Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Photo by Corinne Bourbeillon / PBdA

Liberty forever

#Bali # Indonesia

  Indonesia: Lombok + Bali + Bangka - July 2015

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text: 

Ah, how I love the wreck of the Libertyin Bali. I go back to dive there regularly, without ever getting tired of it. She's so beautiful...

Back to the Libertythirteen years later

How time flies... I just checked in my old diving logs: my very first immersion on the wreck of the LibertyThe first documented case of a new project in Tulamben, northeast Bali, Indonesia, dates back to... June 28, 2002 ! Depth reached at that time: 27,8 m. At that time, I was a young Open Water diver (first level in the American Padi certification system) and I had only 16 dives on my log!

July 2015. Thirteen years later, I am Rescue Diver (3e Padi level, passed in March 2009), I have nearly 650 dives noted in my logbooks and a bulky underwater photographic case in my hands. This is my fourth or fifth stay in the beautiful Balinese region of Tulamben / Amed and I am back on the Liberty.

Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Light effects on the sunken and gorgonian-covered remains of the Liberty wreck, in front of Tulamben beach in Bali (Indonesia, July 2015)

Wonderment intact, sensations not blunted. Throughout the week, I made a series of dives on the wreck, without getting tired of it. As in 2002, then in 2008 and again in 2011 and 2012...

Years go by, but every time I visit, the Liberty does not betray the previous memories. The site is still beautiful. A sure value. I would cry with happiness.

More to read → All my articles on the Liberty in Bali

Because the wreck of the Liberty is a very (over)frequented tourist attraction. And it wouldn't be the first site to fall victim to its success in Bali. But so far, so good...

Every day, however, hundreds of divers turn the wreck into a jacuzzi with their bubbles. To avoid the crowd, the trick is to come and dive very early, at daybreak.

Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
The Liberty wreck (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Impressive pink and orange gorgonians have developed on the Liberty wreck, which over the years has become a splendid artificial reef well colonized by attached coral fauna. (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)

Libertythe magic wreck

So here I am underwater again. After a few strokes of the fins, the shadow of the wreck becomes clear. Huge! 

I shot the exuberant soft corals that colored the scrap metal. I come face to face with the humpback parrots - they are still there, oh joy! I go down to the 30 meters zone, to inspect the gorgonian that serves as home to the shy pygmy seahorses. I play with a school of glass fishes taking refuge behind a piece of metal sheet. I transformed my guide Wayan into a Chinese shadow on the way back, in the frame of the huge rudder... This wreck is magical.

The site is gigantic, it is a fabulous playground, with inexhaustible charms. Impossible to be blasé!

Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
My guide Wayan seems very small next to the gigantic sunken ship. (Liberty Wreck, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
The Liberty wreck is huge! (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Large coloured sponges have covered some of the structures. (Wreck of the Liberty, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Here, gorgonians and alcyonians compete for the remains of the Liberty. (Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
A simple torch is enough to explore the Liberty wreck (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015).
The humpback parrots of the Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Humpback parrots are regulars at the Liberty wreck. You usually have a good chance of seeing them early in the morning, just after sunrise (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015).
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
The dance of the glass fish... (Wreck of the Liberty, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
My guide Wayan poses in the frame formed by the ship's gigantic rudder (Liberty Wreck, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)

The history of the Liberty

Vessel USAT Liberty, before becoming the most famous dive site in Bali, has a long history. She is a 125-meter long U.S. Army freighter, built at the Kearny, New Jersey shipyards in 1918, at the end of World War I, and assigned to transatlantic cargo missions.

He made his first crossing, from New York to Brest, with a cargo of horses, and made several other trips before disarming in May 1919.

In November 1940, the ship returned to military command. When the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941, the Liberty is in the Pacific.

Hooked: the Liberty when it left the shipyard in 1918. On the right, the Liberty in 1941. (Photos: navsource.org)
On the left: the Liberty as she left the shipyard in 1918. On the right, the Liberty in 1941. (Photos: navsource.org)

On January 11, 1942, during a crossing between Australia and the Philippines, with a load of railroad sleepers and rubber, it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, about ten nautical miles (19 km) southwest of the strait between Bali and Lombok.

Two destroyers, one American, the other Dutch, tried to tow it to the port of Singaraja, on the north coast of Bali. But the cargo ship, too damaged, took on water. The decision was made to beach it on the east coast of Bali, in Tulamben, in order to recover parts of the ship and its cargo. It remained there, in the bay, until the 1960s.

Tulamben is right at the foot of the impressive volcano Agung...who wakes up in early 1963.

Violent eruptions, accompanied by seismic tremors, explosions, lava flows and fiery clouds, left some 2,000 dead and a hundred thousand homeless in Bali. They also make sink for good the Liberty, which lies on its side and slides to the bottom of Tulamben Bay.

Photos and illustration of the eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963 (Sources: volcano.si.edu / dgi-indonesia.com)
Photos and illustration of the eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963 (Sources: volcano.si.edu / dgi-indonesia.com)

Since then, the wreck, broken, still lies there, between 6 and 35 meters deep, very close to the shore. The sunken ship has become an artificial reef, colonized for more than half a century by countless multicolored corals.

It shelters a very rich fauna, where you can find everything, from the smallest (pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, scorpion-fish, leaf-fish, ghost-fish, shrimps, moray eels...) to the most imposing (bumphead parrot-fish, schools of jacks, napoleons, some sharks and turtles).

