Divers entering the water to dive the Liberty wreck
From 08.30 in the morning the car park will be filling up and the volcanic stone beach will have a lot of divers getting ready to enter the water.
This is the time to forget about the larger residents of the Liberty and its structures and concentrate on the smaller stuff that lives in the nooks and cracks of the wreck.
It is also when your dive guide transforms from super-model to critter finder and becomes worth their weight in gold.
Depending on how deep you meander on the wreck, the maximum bottom time you can probably expect is about one hour, and with the right guide this can be a very productive period.
On the other hand, if you go alone you will probably finish the dive wondering what all the fuss is about…
Made Sadia from Tulamben Wreck Divers
The bottom line in Tulamben is that scuba diving is the only industry in town and its relative prosperity revolves around visitors coming to experience the Liberty.
So jobs in the town all relate, in one way or the other, to the wreck and the dive guides are the local alpha-males.
They all know each other, but unlike places like the Lembeh Strait where critter locations are networked, in Tulamben the location of a photogenic critter is kept as tight a secret as the US nuclear codes.
That’s why you need a good guide like Made Sadia from Tulamben Wreck Divers, who was the perfect combination of super-model and critter-spotter.
The Liberty Wreck is not critter-central like Lembeh Strait or the Twilight Zone, but it has a lot to see – if you can find it in amongst all the wreckage.
The mid-section of the wreck is the most prolific area, but there is stuff all over the place and a good guide like Made will know where to find it.
You can easily do two very productive and enjoyable dives mid-morning and early afternoon by looking down in amongst the wreckage and simply ignoring the promenade of scuba-diving tourists doing their obligatory circuit of the wreck above you!
Liberty Wreck Mid-Section Critter Image Gallery
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