Our first stop on our Indonesia adventure was one of my favorite dive spots on the island of Bali, a place called Tulamben. It is a little sleep village at the base of the towering Mt. Agung Volcano. If you walked the black rocky beach you would have no ideas the wonders that lie just beneath the calm water. If you put on a mask, and dip you face underwater you will find a world filled with beautiful and strange marine creatures and one massive shipwreck.
Gliding above the wreck of the U.S. Liberty
Covered in color
The wreck of the US transport ship Liberty has been drawing scuba divers in for decades. There is not a bare spot of metal on the entire wreck thanks to the prolific coral and invertebrate life here in coral triangle. Indonesia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea form the worlds best and most diverse area of underwater biodiversity. It is what keeps drawing me back here time and time again.
First nudibranch, joruna funeralis
Giant Mantis Shrimp
The sand around the wreck provides some great opportunities for muck diving. Almost everything you could see in the Lembeh Strait you could find here, from ribbon eels, to mantis shrimp, to pygmy sea horses. And one thing always on my list of creatures to find are nudibranchs. And it just so happens that Tulamben is a great place for those as well.
Hungry Hawksbill Sea Turtle
The shipwreck also provides a home for some larger sea creatures. Over the course of our three days diving in and around the area we saw a big school of bumphead parrotfish, a Napolean wrass, a hawksbill sea turtle, and a couple of large groupers.
We always stay at my favorite lodge in the area called Liberty Dive Resort. With multiple pools, their own restaurant and dive shop, and all within easy walking distance of the beach it is hard to beat. They have great prices which were even better this trip because we played our odds and came in the middle of the rainy season (January.) Lucky for us we saw nothing but clear blue sunny skies the whole time and had the resort almost all to ourselves.
If you are into diving, I highly recommend giving this place a visit. The diving is cheap, the water is beautiful, and the wreck is literally right offshore. You could actually snorkel right over it, although diving is really the way to see it. I love that you can dive inside the wreck as well. So many adventures in the world!
Keep traveling and keep posting!
-Dai Mar
