Trip Report - Tulamben, Bali with Liberty Dive Resort (October 2018)

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Nameless Bear

Registered
Messages
34
Reaction score
42
Location
Singapore
# of dives
200 - 499
For more, check out www.namelessbear.com

The Land of the Gods! Few other places evoke images of soft, sandy beaches, beautiful villas with a private pool, and drunk tourists spoiling for a fight. Fortunately for me, I would be far away from the Kuta crowds and much closer to Mount Agung, an active volcano, in Tulamben. Yay!

Popular with day-trippers visiting the USAT Liberty along with some freedivers, it is we macro photographers, the few, the proud, that call Tulamben one of our homes, alongside Lembeh and Anilao.

This is my second time in Tulamben and first with Liberty Dive Resort (LDR). Packing a camera with macro lens locked in, my intentions couldn’t be clearer.

Getting there
Bali-Tulamben-Drive.jpg


Flying in from Singapore, I took a 2.5 hour direct flight to Bali Denpasar Airport. The journey to the resort took another 2.5 hours by airport transfer arranged with LDR. Fast!

Tulamben
What do you think of when you think of Bali? Nice beaches? Vibrant nightlife? Sorry, pal, but Tulamben has none of that. Topside, it’s mostly resorts, restaurants, and a few convenience stores. Evenings will be spent mostly relaxing in the resort, with a beer in hand. Come to think of it, that’s not too bad, is it?

Liberty Dive Resort
Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Garden.jpg


Beautiful, spacious resort with three (yes, 3!) swimming pools, restaurant, and a camera room. Food at the restaurant is pretty good, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to get out and try everything else Tulamben has to offer!

Big shoutout to LDR staff as service was consistently excellent!

LDR dive operations are very well-run, and provide you with your own dedicated spotter and free Nitrox. They usually go out for two dives in the morning, come back for lunch, then go back out for another two afternoon dives or an afternoon dive followed by a night dive. Bottom time is limited only by you; I was averaging 70-minute dives, and we were coming up only because it was cold! After your dives, you will be served fruit slices and a drink which you can enjoy as you take a dip in the pool to rinse and warm up.

Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Restaurant-Pool.jpg

Love this pool after a cold dive, you will

I booked a garden cottage for myself which has more than enough space for me and my camera.

Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Cottage.jpg

Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Cottage-Room.jpg


Pro tip: pick the garden cottages if you want to be closer to the dive centre, restaurant, and main pool, like me!

Diving
Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Rick.jpg

Say hello to my dive guide, Rick!

Tulamben is famous for the USAT Liberty wreck which is easily accessible for divers and freedivers. However, the real magic can be found when you slow down and take a closer look at the sandy slopes and rocky bottoms. Tulamben ranks right up there with Lembeh and Anilao when it comes to macro, so don’t be shy when sharing your 'most wanted’ list with your spotter! Here are a few ‘Tulamben Specials’ to get you started:

  • Doto greenamyeri

  • Doto bella

  • Tritonia sp

  • Costasiella sp (with rosy cheeks)
A dawn dive on the USAT Liberty is also highly recommended for the Humphead parrotfish. Be sure to hit the water early at 530am for the best chance to see a group of them just getting up and ready before their morning commute. A word of warning about the wreck; try to avoid late-morning to late-afternoon as this is the time most day-trippers will visit, unless you’re into seeing more bubbles and getting fin-slapped!

Bali-Tulamben-Liberty-Dive-Resort-Selfie.jpg

Nothing to shoot? Selfie time!

Bottom Line
Tulamben is a great destination if your focus is macro photography, bonus that it’s easy on the wallet. As popular as the USAT Liberty is, it’s not all that impressive and there are much better wrecks to explore which are less crowded. Since there isn’t much to do topside, a stay of over one week is only recommended for hardcore macro photographers or those with very specific objectives.

Liberty Dive Resort gets top marks for value and is very highly recommended for it’s beautiful resort, fantastic staff service, and professional guides.

coconut-octopus-amphioctopus-marginatus-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-doto-bella-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-doto-greenamyeri-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-doto-ussi-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-eggs-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-shaun-the-sheep-costasiella-sp-tulamben.jpg


nudibranch-tritonia-sp-tulamben.jpg


sea-pen-porcelain-crab-porcellanella-triloba.jpg
 
For more, check out www.namelessbear.com

The Land of the Gods! Few other places evoke images of soft, sandy beaches, beautiful villas with a private pool, and drunk tourists spoiling for a fight. Fortunately for me, I would be far away from the Kuta crowds and much closer to Mount Agung, an active volcano, in Tulamben. Yay!

Popular with day-trippers visiting the USAT Liberty along with some freedivers, it is we macro photographers, the few, the proud, that call Tulamben one of our homes, alongside Lembeh and Anilao.

This is my second time in Tulamben and first with Liberty Dive Resort (LDR). Packing a camera with macro lens locked in, my intentions couldn’t be clearer.

Getting there
View attachment 510256

Flying in from Singapore, I took a 2.5 hour direct flight to Bali Denpasar Airport. The journey to the resort took another 2.5 hours by airport transfer arranged with LDR. Fast!

Tulamben
What do you think of when you think of Bali? Nice beaches? Vibrant nightlife? Sorry, pal, but Tulamben has none of that. Topside, it’s mostly resorts, restaurants, and a few convenience stores. Evenings will be spent mostly relaxing in the resort, with a beer in hand. Come to think of it, that’s not too bad, is it?

Liberty Dive Resort
View attachment 510257

Beautiful, spacious resort with three (yes, 3!) swimming pools, restaurant, and a camera room. Food at the restaurant is pretty good, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to get out and try everything else Tulamben has to offer!

