My Bali Today – Wreck Diving
Wreck diving on the PADI Open Water Course
Congratulations to Django and Andreas who became PADI Open Water divers this week with Diving Indo, completing their course wreck diving at Tulamben with their PADI Instructor Natalia.
Part of the PADI Open Water course you get to dive on the world famous USAT Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben. Wreck Diving here is a unique experience as the ship is 120 meters long, covered in coral and teeming with fish and it is only a few meters off of the shore.
Built in 1918 in New Jersey, USA, she was 120m long, 17m in beam and weighed 6,211 tons. On January the 11th 1942 this conscripted US cargo ship was carrying rubber and railroad parts. It was part of a convoy sailing from Australia to the Philippines when it was hit by a Japanese torpedo from a submarine in the Lombok Strait.
Wounded but not sunk, she was towed by the accompanying destroyers in the fleet in the direction of Singaraja in North Bali. It was hoped that she could be repaired there, but she started to take on too much water, so she was beached at Tulamben on the North East coast of Bali, so that her cargo and fittings could be salvaged. And there she sat for over 20 years!
In February 1963, the USAT Liberty met her final resting place. The Gunung Agung volcano which is the backdrop to Tulamben became active for the first time in 120 years and caused a series of earthquakes. This land movement caused the ship to slip into the deeper water and broke her at the bow and stern, making it one of the best wreck diving sites in the world and perfect for the PADI Open Water Course.
Want to learn to dive in Bali, then check out our PADI Open Water page for our flexible learning options that will fit in with your holiday
Photos thanks to Natalia