Tulamben, Bali's famaous diving paradise

Annabel Thomas, Contributor, Tulamben, Bali

Tulamben is rightly Bali's most famous diving area and therefore where you are most likely to see internationally-recognized underwater photographers and writers.

Bali is situated in the Indo-Pacific, the world's richest marine biogeographic zone. Therefore, Tulamben, on Bali's north- east coast, receives very plankton-rich waters from the major ocean current that moves from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, and contains a stunningly diverse underwater ecosystem and several totally different physical environments.

The beach is fist-sized black volcanic rocks that become sand in the shallows. This black sand does not provide the reflective properties of white limestone sand and, combined with the amount of plankton in the water, accounts for the relatively low visibility (12-25m). It does, however, provide a dramatic contrast, bringing out the colors of the hard and soft corals, gorgonian and sea fans, fish and other marine life.

Tulamben is a wonderful place to learn to dive and to learn about underwater life. There are occasional visits by big ocean- dwellers (manta rays, whalesharks, etc) but it is the permanent population that brings people here for the 1st and 100th time.

The USAT Liberty Shipwreck is Bali's most famous dive site. This World War I cargo ship was torpedoed during World War II and then semi-beached at Tulamben. The tremors from Mount Agung's 1963 eruption slid the wreck down into the water.

The Liberty now lies 30m offshore, parallel to the beach on the sand slope and is suitable for all levels of experience. The shallowest part of the wreck is 5m-10m; depth along the middle is 16m-20m and the lower edge is around 20m-28m. The wreck is 120m long, it's pretty broken up (no penetration possible) but you can still see the guns, toilets, boilers, anchor chain, etc. It is possibly the world's easiest wreck dive.

You can snorkel on the wreck as the highest point is 3m to 4m below the surface.

Visibility is usually between 18m and 25m. There is rarely a current present. June-August, there are usually waves around the time of the full moon. The air temperature is 25C to 32C, the water 26C to 28C.

The wreck is very popular with photographers as it is totally encrusted in anemone, gorgonia and corals. The black sand provides an excellent color contrast for the incredible variety of marine life, which includes a school of hundreds of 10 inch to 12 inch big-eyed trevally and more than 400 other species of fish.

All the fish are very used to divers - from the goatfish and wrasse nibbling around your feet during entry/exit to the unicornfish and surgeonfish that come up to meet you as you swim down towards the wreck. This is because some diving companies follow the environmentally unsound practice of feeding the fish (bananas, bread, etc).

In Tulamben, you'll see just about everything in any Indo- Pacific reef guide book. From minute anglerfish, neon nudibranches, ghost pipefish, shrimp/goby sets, through to garden eels and multi-colored clouds of anthias and damsels, and on to schools of sweetlips, batfish, fusiliers, butterflyfish, the variety is amazing. Then there are the invertebrates, the hard and soft corals, black corals, sponges with crinoids, sea fans and tunicates.

The drop-off, an old lava flow from Mount Agung, is a 15- minute walk from the Wreck at the opposite end of the bay. The dive starts on a steep sand slope with nudibranches, flounders, goby/shrimp sets. Bending to the right, at 12m, the slope becomes a reef with very impressive topography, and then a vertical wall.

The wall has profuse sponges which host many varieties of shrimps and crinoids (featherstars), often with attendant ghost pipefish, corals, black coral bushes, gorgonian fans - at 30 meter there's one reaching 2 meters in width which is visited for the Deep Dive on PADI advanced courses.

Visibility -- best in the morning -- is 15m to 20m (due to the amount of plankton) and it is rare that there is a current.

The fish life is similar to that found on the wreck but is less dense. However, it is here that you are more likely to see reef sharks, large Napoleon wrasse, big bumphead parrotfish, some big filefish, and large moray eels and -- late afternoon -- Tulamben's wide variety of lionfish. There have been sightings of Whalesharks in as little as 9m of water.

The top of the drop-off (5m) contains an excellent 'aquarium section', including cuttlefish, octopus and boxer crabs, making it popular with snorkelers, and enabling you to do your 5m Safety Stop for as long as you want.

The Coral Garden runs along the middle section of Tulamben beach, and is a shallow (max 12m) reef of mainly table and fire corals interspersed with anemones, and barrel and other sponges. Here you see a surprising number of blue ribbon eels (the juveniles are black), octopus, and a wide variety of shrimp and anemonefish. The bigger fish here include bumphead parrotfish and black tip reef shark.

Beyond the Coral Garden is a sand slope where you'll find barrel sponges with juvenile emperor angelfish, two-spot lionfish, maybe a school of juvenile catfish; cleaning stations with shrimp and wrasse, perhaps a shoal of razorfish. Along the slope, towards the drop-off, is a dry riverbed, marked by bare ridges radiating outwards where you can sometimes find unexpected specimens.

The depth and location make the coral garden a very good, and popular, night dive on which you may see Spanish dancers and flashlightfish. Night dives on both the wreck and drop-off are also great.

A 15 minute outrigger ride eastwards takes you to Batu Kelebit (Kelebit Rocks) which are two large rocks lying just offshore. The dive site is quite dramatic and consists of three steep ridges encrusted with an incredible diversity of hard corals, beautiful sea fans, fire corals and sponges, with channels of white sand.

The marine life varies from tiny to very large: the steepness of the site combined with the structure of the ridges (and plankton-rich water) means you also have more chance to see barracuda, tuna, mantas and reef sharks than you do within the bay.

The diving here is colder than within Tulamben Bay as there's a cold water eddy coming up from the depths. The current can be quite strong at times but the channels are well-protected.

-- The writer is a professional diver and director of PT AquaMarine Diving in Bali.