Bali, Indonesia
Tulamben
Black sand bay on Bali's northeast coast with a large shore-accessible WWII wreck and a dense concentration of macro and muck sites along the same stretch of shoreline.
- Wreck
- Macro
- Muck
Best season
Best Apr–Oct
Minimum cert
Open Water
Water
25–30°C
Current
mild
Season
When this place works
Open year-round. Shore diving in a sheltered bay with resident operators, so there is no season closure and no fleet to reposition. Wet season (Dec-Feb) costs visibility, not access.
Why dive here
What this place is known for
- 01wreck
USAT Liberty
Built 1918 at Hackensack NJ by Federal Shipbuilding, 411ft 6in (125m). Torpedoed 11 January 1942 by the Japanese submarine I-66 (later renumbered I-166) while running cargo from Australia to the Philippines; all 54 aboard survived. Beached off Tulamben and…
02macroMacro and critter subjects
Surprise relative to the headline: Tulamben is marketed almost entirely on the Liberty, but the macro diving along the same bay is why photographers stay a week. Nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, ribbon eels, scorpionfish across the wreck, the reef sites and the…
03muckBlack volcanic sand muck sites
Environment, distinct from the macro subjects above. Sites east of Tulamben village (Seraya, Emerald, Alamanda) are black sand and rubble slopes rather than reef.
Marine life
Twelve-month species timelines
Sources disagree. ZuBlu lists schooling bumpheads on the Liberty as a current feature; a later field account states the resident school disappeared during the COVID period and has not reliably…
Present in Bali waters during the Jul-Oct upwelling but far less reliable at Tulamben than at Nusa Penida. Do not plan a Tulamben trip around this.
Reported at the Drop-Off; not a reason to come.
Conditions
What the water is like
Water temp
25–30°C
15°C — 32°C
Visibility
10–30 m
0 m — 40 m
Current
mild
mild — strong
Thermoclines
Not typical
unlikely
Minimum certification — Open Water
Pebble beach entry can be awkward in swell and is the main hazard here, not depth or current. Open Water covers the majority of the Liberty; Advanced opens the 28m bow. Wreck penetration is a technical activity and is not what the standard…
Entries — shore, boat
Recommended & required
- nitrox — recommended. Only relevant if you are working the 28m bow repeatedly. Irrelevant for the shallow hull.
Logistics
How people dive it
1-7 days
scuba
Nearly every Tulamben site including the Liberty is a shore entry over a pebble beach. Local porters carry tanks. No boat needed.
3-7 days
scuba
Staying in Tulamben village or Amed gets you sunrise access to the wreck, which is the single biggest quality-of-experience variable here.
1 day
scuba
Widely sold from Sanur, Seminyak and Ubud, but it is a 3 to 3.5 hour drive each way and puts you on the wreck at peak crowding. Format…
Operators
Who to book with
Loading operators…
Sources & verification
Check the evidence.
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