Tulamben is a black-sand shore-diving village on Bali's northeast coast built around the wreck of the USAT Liberty, an American cargo ship torpedoed in 1942 and pushed onto the reef by a 1963 volcanic eruption. The wreck now sits in 5–30 meters of water, encrusted in coral and patrolled by jacks and bumphead parrotfish, while nearby muck sites hold frogfish, mandarinfish, and pygmy seahorses. Entries are simple beach walks over cobblestones with minimal current.
About diving in Tulamben
There is no boat schedule to work around, which changes the shape of the day entirely. Divers set their own times, and the pattern that develops is a first-light dive on the wreck before the day-trip groups arrive, a mid-morning macro dive, then something shallow and slow in the afternoon. Porters, traditionally local women carrying tanks on their heads, bring gear down to the water, dive centres line the one coast road, and other sites are minutes away by pickup, so four or five dives in a day is unremarkable.
The Liberty is why most divers come. The American cargo ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine south-west of the Lombok Strait in January 1942 and beached here so her cargo could be saved, and the tremors of Mount Agung's 1963 eruption slid her off the stones. She lies on her side on a sand slope a short swim from the beach, the stern about 5 m down and the deepest parts near 30 m, so one wreck serves both a first dive and a deep one. From late morning to early afternoon it fills with day-trip groups; dawn, dusk and night dives are far quieter.
The coastline drops away fast. Volcanic sand and cobble run steeply from the beach into deep water within a short swim, which is why so much of the diving sits within shore range: bommies on the slope, and long stretches of dark sand either side of the village that hold the small stuff. Those slopes continue southeast towards Seraya and Amed, and most operators treat the whole stretch as one dive area. Visibility is best in settled weather; rain and surge stir the sand and cut it back.
It suits photographers, anyone working on macro, and divers who want volume without logistics, since the same site at a different hour reads as a different dive. Training runs here easily, and the top of the reef is shallow enough that snorkellers and freedivers share the water. Conditions hold up all year; April to July and October to November are the calmest spells, and the wet months from December to March bring more run-off, which is the main thing to plan around.
Best time to dive Tulamben
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
| Sea surface | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F |
| Daytime high | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 31°C88°F | 31°C88°F | 30°C86°F |
| Rain | 348 mm13.7 in | 270 mm10.6 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 125 mm4.9 in | 77 mm3.0 in | 58 mm2.3 in | 36 mm1.4 in | 15 mm0.6 in | 38 mm1.5 in | 65 mm2.6 in | 177 mm7.0 in | 307 mm12.1 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 348 mm13.7 in | 270 mm10.6 in | 236 mm9.3 in | 125 mm4.9 in | 77 mm3.0 in | 58 mm2.3 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 30°C86°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 28°C82°F | 29°C84°F | 30°C86°F | 31°C88°F | 31°C88°F | 30°C86°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 36 mm1.4 in | 15 mm0.6 in | 38 mm1.5 in | 65 mm2.6 in | 177 mm7.0 in | 307 mm12.1 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
April to July is the first prime window: the dry season has set in, the south-east monsoon is only starting, and visibility can reach 40 m. August and September are still good diving, just less reliably calm than the months either side. October and November are the second prime window, with the calmest weather of the year before the rains arrive. December to March is the rainy season. Most days stay dry and the wreck is quieter, but run-off can cut the visibility, so a longer stay gives more chances at a clear day. Every dive here starts from the beach, so there is no crossing to cancel, and the Liberty can be dived in any month.
Best months: April, May, June, July, October, November
Tulamben water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface stays between 28 and 30 °C (82–86 °F) all year. Most rain falls from November to March, peaking at about 350 mm (14 in) in January; it stays largely dry from May to October. Daytime highs sit around 30 °C (86 °F) all year. The coldest water here is about 26 °C (79 °F), so pack a 3 mm full suit.
Dive types & marine life
Bumphead parrotfish move through at first light, before divers spread along the coast, and schools of jacks and other reef fish circle the shallows all year. The dark slopes hold frogfish, nudibranchs, octopus and cuttlefish in every season, with mandarinfish emerging at dusk to spawn and pygmy seahorses out on the sea fans.
- Wreck
- Muck & macro
- Reef
- Reef fish swarms
- Nudibranchs
- Frogfish
- Pygmy seahorses
- Macro critters
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Mandarinfish
Best dive sites in Tulamben
- 1
USAT Liberty Wreck
WWII cargo ship beached in 1942 and pushed off by Agung in 1963; stern at 5 m, a short swim out.
- 2
Drop-Off (Tulamben)
Wall at the end of the bay to 60 m, with an overhang at 18 m and a gorgonian fan at 27 m.
