Revisiting the Underwater Wreck of the U.S.T. Liberty, Bali

View from the pool. Mt Agung in the background

Liberty Dive Resort

 After spending three and a half days surfing our hearts out on the southern peninsula of Bali we finally had a period of small swell. This gave us the opportunity to switch things up, go exploring, and see some more of Bali. We booked a night at the Liberty Dive Resort located only a couple hundred meters away from the famous U.S.T. Liberty ship wreck at Tulumben beach. We only had one night and the drive from Padang Padang took around 3 hours so we had to move fast. We ended up fitting in an afternoon muck dive and a night dive on the wreck our first day and then a sunrise dive on the wreck and a late morning dive on the wreck before zipping back to Padang to catch the next swell.

So many colors

Anticipation builds on our way to the wreck

 The shipwreck has a very interesting history. I researched it in depth the first time I dove here and you can read that blog post here. The short story is that it was built as an army transport ship and was torpedoed by a Japanese sub during WWII in 1942. Ships tried to tow it back to safe dock but it was taking on too much water so they beached it on Tulumben. However the ship wasn't done moving. A later volcanic eruption pushed the ship just offshore down a steep slope creating an easily accessable scuba dive and a home for tons of marine life.

Myles and Jack inside the wreck

 The ship is well over 100 meters but has broken apart over the years. It is now a labyrinth of rooms and wreckage waiting to be explored. I was shocked to see how colorful the coral is on the wreck. It is some of the most visually stunning scuba diving anywhere. It is pretty enough during the day but go at night with underwater torches and you will see more colors than you ever thought could exist underwater. I will write another post on all of the fish and sea creatures that are also mind blowing.

Soft and hard corals making a home on the wreckage

We did find some time to relax and enjoy the pool. In fact after every dive we would jump in the pool at the resort and relax before grabbing a bite before our next dive. We crammed a lot into two days and it turned out to be the perfect break from surfing for our weary muscles.

Canon of the Liberty