Scuba Blogs Map

John and I left the Padang Bai area with a driver for 20 dollars each. We headed up north through Amlapura and over the hills to get to Tulamben. We were staying at the Paradise Resort which was the first hotel in Tulamben (long ago). The rooms have been updated a little, but they put the electrical jack right above the bed's headboard which made it difficult to charge anything. The staff provided us with some power boxes we could use so that problem was solved. The hotel lies on the ocean side of the street and runs all the way down to the ocean. The restaurant is at the end and provides a great place to have beers or eat dinner with some spectacular views and cooling breezes. The staff was friendly and each day we were provided with a free breakfast with out 30 dollar per day room (it has AC too). The staff did a good job of doing our laundry but wouldn't do our undewear for religious reasons.

We were diving with Ocean Sun (Blue Water) dive shop with Ricardo, Katut, Kanji, and Yeoman. During our stay in Tulamben, we hit every dive site except Soraya. We dove Alamanda, Batu Kilibit, and the drop-off several times from shore and Jukung. During one night dive I saw a 4 foot White Tip Reef shark and a 3 foot Black Tip on our way back from the dropoff just at the edge of the sand. On another night we saw two massive lobster which were as long as my forearm. They had to be quite large since we saw some for sale down in Kuta that looked like babies in comparison. I'd estimate at least 10 lbs. They were so massive I think I would have been hurt trying to catch them with my bare hands. We just admired them for a while then sent them down the slope.

On another dive at Paradise Reef I saw a large Grouper bite a small moray and pull him out of his hole. A Barracuda and Bluefin Trevally both were circling around hoping for some scraps. The Moray ended up surviving! :)

On the Liberty Wreck we saw several Ghost Pipefish and the Pygmy Seahorse a few times. We also made a point of seeing the gun on our last dive on the wreck. It's covered in corals and lying on it's side (the whole front is on it's starboard side) but very recognizable if you are looking for it. We saw the large Barracuda on several ocassions. One time I got so close to him I was scared he was going to bite me (a few inches away) but he just swam on. He's the largest Barracuda I have ever seen. We also saw the resident grouper on several ocassions and he was always very kind letting us get a good look at him. I think John got a good photo of him. We also saw a few bumpheads on the wreck and the whole school when we were doing our deco at Batu Kelebit.

While diving Batu Kelebit we decended down below the PADI Advanced diver limit. While I was at Max Depth, I looked down and saw a large White Tip Reef Shark below me and just on the edge of visibility I could see one above me. The vis was quite good but it was patchy sort of like thermoclines... but no real temp change... 

We also dove Kubu 4 times which lies about 15 minutes down the road to the north. Kubu has some nice reef on both sides with lots of Garden Eels, thousands of small fish and some sharks living down there. Sadly the reef has a lot of fishing line and some rope on it but John, Katut and I helped out and cut off some line and took out some trash. It really hurts me to see such amazing beauty so neglected. I'd like to go back just to clean up some of the reefs. I think I will!

Anyway, Tulamben is a great place to dive, but I think if you go you really need to make an effort to dive Amed, Kubu, Gili Biaha and Gili Selang if you can. You won't regret it! I'll add more photos to this album soon!

Safe diving,

Sean