Muck Diving in Amed, Bali

 Muck Diving in Amed, Bali

 We had always heard about the muck diving possibilities in Amed, Bali. For the past three trips we had traveled just north of this community to stay and dive in Tulamben, where the big shipwreck is as well as good muck diving. It would be possible to drive between the two but since we had a few extra days at the end of our Indonesia time we decided to give Amed the go-ahead and really dive into what it has to offer.

Tiger Shrimp

Elusive, Tiny, Tiger Shrimp

 We stayed at a place just outside of town called Puri Wirata, because it had a pool and its own dive shop. We flew into Bali in the middle of rush hour but managed to do some weaving in and out driving to get through it rather quickly. It was getting dark by the time we were making our way up the coastal road. I wouldn't want to drive in Bali in the daytime, so I found myself glad that Heidi had nodded off and wasn't watching our driver continue to bob and weave even in the dark. It was impressive. Scary, but impressive.

 So we made it, got all moved in, and set up for diving the next day. Then we sat back in our ocean view room and watched as this thunder storm rolled out across the ocean. I guess we had gotten so lucky with the weather up till now that it was only proper that we see what the rainy season can really be like. Luckily we were here to see small creatures in the muck instead of big beautiful reef scenes so the reduced visibility wasn't the worst thing that could happen. We would learn a few days later that the rains washed out several bridges, rerouting traffic all around the island.

  It was the muck diving we were here for, especially nudibranchs, and all I can say in woah! We found so many nudibranchs, plus a few frogfish, mantis shrimps, cuttlefish, and even a couple of tiger shrimps which was a first for this trip. The nudibranchs came in all colors, shapes, and sizes. It was very nice to photograph them against the dark background of the black sand. This is something about Amed that really draws in the macro photographers from around the world. It is like a little Lembeh, with almost as many creatures.

 We did a few dives in Amed and a few in neighboring Seraya, which we thought was pretty funny since Seraya is actually closer to Tulamben and we dove there all the previous times. Amed is a bit more exposed to river runoff. So in our experience we would stick with staying at Liberty Dive Resort in Tulamben. It has a better setup with pools, dive shop, and location to the beach, plus you have the added bonus of diving on the wreck as well as muck diving in Seraya. It was also a little cheaper than Puri Wirata, although we did have a wonderful last few days here on our trip.

Pikachu's cousin

the Frogfish King on his throne

little baby Frogfish

Black Sand of Amed

Kadek, our dive guide at Puri Wirata