Tulamben Beach is diving heaven in place
in Bali. Some of Bali's most interesting 
diving
is gound at tulamben, where the shallow wreck of WWII Us cargo ship is
now festooned with colourfull corals and schools of tropical fish. It
is also one of the few places one can stay on the east coast, north of
Candi Dasa. The beach although pebbled, is quite pretty and the water
is clear and good for snorkelling. There are numbers of losmen and warung
along the main beach, and it can give quite busy here on the weekends
and throughtout June and July.
The wreck of the Liberty is the most popular dive site on Bali. It was
torpedoed by a japanese submarine about 15 km south west of Lombok on
11 January 1942. Two US destroyers tried to tow it to Singaraja, but it
started to take in water and was beached at Tulamben. The crew were evacuated,
but its cargo of raw rubber and railway parts were never retrieved. It
sat in the beach until 1963, when the eruption of Mt. Agung caused it
to slip into deeper water where it broke into two pieces.
It lies
only 50 metres offshore, parralel with the coast, and its bow only metres
from surface. There are over 400 species of reef fish, mostly accustomed
to divers, and they will often eat out of your hand. The wreck can be
visited by up to 40 divers at a time, especially between 11.30am and 4
pm, so avoid the site at that time