Scuba Diving - Diving Tulamben’s Liberty Wreck

Situated on the north eastern coast of Bali (Indonesia) lies a place called Tulamben.

Tulamben is a very small town that has no great claim to fame other than the fact that a US Army ship called Liberty was passing near it across the Lombok Strait on 11th January 1942.

The Liberty was transporting materials for the U.S. war effort when she was attacked by a Japanese submarine named I-166. The I-166 torpedoed the Liberty damaging it severely, but fortunately injuring none of the crew.

Although the Liberty was salvagable, an attempt to tow her to the port at Singaraja proved impossible as she was taking in too much water from the damage to her hull. The US Army beached the Liberty at Tulamben and her cargo was duly unloaded. The Liberty remained at the shore of Tulamben for almost 21 years.

In 1963, Bali’s sacred Mount Agung (an active volcano) erupted. Agung is a prominent feature of Bali’s landscape but Tulamben is literally dominated by it. Mount Agung’s eruption created a series of tremors that sent the Liberty rolling off the beach into the sea. The Liberty has not moved since; broken at the bow and stern she now rests on a sandy slope facing out towards the Lombok Strait.

Tulamben: Diving the Liberty Wreck

The Liberty wreck dive at Tulamben is one of the best diving spots in Bali. It is highly popular for a number of reasons:

• Reaching the Liberty wreck is simple as it is situated around 25 meters (80 feet) from the shore at Tulamben.
• Open water divers certified to dive up to 18 meters can view a good deal of the wreck: the Liberty rests at 9 meters (30 feet) at the shallowest point, 30 meters (100 feet) at the deepest and tops out around the 5 meter mark.
• It is a fairly easy dive with little current.
• Very good visibility.
• It is a site that can also be snorkelled easily.
• The Tulamben wreck is teeming with marine life.

The Liberty Wreck and the Tulamben Diving Experience

Diving Tulamben’s Liberty wreck is a fantastic experience for anyone who wants to encounter any kind of marine life. Firstly, the Liberty is covered in soft and hard corals, gorgonians and anemones. She attracts a veritable horde of fish… practically every type of Indo-Pacific variety you could care to imagine, such as:

• Pipefish
• Angelfish
• Gobies
• Nudibranchs
• Trevally
• Butterflyfish
• Batfish
• Sweetlips
• Bream
• Anthias
• Fusiliers
• Napolean Wrasse
• Parrotfish
• Barracuda
• Lionfish
• Hawkfish
• and many, many others!

Tulamben diving offers you the chance to see enormous schools of some species (especially the trevally and fusiliers etc.). The Liberty wreck also offers an ideal night dive experience due to minimal current, good visibility… oh and did we mention the marine life? Night dives will show you the night shift crew of the Liberty, such as flashlight fish, spanish dancers and ghostly hovering scorpionfish.

Summary Review of Tulamben and the Liberty Wreck Dive

Anyone who has dived at Tulamben will tell you what a great dive the Liberty wreck offers any certified recreational diver.

It is a safe, enjoyable wreck dive, with good visibility and a dead-cert guarantee to see a wide variety of underwater life in large numbers.

The Liberty wreck at Tulamben is not to be missed if you visit Bali.

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