Tulamben, Bali's famaous diving paradise<\/p>\n
Annabel Thomas, Contributor, Tulamben, Bali<\/p>\n
Tulamben is rightly Bali's most famous diving area and therefore
\nwhere you are most likely to see internationally-recognized
\nunderwater photographers and writers.<\/p>\n
Bali is situated in the Indo-Pacific, the world's richest
\nmarine biogeographic zone. Therefore, Tulamben, on Bali's north-
\neast coast, receives very plankton-rich waters from the major
\nocean current that moves from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean,
\nand contains a stunningly diverse underwater ecosystem and
\nseveral totally different physical environments.<\/p>\n
The beach is fist-sized black volcanic rocks that become sand
\nin the shallows. This black sand does not provide the reflective
\nproperties of white limestone sand and, combined with the amount
\nof plankton in the water, accounts for the relatively low
\nvisibility (12-25m). It does, however, provide a dramatic
\ncontrast, bringing out the colors of the hard and soft corals,
\ngorgonian and sea fans, fish and other marine life.<\/p>\n
Tulamben is a wonderful place to learn to dive and to learn
\nabout underwater life. There are occasional visits by big ocean-
\ndwellers (manta rays, whalesharks, etc) but it is the permanent
\npopulation that brings people here for the 1st and 100th time.<\/p>\n
The USAT Liberty Shipwreck is Bali's most famous dive site.
\nThis World War I cargo ship was torpedoed during World War II and
\nthen semi-beached at Tulamben. The tremors from Mount Agung's
\n1963 eruption slid the wreck down into the water.<\/p>\n
The Liberty now lies 30m offshore, parallel to the beach on
\nthe sand slope and is suitable for all levels of experience. The
\nshallowest part of the wreck is 5m-10m; depth along the middle is
\n16m-20m and the lower edge is around 20m-28m. The wreck is 120m
\nlong, it's pretty broken up (no penetration possible) but you can
\nstill see the guns, toilets, boilers, anchor chain, etc. It is
\npossibly the world's easiest wreck dive.<\/p>\n
You can snorkel on the wreck as the highest point is 3m to 4m
\nbelow the surface.<\/p>\n
Visibility is usually between 18m and 25m. There is rarely a
\ncurrent present. June-August, there are usually waves around the
\ntime of the full moon. The air temperature is 25C to 32C, the
\nwater 26C to 28C.<\/p>\n
The wreck is very popular with photographers as it is totally
\nencrusted in anemone, gorgonia and corals. The black sand
\nprovides an excellent color contrast for the incredible variety
\nof marine life, which includes a school of hundreds of 10 inch to
\n12 inch big-eyed trevally and more than 400 other species of
\nfish.<\/p>\n
All the fish are very used to divers - from the goatfish and
\nwrasse nibbling around your feet during entry\/exit to the
\nunicornfish and surgeonfish that come up to meet you as you swim
\ndown towards the wreck. This is because some diving companies
\nfollow the environmentally unsound practice of feeding the fish
\n(bananas, bread, etc).<\/p>\n
In Tulamben, you'll see just about everything in any Indo-
\nPacific reef guide book. From minute anglerfish, neon
\nnudibranches, ghost pipefish, shrimp\/goby sets, through to garden
\neels and multi-colored clouds of anthias and damsels, and on to
\nschools of sweetlips, batfish, fusiliers, butterflyfish, the
\nvariety is amazing. Then there are the invertebrates, the hard
\nand soft corals, black corals, sponges with crinoids, sea fans
\nand tunicates.<\/p>\n
The drop-off, an old lava flow from Mount Agung, is a 15-
\nminute walk from the Wreck at the opposite end of the bay. The
\ndive starts on a steep sand slope with nudibranches, flounders,
\ngoby\/shrimp sets. Bending to the right, at 12m, the slope becomes
\na reef with very impressive topography, and then a vertical wall.<\/p>\n
The wall has profuse sponges which host many varieties of
\nshrimps and crinoids (featherstars), often with attendant ghost
\npipefish, corals, black coral bushes, gorgonian fans - at 30
\nmeter there's one reaching 2 meters in width which is visited for
\nthe Deep Dive on PADI advanced courses.<\/p>\n
Visibility -- best in the morning -- is 15m to 20m (due to the
\namount of plankton) and it is rare that there is a current.<\/p>\n
The fish life is similar to that found on the wreck but is
\nless dense. However, it is here that you are more likely to see
\nreef sharks, large Napoleon wrasse, big bumphead parrotfish, some
\nbig filefish, and large moray eels and -- late afternoon --
\nTulamben's wide variety of lionfish. There have been sightings of
\nWhalesharks in as little as 9m of water.<\/p>\n
The top of the drop-off (5m) contains an excellent 'aquarium
\nsection', including cuttlefish, octopus and boxer crabs, making
\nit popular with snorkelers, and enabling you to do your 5m Safety
\nStop for as long as you want.<\/p>\n
The Coral Garden runs along the middle section of Tulamben
\nbeach, and is a shallow (max 12m) reef of mainly table and fire
\ncorals interspersed with anemones, and barrel and other sponges.
\nHere you see a surprising number of blue ribbon eels (the
\njuveniles are black), octopus, and a wide variety of shrimp and
\nanemonefish. The bigger fish here include bumphead parrotfish and
\nblack tip reef shark.<\/p>\n
Beyond the Coral Garden is a sand slope where you'll find
\nbarrel sponges with juvenile emperor angelfish, two-spot
\nlionfish, maybe a school of juvenile catfish; cleaning stations
\nwith shrimp and wrasse, perhaps a shoal of razorfish. Along the
\nslope, towards the drop-off, is a dry riverbed, marked by bare
\nridges radiating outwards where you can sometimes find unexpected
\nspecimens.<\/p>\n
The depth and location make the coral garden a very good, and
\npopular, night dive on which you may see Spanish dancers and
\nflashlightfish. Night dives on both the wreck and drop-off are
\nalso great.<\/p>\n
A 15 minute outrigger ride eastwards takes you to Batu Kelebit
\n(Kelebit Rocks) which are two large rocks lying just offshore.
\nThe dive site is quite dramatic and consists of three steep
\nridges encrusted with an incredible diversity of hard corals,
\nbeautiful sea fans, fire corals and sponges, with channels of
\nwhite sand.<\/p>\n
The marine life varies from tiny to very large: the steepness
\nof the site combined with the structure of the ridges (and
\nplankton-rich water) means you also have more chance to see
\nbarracuda, tuna, mantas and reef sharks than you do within the
\nbay.<\/p>\n
The diving here is colder than within Tulamben Bay as there's
\na cold water eddy coming up from the depths. The current can be
\nquite strong at times but the channels are well-protected.<\/p>\n
-- The writer is a professional diver and director of PT
\nAquaMarine Diving in Bali.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tulamben-balis-famaous-diving-paradise-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}