DIVING BALI - THE TULAMBEN WRECK

Bali's eastern coast has some of her most impressive diving and while old hands may sometimes find the crowds that flock to the Tulamben Wreck a little frustrating, there is nothing about this dive that is less than wonderful. Even when it's rainy, even when the surf makes entry difficult, the Liberty is part of diver folklore. We've been diving her on and off since the late 80's and we have never been disappointed.

Just 30 metres from shore lies the broken hull of an American WWII supply ship. Torpedoed in 1941 by a Japanese submarine she lay beached for 20 years before mighty Mount Agung erupted. The force pushed her down the sloping seabed where she broke up and became one of the best artificial reefs you will ever see.

The dive involves wandering up the pebble strewn beach before entering from shore, sometimes a tricky manoeuvre. You fin towards the hull, passing the resident oriental sweetlips, then the wreck materialises from the blue. There are jacks swirling above, large napoleon wrasse in amongst them and, rarely, magnificent mola-mola are spotted here. The superstructure is thick with corals, sponges, fans and crinoids all surrounded by lots of fish. Although you can't penetrate the structure you can see guns, toilets, boilers and the anchor chain.

The bay to the side of the wreck and others like Seraya nearby are equally interesting. Black sand slopes drops gently to 15 metres or so before heading into deeper waters. There are small patches of coral, sponges and anemones plus plenty of detritus. Amongst this is fabulous critter life, from seahorses to pipefish, harlequin shrimp to frogfish.