shaggy frogfish. We find a pair of the
magnificent frogfish sitting on a large
patch of seaweed, a rather surprising
sight so close to the equator.
Having been bitten by the muck-
diving bug, the next day I head in the
opposite direction to the wide bay of
Puri Jati
, or PJ, on the north coast.
The water is much warmer here; the
fairly featureless black volcanic sand
seabed is unpromising at first but
soon reveals a molluscan menagerie.
There are lots of nudibranchs, the
gruesome (yet photographically
rewarding) sight of a venomous cone
shell eating a goby tail first, cuttlefish,
bobtail squid and octopuses galore.
Cephalopods brought me to
this site, and we see five mimic
octopuses, a longarm octopus, and I
lose count of the number of coconut
octopuses. The mimics, in particular,
are fascinating to watch, although
I remain completely unconvinced
by the dynamic mimicry story. The
octopus may think he looks like a
flounder, but I know better. We
stay for the night dive, and I see
the largest blue-ringed octopus I
have ever seen, although it’s still
relatively diminutive compared to
other octopuses. I am not sure of
the species. It is a great day and a
totally different diving experience
compared with the clear water and
coral ramparts of Menjangan Island.
The next day I am scheduled to
change hotels, but I squeeze in a
morning shore dive in Pemuteran to
see the coral-growing project. The
amount of corals sprouting from the
frames is truly remarkable, and the
scientists responsible for the project
report that they typically grow three
to five times faster than normal with
the help of electricity, which increases
their skeleton-building rates. There
are now 40 artificial reef structures in
Pemuteran Bay, making it the largest
such project in the world. Electric
frames aren’t going to save coral
reefs — they are just too small in scale
— but they do make for an original
and fascinating house reef for visiting
divers. Then it is time for goodbyes
and loading the car (wet dive gear
stuffed in a crate and camera still
assembled) for the three-hour drive
through the Balinese countryside to
the Tulamben area.
LIBERTY
If I’d booked a package with a single
dive operator, I would have kept the
same guide for my entire trip, but
by booking directly with the hotels,
I have guides that may not know
me as well but know their local sites
inside out. To avoid unnecessary
repetition, I tell my new guide in
Tulamben what I have been seeing.
Curiously, both my guides in Bali
are called Putu, but it is not really
much of a coincidence as there
are only a handful of traditional
Balinese names. Our boat captain in
Menjangan had the same name, too.
The star attraction in Tulamben
is the wreck of the USAT Liberty,
a U.S. Army transport ship that
was torpedoed by a Japanese
submarine in 1942 during World
War II. Curiously, despite being a
war wreck, it has been underwater
only since the 1960s. It initially
ran aground in the shallows of
Tulamben Bay and was submerged
much later in an eruption of the
towering Gunung Agung volcano,
which dominates the skyline.
The Liberty wreck is best dived
early in the morning, as the
visibility usually declines during the
day. But having arrived just after
lunch I can’t wait that long to get
reacquainted and head straight in.
Despite being officially a wreck dive,
nobody dives here for the rust. The
wreck is almost indistinguishable as
a ship because it is so draped in soft
corals, sea fans and sponges.
The main reason the Liberty is
Bali’s most popular dive site is the
incredible fish life, which comes
in all shapes and sizes. From the
resident swirling school of bigeye
jacks to massive groupers, bumphead
parrotfish and groups of sweetlips,
the wreck has everything. Even
macro critters such as ghost pipefish
and pygmy seahorses reside here. I
spy a tiny goby on a soft coral with
another goby in its mouth; predation
or competition, I can’t be sure. If you
are an underwater photographer, the
Liberty is one of those sites you will
want to dive repeatedly —with every
lens you own. Everyone notes how
approachable the fish are; it is possibly
the best dive site for fish photography
in the world. This is high praise, I
know, and it’s not given lightly.
Part of “the Liberty experience”
is how you get in the water.
Tulamben’s beach is made up
of rounded, fist-sized rocks, and
although the wreck is only a short
distance up the bay, the walk might
provoke complaints from some
divers. However, local villagers offer
a porter service, and it’s hard for
any American or European tourist
to complain about the walk as a
petite Balinese girl does it while
carrying your scuba gear and that of
your guide on her head.
Awakened by the cockcrow
early the following morning, I am
ready to dive the Liberty again. It
is much quieter before the day-
trippers arrive. My reward is a truly
unforgettable dive.
MUCH MORE THAN THE WRECK
The north coast of Bali from
the Liberty east to Gili Selang is
peppered with a diverse set of dive
sites that includes coral gardens,
dropoffs, sheltered bays and black-
sand slopes. There are several
dives in Tulamben Bay;
The Coral
Garden
is great for anemonefish
and ribbon eels, while at
The
River
I shoot nudibranch after
nudibranch.
The Dropoff
, at the
eastern end of the bay, is a pretty
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