The American ship wreck USAT Liberty Glo (aka USS Liberty shipwreck) in Tulamben is Bali's most famous and accessible dive. This is one of the safest wreck dives in the world. This large war victim is just meters from the shore. The armed cargo ship was built in 1918 and served as a supply ship during World War II. It was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-166 in 1942 while in the strait approx. 10 nautical miles south-west of Lombok (she was carrying railway parts and rubber for the war effort). The ship was rescued and towed towards Bali by a Dutch destroyer the HNLMS Van Ghent. The damage done to the ship was so great that the attempt to reach Singaraja failed, the crew was evacuated and the ship was beached in Tulamben.
The intact ship sat beached on this beautiful coast until Bali' s volcano Gunung Agung erupted in 1963. The Liberty crashed beneath the water during its violent eruption. It now sits on a black sand shelf that slopes from about 6-30m.
The USAT Liberty shipwreck is vast: originally 120m (394ft) long and 16m (54ft) beam and 6211 tons when bound from Australia to the Philippines.
The Wreck lies parallel to the beach with her bow pointing north. The Liberty has become one of Indonesia most beautiful artificial reefs.
Dive operators commonly misname the wreck as the "USS Liberty", and it has been incorrectly referred to as a Liberty Ship.
Location: Tulamben Bay
Visibility: 5-30m
Depths: 3-37m (10-120ft)
Diving Conditions: Running currents by the wreck bring lots of Nutrients.
Travel time to site: 3 hours by mini-bus
Underwater Topography: Large concentration of huge corals, sponges, gentle slopes.
Marine life: Turtles and reef sharks have been seen here along with the Mola mola. Big eye jacks, a variety of large angelfish, batfish, sweetlips, parrothfish, invertebrates including brilliant nudibranchs and flatworms. Night divers enjoy schooling flash light fish - the fireflies of the sea.
The American ship wreck USAT Liberty Glo (aka USS Liberty shipwreck) in Tulamben is Bali's most famous and accessible dive. This is one of the safest wreck dives in the world. This large war victim is just meters from the shore. The armed cargo ship was built in 1918 and served as a supply ship during World War II. It was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-166 in 1942 while in the strait approx. 10 nautical miles south-west of Lombok (she was carrying railway parts and rubber for the war effort). The ship was rescued and towed towards Bali by a Dutch destroyer the HNLMS Van Ghent. The damage done to the ship was so great that the attempt to reach Singaraja failed, the crew was evacuated and the ship was beached in Tulamben.
The USAT Liberty shipwreck is vast: originally 120m (394ft) long and 16m (54ft) beam and 6211 tons when bound from Australia to the Philippines.
