Dive Sites
USAT Liberty Wreck
The Wreck of the USAT Liberty rests on its
starboard (right) side, just 40 metres from the pebble beach in Tulamben Bay.
The ship lies with the bow pointing north on the
edge of a very steep, sloping sand bottom. The Liberty is far from intact, yet
much of it is very recognizable. The stern is the shallowest at around 5 metres
and easily recognised with its intact rudder. Forward of the stern some of the
cargo holds have deck beams still supporting the hull and a little further
forward the boilers are easily located. The bow itself is intact, along with the
forward gun, but the cargo hold just back from the bow is a twisted mass of
metal plates. Maximum depth on the wreck itself is around 30 metres, though the
bottom drops well beyond this depth. The wreck is absolutely alive with
critters, from Mantis Shrimps to Mola Mola, from Pygmy Seahorses to Bump head Parrot Fish - this is the ONE dive you cannot miss.
The Drop-Off
The
Village Temple sits high on a headland at the southeast end of Tulamben Bay. The
headland is composed of volcanic rock from an old eruption of Mount Agung. The
‘Drop Off’ is a series of underwater lava flows that fan-out
from this headland. The
reef descends to over 70 metres in a very short distance from the shore. This
area is often used as an alternative to diving the Liberty wreck, yet it is far
from a second rate dive. Its diversity of marine life is staggering, from
miniscule frogfish to monstrous sunfish. From translucent shrimps to giant
trevally - the Drop Off is a very rich reef with an easy beach entry for divers.
Coral Garden
Lying between the Liberty Wreck and the Drop-Off, is a long
stretch of shallow reef that follows the shoreline for around 150 metres. The Coral
garden is a rich reef, popular with underwater photographers. It is
renown for almost guaranteed sightings of critters that are rare elsewhere;
Harlequin Ghost Pipefish, Ribbon Eels, Leaf Scorpion Fish and at night –
Spanish Dancer Nudibranchs. It is also a great place to see schools of trevally,
snapper and sweetlip or perhaps a cruising Black-Tip Shark. All this literally
on the doorsteps of many of Tulamben's beach side hotels and dive centres.
Depths range from 3-15 metres. This site is also known as Paradise Reef.
Alam Anda
Alam Anda lies outside of Tulamben Bay,
just around the headland from the Drop-Off. This dive site is accessed by boat
from Tulamben Bay, but this is no ordinary boat dive! Fishermen from the village
take divers out in a Jukung - a traditional Balinese outrigger canoe. Leaving
from the beach adjacent to the Drop-Off, the journey is a pleasant 5 minutes
with views back to Mount Agung and the surrounding coast. The real experience is
at the dive-site, putting on equipment in the confines of a narrow canoe. The
boatmen are great helpers and very quickly you are descending to the edge of a
steep rocky reef. Gorgonia fans and soft corals sprout from large ridges and
rocks that are spread along the reef face. Pelagic fish parade past and many
reef fish meander around the corals. Depths start at six metres and continue way
beyond scuba diving limits - watch your depth gauge. At the end of your dive be
prepared to remove your dive equipment and climb back into the Jukung.
Batu Kelebit
Batu Kelebit is a group of rocks that protrude
from the surface, just a few hundred metres along the rocky coast from Alam Anda.
Beautiful ridges of reef drop steeply to depths of 30-50 metres, where Sharks,
Barracuda and larger pelagics are often sighted. Unlike the darker volcanic sand
inside Tulamben Bay, Batu Kelebit has white sand between the coral outcrops. So
this is more of a 'traditional' coral reef, the shallows are dominated by hard
coral outcrops surrounded by Damsel Fish and Anthias. Large Sea Cucumbers in
fascinating colours meander around the sand patches, Mantis Shrimp dart around
in search of a meal, and Lionfish cruise above fields of staghorn corals. This
site has a mooring buoy and like Alam Anda, is accessed by jukung from
Tulamben Bay.
