Diving the USAT Liberty in Tulamben, Bali

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Austin Tuwiner
July 9, 2026

In July of 2026, I dove the USAT Liberty with Fresh Fins Diving out of Amed, Bali. The site is located in Tulamben, a short drive a way.

This is one of the most crowded dive sites in Bali, so we went at sunrise to avoid the crowds.

I woke up at 5:30 AM to get picked up and was in the water by 6:45 AM.

It was easily one of the top 5 shipwreck dives of my life.

The Dive

The second dive we did more swim-throughs and penetration, which I enjoyed more.
Dive Squad for the day.

This dive is done as a shore dive.

The USAT Liberty is a 120-meter US Army cargo ship that's been underwater since 1963. It's now COVERED in corals and marine life.

Max depth is around 80ft // 24.5M.

We dove the site twice, with the first dive being mostly an external view of the wreck.

Toward the end of the second dive, the current picked up heading back to shore and acted like a river, which we had to fight against.

The Wreck

After America entered WWII, it was commissioned as an armed supply ship by the US Navy, re-designated the USAT Liberty, and armed with guns on the foredeck and stern.

On January 11, 1942, while en route to the Philippines from Australia, it was struck by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-166 and suffered extensive damage. To save its valuable cargo of rubber and railway parts, the USS Paul Jones and the Dutch HNLMS Van Ghent towed the Liberty away from Lombok and towards Singaraja in Bali.

It sat beached until 1963, when tremors from Mount Agung's eruption slid it into the sea, where it now rests just 15-30 meters off the rocky volcanic beach in Tulamben, northeast Bali.

Marine Life

Carpet anenome with pink skunk clownfish on a reef patch
Golden torch coral.
Hawkfish on the lookout.
One of many clownfish taking cover inside of an anemome.
Damsels hiding in some hard coral.
Two nudibranchs following each other (mating?)
Thriving Indonesia reef patch.
One of two sea kraits I saw on the dive.
Vibrant green nudibranch.

Logistics

While the site is located in Tulamben, it's best to stay in Amed. I stayed in Amed for a week and really enjoyed it. Tulamben is a much quieter town with a lot less infrastrucutre. It's only a 25 minute drive away and most dive shops will take you there and back.

Amed is about a 2.5 hour drive from Denpasar (DPS) Airport, so it's worth staying in Amed for several days rather than day-tripping it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Austin Tuwiner

I'm a PADI Divemaster based in South Florida.

With over a decade of diving experience, I help readers become better divers, buy their next piece of gear, and plan their dream dive vacation!

Hear Austin's Story

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