Diving Indonesia: Bali – Tulamben Bay

Simply stated, Tulamben is scuba diving… this small town on the north-east coast of Bali owes its relative prosperity to the constant flow of divers who visit from all over the world to experience its principal attraction – the Liberty shipwreck.

While diving may be it’s lifeblood, Tulamben’s life-source is Mount Agung, the large volcano the town sits in the shadow of.

The two are inextricably linked as it was the massive eruption of Mount Agung and subsequent earthquakes in 1963 which lifted the grounded remains of the Liberty from Tulamben beach and rolled it unceremoniously down the slope to it’s final resting place some 40m offshore, breaking the back of the ship in the process.

The explosion of Mount Agung was a major disaster for the people of northeast Bali and an estimated 2000 people are believed to have died, with another 100,000 made homeless. The fatal eruption occurred on the 17th March, but the volcano had become active again the previous month when it started rumbling after laying dormant for almost 300 years.

The March eruption literally produced rivers of lava that poured down the slopes of Mount Agung and decimated huge swathes of northeast & east Bali. Much of that damage is hard to tell these days when viewed at ground level, but the Google Earth view below vividly illustrates the lava flows and I can still remember the harsh & barren look of the landscape the first time I visited Tulamben in 1999.

 

Diving Bali: Scuba Diving at Tulamben

Diving in the Tulamben area began around 1979 when some local diving pioneers discovered what an excellent wreck site the Liberty had become in the 16 years since the explosion of Mount Agung.

Back then there was virtually no accommodation available in Tulamben and no way to charge cylinders or hire equipment, so if you wanted to dive the Liberty it meant a long day trip from the south of the island bringing everything required with you. But as the word spread about the wreck, more & more divers made that day trip, leading to the first diving resort – Dive Paradise – opening in 1986 and allowing overnight stays & extended diving of the area.

Over the years this has grown and there are now several well long-term resort operators such as Mimpi, Matahari, Tauch Terminal & Tulamben Wreck Divers established in ‘downtown’ Tulamben offering both day diving and extended stays all with experienced guides.

Tulamben ‘Downtown’ Dive Resorts

There has also been a significant increase in accommodation built right by the wreck and there are now villas on the beach just west from the main entry point.

Plus slightly further west, and claimed to be within 150m of the wreck, is a new resort called the Liberty Dive Resort which opened in April 2011.

The majority of tourists who dive the Liberty wreck however are there for the day and left their hotels in the south by six in the morning to make the 3-4 drive to Tulamben.

So many day divers make the trip that a dedicated amenities area has been built near the beach.

This allows the buses & cars used to transport everybody can park in an orderly manner, plus there is a nice shower & toilet area so that gear can be washed down, salt rinsed of bodies and calls of nature answered before the long trip back south.

Tulamben’s Main Car Park & Amenities

Top 5 Tulamben Recommendations: #1 – Stay Longer

Although the Liberty wreck is why most divers go to Tulamben, the area is very rich and really deserves more time if you can spare it. Tulamben Bay is nourished by eddies from the Indonesian Throughflow, which means that it receives a flow of water extremely rich in organic nutrients and planktonic eggs & larvae.

It is this flow of water, together with the run-off from from Bali’s rich farmlands, that create the conditions that transformed the Liberty wreck from a rusting hulk in to a magnificent artificial reef in a matter of a few years. That same flow of water has also created some other really good dive sites in Tulamben Bay, so stay a bit longer and sample them for yourself!

Top 5 Tulamben Recommendations: #2 – Try The Other Sites

The main sites in Tulamben Bay besides the Liberty wreck are the Reef, which is often referred to as Paradise Reef because Dive Paradise was the first resort in Tulamben, the Drop-Off at the southern tip of the bay and Batu Kelebit round from the southern headland.

All those sites deserve significant attention, particularly Batu Kelebit which has an awesome reputation for being the place to see the “big stuff” when the conditions are right.

 

Top 5 Tulamben Recommendations: #3 – Get a Good Guide

Tulamben Bay is so rich that it’s no exaggeration to say that if you did decide to stay long enough you would ultimately see a tremendous selection of what the Indo-Pacific region has to offer – from sharks, mola-molas, mantas & other pelagics cruising around the Liberty wreck, the Drop-Off and Batu Kelebit to pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish & coral crabs to name but a few on the wreck and the main reef.

But you are likely to miss the majority of these is you are diving with out a guide. The Balinese dive-guides know these sites well and when & where to look for what is there – plus they know what divers & underwater photographers want…

Do yourself a favour and get a good guide, it’s money well spent!

Top 5 Tulamben Recommendations: #4 – Best Time For Diving

The best time to dive Tulamben Bay is October & November after the southeast (dry season) monsoon has ended, but before the northwest one (wet season) has begun and when you will get the calmest conditions

The period at the the start of the southeast monsoon in May, June & through to about mid July also offer good conditions, but after that for about 2 to 2.5 months high winds create rough seas and poor conditions. Around the end of September the conditions start to improve again.

Generally December through to early April when the northwest monsoon is at it’s peak are not good conditions due to strong winds & rough seas.

Top 5 Tulamben Recommendations: #5 – Tip The Gear Porters

The Balinese are very independently minded and a lesser known fact is that Indonesian politics kept Tulamben disconnected from the Balinese power grid & phone system for many years during the Suharto era. The reason was that the vilagers kept ignoring instructions to vote for President Suharto’s Golkar party and repeatedly delivered their votes to Megawati Sukarnoputri’s PDI party….

One of the interesting & quite surprising initiatives started by the villagers was the “Diving Helper Club” – an initial group of 30 women who arranged to have 20 of their numbers always available on any given day to carry the heavy equipment of the diving tourists to where they want it.

Started in 1978 by Pak Kari Yasa, the group seems to have grown in numbers as there always seems to be much more than 20 porters on duty whenever I have been in Tulamben.

The system works really well, whether you are day diving or staying at one of the resorts, as the porters just seem to appear when they are needed – nonchalantly hoist at least two sets of gear on the heads before heading off down the beach.

I was frankly quite shocked the first time I saw this as the porter was a young girl, less than 20 years old, carrying a very recently born baby while balancing the heavy equipment on her head and walking down the volcanic rock beach in just a pair of flimsy flip-flops. I on the other hand, with only my camera in one hand and mask & fins in the other, struggled to navigate the rocky beach despite having a pair of heavy soled dive boots.

The group operates as a collective and pool their earnings & tips and the porterage fees seem to be paid by the resorts & dive operators as I have never had to pay directly – so make sure you give them a reasonable tip, because they are definitely worth it!

Next Page: The Liberty Wreck

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