Seraya Secrets
In the next bay south east of Tulamben, is a dive site that
from the surface gives little hint of the richness that lies below. Seraya
Secrets is what has become known as a 'muck' dive - that is a dive site
without major coral formations, but lots of sand and small structures. A site
where unusual animals are abundant and easily located. Lying directly in front
of Scuba Seraya Resort, Seraya Secrets has two distinct habitats. Just in from
the black-sand beach the bottom drops steadily to a depth of around 3-9 metres,
‘Top Secrets’ is this shallower reef-top. Comprised of smaller rocks with
patches of black sand, occasional sponges and tiny hard corals. This is the
place to find Frogfish, Eels, Scorpion fish, Lionfish, Sea Moth's and Harlequin
Shrimps. ’Deep Secrets’ is on the sloping bottom from 10 metres down to 35
metres. Small outcrops support micro-habitats where seahorses, cuttlefish, mimic
octopus, striped catfish, nudibranchs, multi coloured crinoids and larger
frogfish are found. All this in visibility around 10-15 metres and who said
muck!
Kubu Reef
Kubu Reef is located near Kubu village a few kilometres west of
Tulamben. A sealed road leads from the centre of the village down to the shore.
At its end is a basic dive preparation area and directly offshore are two dive
sites, both accessible from the shore. Looking straight offshore, one is off to
the left, the other slightly to the right. Both sites require a 50 metres swim
out to deeper water, though the swim is over picturesque shallow reefs. The
'left' reef has a large area of delicate branching corals starting at the edge
of the deeper water. Beyond depths of 15 metres are large barrel sponges and one
huge gorgonia fan. The 'right' reef has large coral covered rocks and bommies in
the shallows and deeper is a ridge with very rich soft coral growth. Both areas
have fantastic fish and invertebrate life, with regular shark, barracuda and
larger fish sightings.
Jemeluk Bay
Jemeluk Bay is a picturesque bay half an hour
drive east of Tulamben, its black volcanic sands are surrounded by high hills.
The bay is home to a large fleet of fishing jukungs, which are pulled-up
along the shore during the day. Safe and shallow snorkeling is available inside
the bay, though some of the corals have suffered at the hands of global warming,
this is still a nice place to spend an afternoon drifting over the coral. For
scuba divers, each of the bay's two headlands have steep coral walls that
drop-off dramatically to over 30 metres. Both walls are accessible from the
shore, but require a 100 metre swim. Jukungs are available for rent to
take divers from the shore, which makes life a little easier. The walls are home
to a large variety of fish and corals, including angelfish, lionfish and the
occasional white tip shark. Gorgonia fans sprout from the walls and brightly
coloured soft corals coat their surface.
Further Afield
A few minutes drive either east or west of
Tulamben are a hundred dives sites that haven't been named or are still waiting
to be discovered. The bulk of Tulamben's visiting divers only visit the
well-known dive sites, understandably as there is so much to see.
Yet just a few
minutes away are more sites that are just as rich, but less dived and with
varying terrain. On our exploration trips we have found some beautifully rich
coral reefs. We have also found some mediocre reefs that only just warrant a
look. At one site, that had all the promises of a great dive site with a
rocky promontory, deep water just offshore, access by road, an easy entry over
rocks and with calm - clear water. It ended up that there was no reef at all -
just sand, not even a single rock, coral or sponge!
But during these exploratory
trips it has become evident that if you explore, you will find. As
we found during 2007 when we discovered two beautiful dive sites that almost
no-one visits, but are very easy to access, and they have nice critters in
relatively shallow water. Hence 'G' Spot & Sponge Garden have
become very popular with our customers.
The
richness of Indonesia's underwater world is evident all along this coast. We
have visited lots of dive sites so far that don't have an official name. Some of
the best sites are only a few minutes from Tulamben, near the next village Rubaya
are some beautiful critter dives, at Batu Ringgit are three dive
sites where we find something new on every dive. These are sites
infrequently visited by divers and so retain an untouched feeling to them, a
feeling of discovery.
Text & Photos - Jeff & Dawn Mullins ©
2008
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