Tulamben and Amed

Bali'S Quiet North East Coast, Where A Torpedoed American Cargo Ship Lies Thirty Metres From The Beach And Is Dived From Shore By Tens Of Thousands Of People A Year · Tulamben, Bali

IN 1942 A JAPANESE SUBMARINE TORPEDOED THE USAT LIBERTY, an American army cargo ship, in the Lombok Strait. She was beached at Tulamben and stripped, and there she stayed until 1963, WHEN MOUNT AGUNG ERUPTED AND THE TREMORS PUSHED HER OFF THE BEACH INTO THE SEA. She now lies THIRTY METRES FROM THE SHORE in five to thirty metres of water, encrusted and intact enough to swim through, and because you walk to her over the cobbles rather than taking a boat SHE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIVED WRECKS ON EARTH. Snorkellers reach the shallow end. AMED, a few kilometres south, is a string of fishing villages on black sand with outrigger jukung pulled up on the beach, TRADITIONAL SALT MADE BY EVAPORATING SEAWATER IN HOLLOWED PALM TRUNKS, and a freediving scene that has grown up quietly around the deep water offshore. Neither village resembles southern Bali in any respect, and Agung stands over both of them.

Tulamben and Amed, Karangasem Regency, Bali, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

THERE IS NO GATE. TULAMBEN AND AMED ARE VILLAGES on Bali's north-east coast, roughly two to three hours from Ubud or the southern beaches on winding coastal road. DIVE CENTRES OPERATE FROM BOTH and run the wreck several times a day; THE LIBERTY IS A SHORE DIVE - you walk in from the beach, which is why it is so heavily used. A SMALL LOCAL BEACH ACCESS FEE IS COLLECTED AT TULAMBEN. LOCAL WOMEN CARRY TANKS TO THE WATER ON THEIR HEADS for a set fee and this is an established local economy rather than a novelty - use it. THE WRECK IS BUSIEST FROM MID-MORNING; first light and late afternoon are quiet. AMED'S SALT MAKERS WORK IN THE DRY SEASON. The cobble beach entry is awkward and the swell can make it genuinely difficult.

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