Plan of Liberty.
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
The huge wreck and its structures remain very impressive, almost sixty years after the Liberty sank (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
The wreck has been extensively colonized by attached underwater fauna. (Liberty wreck, Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)
Diving on the wreck of Liberty. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. July 2015.
Can't get enough of the Liberty wreck! (Bali, Indonesia, July 2015)

See also my previous articles of 2008 on the Liberty :

Dive without getting wet
Liberty, the most famous wreck in Bali
The Liberty wreck in video
I like Amed

Special underwater photographers: every time I go back to dive on the wreck of the LibertyI am moving to the Liberty Dive ResortIt's just a step away from the wreck. It allows to dive early in the morning, and, above all, they provide you with a private guide, for no more money than elsewhere. We are not bothered by a group of divers, it's a great luxury! It is not anymore the small resort it was, they developed a lot, but they remained oriented on the service to photographers. On the spot, you can also take photo lessons with the excellent Jeff Mullins.
→ See all my articles on the wreck of the Liberty

To find all the articles about this trip, click on the link below :

  Indonesia: Lombok + Bali + Bangka - July 2015

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  1. Ah ! Le Liberty ! J’y ai passé mon AOWD et fait ma première plongée de nuit où les mérous géants profitaient des faisceaux de nos torches pour chasser en jaillissant derrière les écoutilles…
    Thank you for these great memories revived by your photos, beautiful as always ...

  2. Que de souvenirs, avec le Liberty ! Comme toi, y plonge régulièrement (2008, 2012 et 2014), et suis près à y retourner dès demain à l’aube ! ou ce soir ! (les plongées de nuit sur le Liberty avec un bon guide, magique ! la dernière fois, tombé sur tout le groupe de perroquets à bosse dormant dans une cale !). Ou bien le matin à l’aube le même groupe de perroquets postés telle une armée devant la proue, pour nous accueillir. Exceptionnel !
    Thank you for all your beautiful articles, discoveries or activators of memories from past trips. 😉
    Mark

    1. @Marc Thiercelin: avoir un bon guide avec soi, c’est vraiment la clé pour en profiter au mieux… Comme toi, je suis toujours prête à y retourner, n’importe quand ! Je m’aperçois que j’avais été un peu “feignante” en 2011, je n’avais pas posté mes photos sur le blog. Les plongées avaient été épiques, c’était un peu la saison des pluies, avec grosses vagues et conditions pas toujours faciles. Du coup, on était tranquille sur l’épave, il y avait très peu de plongeurs et toutes ses merveilles rien que pour moi et mon guide…

    2. J’adore tes photos et articles sur Bali. Île que j’adore ou j’ai déjà fait 2 séjours plongées. Que dire des plongées, mes plus belles je crois entre le Liberty, les pyramides d’Amed, ma rencontre avec les mantas et un requin baleine à Mantas point, plongée sous un énorme ponton, un peu de trouille à Cristal baie après le briefing. Et que dire des temples, village, des paysages magnifiques! Et les Balinais super gentils et beaux. J’étais basée à Sanur et je plongeais avec Atlantis sur toute l’île, un club Francophone (vu mon niveau d’anglais ça m’a aidée pour les briefing) et surtout une organisation du tonnerre (une des meilleures que j’aie vu). Un gros club mais un service individuel.

  3. C’est presque un travail d’archéologue! Emouvantes et belles photos remontées du fond des eaux! Grand bravo à la photographe 😉

    1. @Ysbilia: c’est vrai qu’on remonte un peu le temps, avec cette épave… Elle est si grande qu’il y a toujours un nouveau point de vue à découvrir, un nouveau recoin à explorer… 😉

  4. Justice and Liberty!
    Peux-tu me redire quelle est l’autre épave à Amed, atteignable de la plage et pas très profonde ? J’y avais fait du snorkeling.
    Did you go back to Amed on earth? Are there still the dredgers on the beaches? 😡 And the fishermen who leave at night and come back in the morning.

    1. @Marie: l’épave dont tu parles est la “Japanese Wreck”, petite épave japonaise peu profonde en effet, très chouette pour le snorkeling et la photo macro.
      Je suis retournée à Amed, sur terre, oui. Toujours un bonheur de louer un scooter et de longer la côte, le nez au vent, de crique en crique. Les dragueurs des plages ne m’ont pas embêtée, j’ai été moins impressionnée par eux que par la concentration de touristes français au mètre carré… Du coup, j’ai fui jusqu’à la terrasse du Wawa Wewe II près de Lipah, pour admirer la mer en buvant en Bintang peinarde (je n’étais pas là assez tôt pour voir les pêcheurs rentrer), sans entendre parler français tout autour de moi… 8)

    2. J’y étais allée en septembre et il n’y avait que très peu de touristes. Du coup, les dragueurs et prêteurs de matériel de snorkeling n’avaient pas grand chose à se mettre sous la dent. Sinon, je garde un souvenir émerveillé d’une soirée dans un resto un peu chic, sur une terrasse en hauteur face aux criques, où une jeune Australienne à qui j’avais rendu un service m’avait invitée. La chaleur rafraîchie par le vent, la lune, la mer, l’alcool… 😉

  5. Superbes images !!! En mai dernier, nous n’avons vu qu’une infime partie de l’épave en snorkeling, ce qui nous en a déjà mis plein la vue, mais là je n’ai qu’une hâte c’est d’y retourner en plongée (et peut-être y emmener mon 7D dans quelques années) !

  6. Bravo bravo j’ai fait une dizaine de plongées aussi là-bas et j’espère y retourner, en effet c’est magique….Petit matin départ des perroquets, chasse des murènes et des mérous la nuit…dans mon top 5. Bises 8)

  7. Merci pour cet article, qui m’a donné envie de plonger sur le Liberty ! on rentre de Bali, c’etait notre 2ème séjour et on adore toujours autant Amed tel que tu le décris : scooter cheveux au vent en longeant la côte ! Merci pour ces magnifiques photos sous marine ! j’écris un article sur le sujet avec la vidéo de ma plongée et j’ai mis un lien vers ton article ! bonne journée !

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