Tulamben is a small fishing village on the north-east
coast of Bali. It is among the most popular dive sites on Bali since the wreck
of the Liberty, a US Army Transport ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in
1942 lies just off shore. During high-season, up to 100 divers descend to the
wreck each day.
The wreck lies in shallow water and is considered
appropriate for divers of all certification levels. The ship rests in 30 metres
of water, is roughly 25 metres from shore and can be reached with a short swim
from the beach. The highest point of the wreck tops out about 5 metres from the
surface. The ship was torpedoed by the Japanese off the nearby Island of Lombok
and the ship was towed to the beach at Tulamben for salvage operations. The
1963 eruption of Mt. Agung, which devastated much of the eastern side of Bali,
drove the ship into the water just off shore, where it became encrusted with
coral and a home to other sea life.
The best conditions for diving here are during October
and November, when the weather is generally calm and during the start of
southeast monsoon, which typically extends from May to July. In addition to a
wide variety of corals and invertebrates on the wreck itself, large fish
frequent the wreck in some seasons, most popularly Mola mola and whale sharks,
as well as Black-tip reef sharks. Professional divers have praised local
residents for minimizing local fishing activity.
You can read more about it in my past post here
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