USAT Liberty Shipwreck
The USAT Liberty is Bali's most famous diving destination. The USAT Liberty is a 125 meter long American cargo ship that was sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1942. To salvage the cargo the Americans ran the Liberty on to the shore, where it sat for almost another 20 years. In 1963, Mt. Agung erupted, pushing the Liberty back into the water, where she now lies on a sandy slope between 9 and 30 meters of water.
Distance from Zen Dive Resort: 1 hour by a car
Water temperature: 27° – 29° C
Visibility: 10 – 25 meters
Average Dive time: 45 minutes
Current: Mild to Moderate
Diver Level: Beginner to expert
Marine Life: Barracuda, napoleon wrasse; school of big eyed trevally, garden eel, scorpionfish, lion fish, angelfish, butterflyfish, pygmy seahorse, nudibranch, ghost pipefish…
On 11 January, 1942. Liberty was torpedoed by Japanese submarine southwest of the Lombok Strait. US destroyer Paul Jones and Dutch destroyer Van Ghent took the damaged ship in tow attempting to harbour at Singaraja, on the north coast of Bali. However she was taking too much water and so was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at Tulamben so that the cargo and fittings could be salvaged.
In 1963 the tremors associated with the eruption of Mount Agung caused the vessel to slip off the beach, and she now lies on a sand slope in 9 to 30 m of water, providing one of the most popular dive sites off Bali and one of the easiest and calmest large WWII wreck dives in the world. To dive Tulamben USAT Liberty Shipwreck we enter the water from the shore and swim for only about 30 meters before reaching the ship’s stern. This wreck offers an unforgettable experience with a large number of fish life, fantastic coral, sponges and fans.