The USAT Liberty lies just off the beach at Tulamben, a fishing village on Bali’s north-east coast, 12 km north-west of Amed. It is a cargo ship that now serves as a reef, and it is one of the most visited dive sites on the island. Wikipedia notes that up to 100 divers go down to it each day in high season. The village name comes from batulambih, roughly “many stones”, and the beach is covered in large, smooth stones rather than sand.
How a ship ended up on a beach
The Liberty was built in New Jersey and launched on 19 June 1918. In January 1942 it was en route from Australia to the Philippines with railway parts and rubber when the Japanese submarine I-66 torpedoed it, about 10 nautical miles south-west of the Lombok Strait. Two destroyers took it in tow towards Singaraja, but it was taking on too much water, so it was beached at Tulamben to salvage the cargo.
It stayed on the sand for about 21 years. In 1963 tremors from the eruption of Mount Agung made it slip off the beach, and it now rests on a sandy slope. Wikipedia notes that the wreck is often misnamed USS Liberty, and sometimes mistaken for a World War II Liberty ship, a different class of vessel.
The dive
Sources differ on the size. Wikipedia gives the wreck’s distance from the beach as about 40 metres, while dive operators say 30 metres, and the length as 120 metres or 125 metres. The highest point is the stern at about 5 metres, though one July 2026 guide puts the top at 3 metres. The deepest part is about 30 metres. Coral grows on the guns, and a July 2026 guide lists jackfish, bumphead parrotfish, giant barracuda and sweetlips around the hull. Water temperature is 27 to 29 degrees Celsius, and a typical dive lasts 60 to 90 minutes.
Operators disagree on its condition. One says the ship is broken into pieces with large gaps and swim-throughs, so no wreck certificate is needed. Another says it is still mostly intact, with a cargo hold you can swim through. Beside the wreck is the Coral Garden, at 4 to 25 metres, and the Drop Off, a wall dive reached from the same beach.
Cost and timing
Dive prices vary by shop. A July 2026 guide says a single fun dive with gear is usually Rp 350,000 to Rp 700,000. One Tulamben operator lists Rp 797,500 for an introductory dive and Rp 1,276,000 for two, including equipment and an instructor, and the same operator charges Rp 130,000 for half a day’s snorkel hire. None of the sources we checked lists a separate entrance fee for the wreck itself.
The dry season, April to October, brings the best visibility according to one guide, which puts the best months at April to July and October to November. Day trippers from south Bali tend to arrive after 10am, so early starts are quietest. The wreck is also dived at sunrise and at night, when bumphead parrotfish are easier to see.
Combining it with Amed
Many divers base themselves in Amed and drive over. Jemeluk Bay has a shore dive wall and an underwater statue garden, and Amed Beach covers the other bays and the Japanese shipwreck at Lipah. For a sunrise before a dive, see Lahangan Sweet. More ideas are in things to do in Amed and tours from Amed.
