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Published: February 12th 2007
How many times on my journeys have I stood at the ocean or sat on a ferry while crossing a beautiful sea and wished that I could dive? I can't remember but definitively too many times! But this time I was ready and well prepared with a diving licence in my pocket for venturing into the deep blue...
Scuba Diving is undoubtly one of the most incredibly beautiful and rewarding hobbies you could ever choose, especially when you are a traveller as some journeys will lead you to places of this green-blue planet with some of the most beautiful beaches, seas, lakes and diving spots. So diving surely adds another perspective and activity to your journey with new impressions from the world under the water surface which you would not see as a non diver, and which would just be and stay an hidden, unknown world for your eyes.
Imagine gliding effortlessly through crystal clear tropical water, over fantastically colourful corals teeming with countless fish. Try to imagine how you would feel if a pod of mantas turned up out of the deep of the ocean to pass by your path by gliding majestically through the water, or as
Encounter
with a Mantayou watch a big "chubby" fish swim lazily by without a care in the world....
The world under the sea can be more colourful and magnificent as most people think. The fascination of men to sea and to wonderful sea creatures is the driving force of human beings to explore the sea and to delve deeper... because it's very human to be curious and fascinated by the unknown. Like you and me, we are probably just curious human beings too, aren't we?!
- Bali --> Tulamben - As I wanted to dive the most famous dive spot in Bali, the USAT Liberty shipwreck, we decided to head to the North-east coast to Tulamben. Kumiko and I actually wanted to leave Kuta by bus (about 2-3hours) but that would have cost us 110.000 Rupiah one way for each, means 440.000 Rupiah (48USD) return for both of us. As we told that the guy in a travel agency, where Kumiko asked for a plane ticket to Sri Lanka, he suggested that we could rent our own car and just drive over to the East Coast. He offered us a small Suzuki jeep for 120.000 Rupiah (9USD) per day.
Silly me
chasing the fishes We were surpised that it was that cheap and told him that we were interested. Kumiko asked me if I am able to drive a car with a stick shift as she was only able to drive automatic. As 90% of the cars in Germany are stick shifts and all Germans have to learn to drive a stick for a getting a proper German driving licence, I had no problems with that at all. So we ended up driving from Kuta to Tulamben in our own little Suzuki jeep.
At first I had some difficulties with changing the gear, as in Indonesia they drive on the left side of the road, so that I - as the driver - was sitting on the right side of the car, what means that I had to change the gear with my left hand instead of, like I was used to, with my right hand. You know, my left hand is a kind of useless, I guess the only thing I am able to do with my left hand is to hold a cigarette or a mug of beer. In addition I now and then just drove on the wrong side of
the road without thinking about it, before Kumiko reminded me that I am not in Germany and better get back on the left side of the road if I wanna get us to Tulamben safe and sound. But after a while I got used to all that - I am sooo talented. :-)
We bought a map and Kumiko had the task to tell me the right direction. At the beginning Kumiko wasn't much of a help as she kept telling me the wrong direction, so I started to poke fun on her telling things like "girls are useless when it comes to directions and reading maps" and that "we will never make it to Tulamben", but then it was actually rather the shitty map to blame instead of Kumiko. But after a while it was fine and we just had to drive along the coast towards east, though this way was longer but easy and we couldn't miss it.
It was a scenic ride along the coast, a sunny day with blue sky and a beautiful blue sea. We stopped several times for short breaks and some drinks along the road. After the coast, we drove through
Traffic
Heey guys, wait for me... a moutain pass and passed by evergreen ricefields before we finally arrived in Tulamben.
Tulamben lies on Bali's North-East coast at the foot of the 3142-meter Gunung Agung volcano, the highest mountain in Bali. Mt. Agung erupted in 1963, sending hot ash and lava in all directions. It is this volcanic soil that keeps Bali lush, but not Tulamben, which lies in the mountain's rain shadow. Tulamben is too rocky and dry for rice terraces, for fruit trees, for nearly anything alive except thorny plants, skinny cattle, and the most popular snorkeling and dive site on the island.
We checked into one of the diving centers with attached bungalows (6USD) 50m from the sea away and I arranged some dives for the next day (2 dives at the house reef for 40USD, 15USD for every additonal one, with all equipment) including the dive to the Liberty shipwreck which was just about 50m offshore from our diving center away.