Big shoutout to LDR staff as service was consistently excellent!

LDR dive operations are very well-run, and provide you with your own dedicated spotter and free Nitrox. They usually go out for two dives in the morning, come back for lunch, then go back out for another two afternoon dives or an afternoon dive followed by a night dive. Bottom time is limited only by you; I was averaging 70-minute dives, and we were coming up only because it was cold! After your dives, you will be served fruit slices and a drink which you can enjoy as you take a dip in the pool to rinse and warm up.

View attachment 510258
Love this pool after a cold dive, you will

I booked a garden cottage for myself which has more than enough space for me and my camera.

View attachment 510259
View attachment 510260

Pro tip: pick the garden cottages if you want to be closer to the dive centre, restaurant, and main pool, like me!

Diving
View attachment 510261
Say hello to my dive guide, Rick!

Tulamben is famous for the USAT Liberty wreck which is easily accessible for divers and freedivers. However, the real magic can be found when you slow down and take a closer look at the sandy slopes and rocky bottoms. Tulamben ranks right up there with Lembeh and Anilao when it comes to macro, so don’t be shy when sharing your 'most wanted’ list with your spotter! Here are a few ‘Tulamben Specials’ to get you started:

  • Doto greenamyeri

  • Doto bella

  • Tritonia sp

  • Costasiella sp (with rosy cheeks)
A dawn dive on the USAT Liberty is also highly recommended for the Humphead parrotfish. Be sure to hit the water early at 530am for the best chance to see a group of them just getting up and ready before their morning commute. A word of warning about the wreck; try to avoid late-morning to late-afternoon as this is the time most day-trippers will visit, unless you’re into seeing more bubbles and getting fin-slapped!

View attachment 510262
Nothing to shoot? Selfie time!

Bottom Line
Tulamben is a great destination if your focus is macro photography, bonus that it’s easy on the wallet. As popular as the USAT Liberty is, it’s not all that impressive and there are much better wrecks to explore which are less crowded. Since there isn’t much to do topside, a stay of over one week is only recommended for hardcore macro photographers or those with very specific objectives.

Liberty Dive Resort gets top marks for value and is very highly recommended for it’s beautiful resort, fantastic staff service, and professional guides.

View attachment 510263

View attachment 510264

View attachment 510265

View attachment 510266

View attachment 510267

View attachment 510268

View attachment 510269

View attachment 510270

Fabulous captures!

Next time consider staying in Padang Bai.

I'm recently back from staying and diving with Absolute Scuba. We did the Liberty and Suraya by a taking a drive in the van to get there and back, which wasn't ideal but not too painful either. The rest of the sites were by boat from right out front of the resort. Local dives really delivered too. Lots of macro, if that's your thing, which it is apparently, as well as schools of fish, manta dives, mola mola and I even saw a whale shark! I'll be going back.
 
Where did you see the whale shark?

At SD, northside Nusa Penida. What a day that was!! Mantas, the mola mola at Crystal Bay and then the whale shark. I hit the trifecta, baby!!
 
Thanks for the report, it was a great read. I have been to Tulamben three times and always enjoy the wreck even though it is busy, but I've found some great things on the sloping sand (though I'm not much of a macro spotter - poor eyesight). That green thing looks like one of the Magic Roundabout characters to me, I'm showing my age now! I am back in Bali in a few weeks' time, but it will be in Nusa Penida before heading back over to Komodo.
 
Fabulous captures!

Next time consider staying in Padang Bai.

I'm recently back from staying and diving with Absolute Scuba. We did the Liberty and Suraya by a taking a drive in the van to get there and back, which wasn't ideal but not too painful either. The rest of the sites were by boat from right out front of the resort. Local dives really delivered too. Lots of macro, if that's your thing, which it is apparently, as well as schools of fish, manta dives, mola mola and I even saw a whale shark! I'll be going back.

I did consider Padang Bai for macro, but from what I found online, the value isn't anywhere what I could get in Tulamben (yes, i'm very stingy :D). Still, I'd love to check out Padang Bai if I could spend more than a week in Bali!

Great report! We'll be visiting Bali from May 2 to 17 and also staying at LDR for a few days.
Seeing how much you enjoyed your stay makes us even more excited!

Thank you! Looking forward to hearing from your experience in Tulamben with LDR :)

Thanks for the report, it was a great read. I have been to Tulamben three times and always enjoy the wreck even though it is busy, but I've found some great things on the sloping sand (though I'm not much of a macro spotter - poor eyesight). That green thing looks like one of the Magic Roundabout characters to me, I'm showing my age now! I am back in Bali in a few weeks' time, but it will be in Nusa Penida before heading back over to Komodo.

I had to Google 'Magic Roundabout' :p Glad you enjoyed your time in Tulamben, it's been twice for me so far, and I'll be back for a third for sure if I can find the time.

Hope you have a great time in Indonesia! Are you doing a LOB in Komodo?
 
I did consider Padang Bai for macro, but from what I found online, the value isn't anywhere what I could get in Tulamben (yes, i'm very stingy :D). Still, I'd love to check out Padang Bai if I could spend more than a week in Bali!



Thank you! Looking forward to hearing from your experience in Tulamben with LDR :)



I had to Google 'Magic Roundabout' :p Glad you enjoyed your time in Tulamben, it's been twice for me so far, and I'll be back for a third for sure if I can find the time.

Hope you have a great time in Indonesia! Are you doing a LOB in Komodo?

I thought Padang Bai was cheap. Tulamben is cheaper? Imagine that.

Or is it because you were doing shore diving, which should indeed be cheaper than boat diving?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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