, Longsping porcupinefish, Porcupinefish
Food
The Balloonfish is solitary and hunts at night, feeding on mollusks as well as crustaceans. It crushes the shell of its prey such as sea urchins thanks to its powerful jaw. It uses its beak to extract polyp from corals.
Breeding
The Balloonfish reaches sexual maturity at a length of about 30 cm. The males and females release their reproductive fluids to fertilize in open water. The eggs drift with the current like plankton, hatching several days later.
The juveniles are protected by a hard envelope that disappears in time. Spines appear first, followed by fins and teeth. The body is progressively covered by brown patches. The juveniles are pelagic, they drift in seaweed floating at the surface, hiding from predators. They then fall to the sea floors where adult life begins. They grow bigger and their spines longer.
The juveniles hide from predators in the roots of mangrove trees.
Dive centers
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French Kiss Divers Lembongan
Indonesia
- Nusa Lembongan

French Kiss Divers is located in Nusa lembongan, near Bali, Indonesia. It is possible to follow scuba diving courses from the FFESSM and SSI organisations, from the baptism to the monitoring. Set off on daily explorations of the island's most popular dive sites, including the famous Manta Point.
Supervision is provided by a dynamic and experienced French-speaking teaching team. This diving centre is on a human scale, with dives organised in small groups. Make an appointment in a bar restaurant to meet up after the dive to tell you about adventures in a relaxed atmosphere.
French Kiss Divers is also located in Thailand in Koh Tao, in 3 different locations in Sairee Village, Chalok and Mae Haad and in the Philippines in Malapascua.
French Kiss is a member of the environmental organizations Sea Shepard Shark Guardian and Longitude 181. [+]
- Mola Mola Watching
- Mola Mola Watching
- Diving around Islands
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Doctor Dive
Mexico
- Mahahual

Doctor Dive is located in Mahahuel, along the Caribbean coast, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Mexico in a region known as Costa Maya. Mahahual is 350 km south of Cancun and 100 km north of the Belizean border. Meet at 8:30-11:00 am or 12:40 pm at the Yaya Beach Club, where you will find Docteur Dive's premises, on the beach, a few minute's drives from the cruise ship terminal.
The transfer of the divers is done by a local cab. Dives are organized there all year round. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced diver. Qualified and experienced instructors offer you personalized instruction with PADI training and rental of recent and well-maintained equipment. In 10 minutes of navigation, explore beautiful underwater landscapes along the Costa Maya, at depths ranging from 15 to 60 meters.
On each trip, you will make one or two dives along the Mesoamerican reef, considered the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, stretching 900 km from Cozumel in the north to Honduras in the south. The reef area, full of vitality, bordering Mahahual, is characterized by numerous canyons and beautiful arches covered with a profusion of cactus, finger, plate, and soft coral.
The underwater walks are easy with few currents, a visibility of 25 to 40 m, and a varied fauna. Here you will observe turtles, morays, stingrays, barracudas, and a wide variety of tropical reef fish including damselfish, butterflyfish, parrot fish, and wrasse. Weather conditions are often mild with very favorable sea conditions. [+]
- Near beach
- Near Downtown area
- Easy to access
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BB Divers Koh Chang
Thailand
- Koh Chang
 
BB Divers Koh Chang is located in Koh Chang, Thailand. It´s a PADI IDC 5 star center open daily, offers training from beginner to instructor with regular IDCs. It's possible to free dive and daily excursions are offered on the nearby reefs. Services include transfers to hotels, lunches, drinks, manuals, and PADI certifications, the use of all equipment, a certified guide for recreational diving and a certified instructor for training, speaking several languages. The embarkation takes place on traditional Thai fishing boats, modified and adapted for diving, the Blue Lagoon for 50 divers and 100 blocks and the small boat Sky Saeng for 30 divers and 40 blocks. There are chilling areas as well as spaces to get equipped and dis-equipped. It's an environmentally friendly center with water fountains on boats, reusable dishes to avoid disposable plastics, pick-up of plastic bags underwater by guides and customers, use of Biodiesel by boats, pooling of boats during the low season to limit oil and pollution. Beach cleaning is made by the shop and offers to customers. They join the Nemo project with the reintroduction of clownfish in Koh Rang National Park. During the dive they monitor the coral with slates representing the color of the different corals, checking the colors and vitality of corals to determine if they are affected by time or their positioning. They also offer 4-day reef conservation training to learn all about corals, their vulnerability and conservation, recognize fish, and work on your buoyancy control. [+]
- Accomodations and diving
- Protected Marine Park
- Friendly atmosphere
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AquaMarine Diving Bali
Indonesia
- Kuta

Aqua Marine Diving is located in Seminyak on the island of Bali, Indonesia. North of the Kuta-Legian area. Aqua Marine's goal is to provide quality service, paying close attention to detail and deliver tailored programs according to each diver's experience and desires. Aqua Marine was founded by Annabel in 1999. It is a PADI 5* Dive Resort that offers beginner to divemaster training. You can also go on a diving safari, take advantage of packages including dives and accommodations, fun dive daily excursions. Opportunity to organize with some local help, activities such as rafting and Balinese cooking classes. No accommodation on site but the Center has partnerships with comfortable hotels and home stays close to the dive sites around the island. The programs are flexible both in terms of schedules and in terms of the choice of accommodation, tailored to the preferences and budget of each one.The instructors and divemasters are Indonesian and speak English very well. Recruited not only for their level of expertise, but also for their dedication and commitment to Aqua Marine Diving. Some have been there for more than 10 years and have a great knowledge of the Bali dive sites. Regular divers can ask for their favorite guide for their next visit to Bali ! [+]
- PADI Dive Centre *****
- PADI Training
- Diverse diving
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