It was actually the first time that I dived outside of Germany. I made my diving licence at a diving club in Hamburg. We dived at the Baltic and North Sea and some lakes. Diving in Germany is totally
The wreck
of the Liberty different, the water is cold, so you have to wear a thick 7mm semi-dry suit plus another 7mm ice vest and a cold water hood for the head, thick gloves and boots. Your nose starts to freeze as soon you hit 12m depth, and it's getting freezing as deeper you get. In addition visibility is bad, sometimes less than 2-3meters, and it's dark under 15m depth, sometimes already at 5-8m... totally dark... so that you need a flashlight. But it was my choice to learn diving in Germany and not on one of my journeys, because I was no water-person, so water was not my prefered element. You know, when you are on holiday and paying for a diving-course, you always get your licence easily within a few days, even if you're not really good in it at all, because you paid for it. But I wanted to learn diving properly, as diving can be dangerous as well and you put your life and the life of your diving buddy at risk now and then if your not qualified enough. So I wanted to be able to dive with confidence in my skills and you only get confidence by diving
Sunlight
in the sea much and by having a good training. And I didn't want to do it the easy way, get my licence at a place with a beautiful sea where diving is easy in comparison to the cold and dark seas in Northern Europe, I wanted to go through the hard training first and then after that dive the easy Tropical seas... and diving in Bali, in such warm water with just a 3mm suit, and visibility of 25-30m was really a kind of easy task indeed, so I was happy that I did it this way.
In the morning I dived with two other divers from the US the USAT Liberty, a 120m long cargo ship. It's Bali's most famous dive site. Built circa WWI this cargo ship was equipped with guns for WWII, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Lombok (the island next to Bali) in 1942, despite attempts to tow the ship to Northern Bali it was taking on too much water so it was semi-beached at Tulamben. Over the years anything reusable was removed. In 1963, with the earth tremors from the last eruption of Mount Agung, the wreck slid further down the slope
Green
Sealife where it still lies, as close to the beach as it can be and still be underwater!
The Liberty lies approximately 30m offshore almost parallel to the beach on the sand slope and is suitable for all levels of qualification and experience. The wreck lies in depths from 9-30m; the shallowest part of the wreck, where it touches the sand slope, is at 5-10m. Depth along the middle of the wreck is 16-20m. The lower edge of the wreck: furthest down the slope, is 20-28m (at high tide). The wreck is 120m long, it's pretty broken up but you can still see the guns, toilets, boilers, anchor chain, etc. It is a lovely dive site, possibly the world's easiest wreck dive.
You can also snorkel on the wreck - the highest point of the stern is just about 4m below the surface.
It is quite difficult to list what I have seen because you'll see just about everything in any Indo-Pacific Reef Guide book if you dive here, the variety of fish is big. Then there are the invertebrates, the hard and soft corals, black corals, sponges with crinoids, sea fans, tunicates. If you dive early and
are the first divers on the wreck you may see turtles. It's the best time of the day to dive the wreck.
I heard that Night diving on the wreck is great especially during the full moon. You may see Spanish Dancers, flashlight fish, phosphorescence. Where else in the world could you make such an easy - and varied - Night Dive? Anyway, I didn't.
After the dive, we made a break and I had breakfast with Kumiko, who does not dive so that she was still sleeping when I left for my first dive at 8:00AM. The second dive was at the Wall and then the Coral reef.
The Wall, an old lava flow from Mount Agung, is at the opposite end of the bay from the Wreck (about 15min walk along the stony beach). The dive starts off on a steep sand slope, the slope develops into a reef with very impressive topography, becoming a vertical wall from 15M and descending to below 60m.
The fish life is similar to that found on the wreck but being a much larger area, is less dense. However, more often than on the Wreck, I saw, loads
View
from our hotel terrace of fish and... and... a manta, which came out of the sudden from the deep of the ocean and passed by, gliding like a true majesty of the sea and disappeared as quickly as it came back into the depths of the ocean. An amazing ecnounter, even though the manta was with approx. 1 meter wing size a rather small one.
Thanks to John, a diver from Australia we bumped into, who borrowed us his fantastic underwater camera, I could snap some few pictures of the world underneath the water surface. And I decided that for my next journey I have to buy a digital underwater camera too when I am back in good old Germany!
The coral reef was nice too, but not as impressive as I expected. I liked the shipwreck and the wall a way more. I am personally always fascinated by drop-offs... as you glide over the edge and look down and beneath you the abyss... descending straight deep into the dark. It's both, a scary and a beautiful feeling.
Diving in a tropical sea is fun, so different than diving in the northern hemisphere. The water is warm, visibility is great and
Terrace
at the sea loads of fish and vegetation, what makes diving a way easier. I think from now on I will only dive in tropical seas... yes, I know that I am a spoiled diva!
So, sometimes I say to myself: What a lucky silly boy I am that I don't have to wish anymore that I could dive... or imagine how it's like... the world under the sea... when I am standing at the ocean or sitting on a ferry while crossing a beautiful sea...
You know, wishes are there in life to be fullfiled. Aren't they?! and yes, I am lucky boy indeed, that I could fullfil and accomplish so many of my wishes and desires in life so far!
But there are still always new and more wishes to go for... as life goes on and on... and as all of us have to keep moving on and on in life! Don't we?!
To be continued… next: Indonesia - The Temple of the Earth in the Sea...
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alicia
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beautiful tempting underwater shots! ^^
As always, the first thing that caught my eye was the pictures in your blog. And this time are the diving shots, i want to jump in too!So excited seeing underwater pictures and tempting too, you know :P Did you found your "mermaid" while busy chasing beautiful fishes? :D