Tulamben, Bali 2007

Preparation for the trip started with us sending most of our dive equipment for a thorough service at Sim’s shop, the Rainbow Runner on Jalan Ampang. Eric also managed to convince me to get an Ikelite EV manual controller from Sim so that I can start using the DS50 strobe. Now I look like a serious underwater photographer.

At long last, the date finally arrived and after a 3 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, we arrived at the Denpasar airport around 7 pm . From the air, Bali looked like a big island sprawling with buildings. Our guide from the resort met us at the gate and loaded us onto a Toyota Kijang, just one of the many - this vehicle is a top seller in Indonesia for the past few years. Since Tulamben is another 3 hours of travel (about 100km) by road from Denpasar, we inquired about dinner and were brought to the “Sharkeys” beach front restaurant at Jimbaran Beach. Seafood was fresh, but nothing spectacular and although it was not too pricey, I still reckon we could have done lots better. The architecture of the buildings in Bali, a mix of Chinese and Indian architectural influences were really mesmerizing. As we were leaving the town of Sanur, it started drizzling. Soon it was pouring throughout the long and dark drive to Tulamben, a small diving village on the Northeastern side of Bali.

Around midnight, a honk woke us up when we had arrive to our destination and alerted the guards at the resort of our arrival. They gave us the bigger room even though we had paid for a regular one. Tae Peng did say they would do that if the resort wasn’t full. Talk about luck. The next morning, we found out we were the only guests at the resort for the weekend! The pleasant boutique resort, is owned by Tony, a friendly Australian, staffed with friendly locals. At maximum capacity, it could cater to 14 guests. Around July 2007, Tony plans to place some guests at the newly constructed beachfront villa and at an adjacent villa that is still under construction. The villas are close to the dive operations, and just 5 minutes up the road. Take our word for it, the view and solitude was just amazing. Too bad we didn’t have our camera with us. For most of our stay there, we dined at Wayan Restaurant, a nice little setup just across the street from the dive center. The food is good, and pretty decent for the money.

When we were getting ready for our first dive, Gede, the local dive guide recommended by Tae Peng greeted us at the dive center. Turned out that guests that book through Scuba Doo will be automatically be assigned to Gede. While we were getting ready and putting on our booties, our equipment were fitted to air tanks and carried by the local residents to the shore. From the resort, we crossed the narrow main road and took a short walk on an empty lot to the beach for the infamous USS Liberty wreck dive site. Booties are highly recommended as every dive at Tulamben are shore dives and involve some severe natural foot reflexology/massage (if you know what we mean) to get to the water.

Once underwater, the dark volcanic sediment provided a fantastic backdrop showcasing the abundance of colorful marine life. Passing the rocky volcanic shoreline, the infamous muck dives begin. Everytime we disturbed the bottom while trying to get a good shot or to get a good look at some creature, we had to patiently wait for the water currents to carry away the debris and tried our best not to cause more displacement. Just a short distance from the shore, we finally sighted the USS Liberty Wreck. The welcoming committee consisted of Surgeonfish, Butterflyfish, Angelfish and the usual Sergeant Majors who gave up once they realized we did not bring any food. Like any other snorkeling area, these fish are used to being fed. The depth of the wreck ranged from 7 meters to a whopping 30 meters. The whole structure was covered by corals, sea fans, clams and it was fish galore. The sea life here just seemed much bigger than those sighted in Malaysian waters and the visibility was fantastic even though it wasn’t that all sunny and rained heavily the night before. On a sunny day, the landscape and varied marine life would have been even more breathtaking. Now we know why everyone raved about the wreck and made it the must see dive spot. Needless to say, it is also one of the most crowded dive sites where everyone comes for the resident school of Big Eyed Jacks, Bumphead Parrotfish, assorted Sweetlips, Potato Cods, Giant Trevallies and Greater Barracuda. And for macro lovers, there were Pygmy Seahorse, Allied Cowries and Soft Coral Crabs.

The two other dive sites at Tulamben, the drop off left of Mimpi Resort and the Coral Garden, right in front of Mimpi resort, were just as exciting. The highlights were huge mantis shrimp, octopus, ribbon eels in blue and yellow, leaf fish, frog fish, big eel and a school of little catfish. During the second dive, we realized the expensive “Sea Gold” mask defogger doesn’t last more than one dive as claimed by reviews. It worked great on the first dive, but Colgate or saliva works just as well for one dive.

Apart from Tulamben, we also took a scenic 30 minutes coastal boat ride to Seraya (pronounced as Soraya) and landed in front of a resort that is under construction. The entire site is simply named Seraya Beach, even though there were three different sites offering different landscapes and creatures. The middle part was fondly called Seraya Secret and for our own reference, we started calling the other two sites, Seraya Left and Seraya Right, accordingly. Our guide easily found us everything that he promised and much more. There were big Fire Urchins with Zebra Crabs and Coleman Shrimps, Squat Lobsters, Cowries, Nudibranch, Orangutan Crabs, Cuttlefish, Stonefish, Anglerfish, Whipped Coral Shrimp, Harlequin Shrimps, Boxer (aka pom pom crabs) and a school of friendly Batfish. During the surface intervals, we rested at the beautiful but pricey Seraya resort since there were no other options. Perhaps next year, the resort next door will be completed with cheaper fare.

Although we chalked up 12 dives in 3 days, we were assured that we haven’t seen everything. There are more sites further away that we have not yet explored. Before we knew it, we were on our ride back to the airport and Joe (the resort owner) threw in free stopovers for our drive to Denpasar. Our driver showed us the serene Padi fields at Tirta Gangga, the King’s summer palace in Amlapura and even Kuta beach. If only we had more time! Suffice to say, given the fantastic experience, we are already thinking of another trip back to Bali!