Bicycle Slope is an artificial-reef dive on the Kubu stretch of the Tulamben coast, between Kubu Reef and the Boga wreck. Motorbike frames and iron and concrete structures sit on a sandy slope that goes to 15 metres, and the site is listed for critters, moray and ribbon eels, barracuda, cuttlefish, triggerfish and wrasse, with shallow coral spots scattered around.
Where it is and how deep
8.2572° S, 115.5835° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is a sandy slope with artificial structures placed on it: motorbike frames, iron and concrete. Nothing here is deep. The site goes to 15 metres, so the profile flattens out as soon as you are down and the limit on the dive is gas rather than depth. Shallow coral spots are scattered around the structures, so the ground between them is not bare sand the whole way.
Work the structures rather than the open sand between them. Each piece of iron and concrete collects growth and holds whatever has moved in: critters, moray eel and ribbon eel, cuttlefish, triggerfish and wrasse, with barracuda over the slope. Because depth never becomes the constraint, this is a dive to take slowly and close to the bottom, scanning one structure and the stretch of slope before the next.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Barracuda
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Tulamben: Diveable all year. April to July and October to November give the calmest, clearest water; December to March is the rainy season, with more run-off and fewer divers.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Bicycle Slope?+
The site goes to 15 metres. It is a sandy slope with artificial structures on it, so the profile is shallow and flat once you are down and most of the dive is spent working between the structures.
Sources
- Bicycle Slope, Kubu - Dive Site — SSI/Scubago
More dive sites in Tulamben
Reef
A large gorgonian fan at 20 m with barracuda and bumphead parrotfish
Harlequin shrimp and flamboyant cuttlefish on black sand
Shore-entry house reef from 5 to 30 metres with structures at 15 m
Reef
Small beach-entry reef with the best coral to the left of the entry
A 125 m cargo ship on a sand slope 30 m off the beach
Reef
Easy shore reef a few hundred metres from the Liberty wreck
Artificial reef
Buddhist statues and Hindu temple fragments overgrown with coral
A wall to 60 m with a gorgonian fan at 27 metres
Similar dives elsewhere
An old truck-tyre reef grown over with coral, full of critters
Three or four frogfish colour morphs on a single dive
Coleman shrimp on fire urchins, and the coast's smallest finds
A decade-old tyre reef, grown in and dived after dark too