- 3
Seraya Secrets
Black-sand muck slope dived for rhinopias, mimic octopus, harlequin shrimp and ghost pipefish.
- 4
Coral Garden
Easy shore reef a few hundred metres from the wreck, used for long shallow dives and training.
- 5
Batu Kelebit
Exposed offshore ridges with the area's best visibility and a chance of reef sharks and trevally.
- 6
Kubu Reef
Quieter drop-off to the north with barrel sponges, sea fans and passing dogtooth tuna.
Site guides
Shore-entry house reef from 5 to 30 metres with structures at 15 m
Reef
A jukung-only reef of bommies and soft coral away from the crowds
Reef
Five minutes by jukung to a coral slope dropping to 40 metres
Muck & macro
Fine sand and rock past 30 metres, dived for the small stuff
Reef
A small cave at 14 m in a terrain of stepped reef ridges
Artificial reef
Motorbike frames and concrete set on a sandy slope at 15 metres
Wreck
An upright Dutch-built freighter scuttled off Kubu
Reef
Easy shore reef a few hundred metres from the Liberty wreck
A wall to 60 m with a gorgonian fan at 27 metres
Wall
The far end of the Tulamben volcanic wall, to 40 metres
Reef
Twin reefs with a small cavern tucked between them
Reef
A large gorgonian fan at 20 m with barracuda and bumphead parrotfish
Reef
Small beach-entry reef with the best coral to the left of the entry
Reef
Schools of juvenile blue triggerfish over a miniature reef
Muck & macro
Coral-grown structures at nine metres, dived for shrimp and nudibranchs
Black sand at 10 m with mimic octopus and frogfish
Harlequin shrimp and flamboyant cuttlefish on black sand
Artificial reef
Buddhist statues and Hindu temple fragments overgrown with coral
A 125 m cargo ship on a sand slope 30 m off the beach
How to get to Tulamben
Tulamben is a road trip rather than a flight: roughly three hours by car from Denpasar airport or Bali's southern resorts, up the east coast to the northeast. Most divers stay in the village or at nearby Amed to get early starts. Diving is shore-based, so there is no boat timetable and no crossing to book.
Photos from Tulamben
portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pb1791 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pb1791 · CC BY-SA 3.0
portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Scuba Diving USAT Liberty Shipwreck, Tulamben, Bali · ScubaDad on YouTube
Scuba Diving USAT Liberty Shipwreck In BALI! 🇮🇩 · Blue Horizon Diving on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can beginners dive the Liberty wreck at Tulamben?+
Yes. The stern sits about 5 m below the surface and the hull slopes down to about 30 m, so Open Water divers see much of the ship in shallow water and snorkellers can see the top. Entry is a short swim from a stony beach with little or no current. Going inside the wreck is for divers with wreck training.
Should divers stay in Tulamben or Amed?+
Either works. Tulamben puts the Liberty a walk from the room, which makes dawn, dusk and night dives easy. Amed, about 20 minutes away by road, is the more common base, with more places to stay and its own reefs. Both beat a day trip from the south of Bali, which reaches the wreck at its busiest.
How far is Tulamben from Bali airport?+
About two and a half to three hours by road from Ngurah Rai International Airport, up the east coast. Dive centres and hotels arrange transfers, and a daily tourist shuttle runs from Kuta, Sanur and Ubud via Padang Bai and Candidasa.
What is the best time of day to dive the Liberty wreck?+
Early morning or late afternoon. Day-trip groups from the south of Bali arrive from late morning, and between about 10 am and 2 pm the wreck can be crowded with dozens of divers. A first-light dive, a sunset dive or a night dive, when the cup corals open, avoids them.
Sources
- Tulamben — Wikipedia
- USAT Liberty — Wikipedia
- Diving in Tulamben: the USS Liberty wreck and top dive sites — Dive The World
- Bali scuba diving: sites and seasons — Dive The World
- Diving Tulamben, Bali — Divezone
- Amed — Wikivoyage
Photo credits
- Vividly striped reef fish photographed near the USAT Liberty wreck in Tulamben, Bali by Bernd, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Peacock mantis shrimp peers out from a rocky crevice with a cluster of orange eggs nearby by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Peacock mantis shrimp with iridescent eyes emerges from a coral rubble burrow by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Silhouette of the Liberty wreck's cargo hold beams rising against sunlit blue water by Pb1791, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A rail on the USAT Liberty wreck at Tulamben, heavily encrusted with coral and sponge by Pb1791, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pair of patterned harlequin shrimp with fan-shaped legs on the sea floor by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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