Diving the USAT Liberty Shipwreck, Bali Indonesia.
By Indi Nesia
I’m always looking for new challenges and experiences as an underwater photographer. So in January 2022, I decided to do my first shipwreck photography project in the USAT Liberty Shipwreck in Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia.
As a newcomer to shipwreck photography, I was fortunate to have my friends Alexis and Miriam, both professional divers, help me in this project and model for these images. Together, we hope to share the magic that is the USAT Liberty.
While I’m a professional diver, wreck diving is not my area of expertise, which makes sense when you consider that Komodo, where I work, doesn’t have a single shipwreck! So it was a learning curve maneuvering the camera within the tight spaces of the wreck.
However, the challenges of shooting in this environment certainly paid off. Not only was I able to capture some incredible images, but I also had a lot of fun doing it!
Diving in Tulamben, Bali
The USAT Liberty Shipwreck is off the coast of Tulamben, Bali, a small fishing village on the island’s northeast coast. Tulamben itself is a relaxed place, far from the bustle of the main tourist spots in Bali. It takes between two to three hours to get there from the airport!
Once there, diving into the Liberty wreck is logistically simple. The dive site is close to shore, so it’s easily accessible to divers from the beach. And since the shallowest part of the USAT Liberty is only seven meters deep, the site is popular with snorkelers and freedivers. Some people have even had underwater weddings and engagement photoshoots here!
The Liberty has significantly helped tourism in Tulamben. With more than 100 divers per day in the high season, this small fishing village has become a scuba dive paradise. And there’s more to see than just the wreck. Tulamben is also an excellent destination for divers who love to find macro critters such as nudibranchs, seahorses, and shrimp.
The Famous USAT Liberty Shipwreck
Recently, the Liberty wreck became one of Bali’s most famous dive sites - and in turn, one of the most popular in all of Indonesia. There aren’t many shipwrecks in Indonesia, so when scuba divers from all over the world come to Bali, they will undoubtedly put this dive site on their must-do list.
Not only is the wreck itself beautiful, but the coral life at the USAT Liberty dive site is gorgeous. You can see sponges, staghorn coral, sea fans, and various soft corals during the dive. These natural features make the Liberty stand out from most wreck dives where there’s not much else to find besides the ship.
Who Can Dive the Liberty Shipwreck?
All levels of divers can enjoy the USAT Liberty. While open water divers cannot penetrate the wreck, they can still have a lovely dive on top of and around the ship. There’s even more to see for with a wreck certification. These divers can experience more of the wreck, including the entry and exit points and inside features.
Maneuvering inside the wreck using a rope or reference from the vessel itself is an excellent adventure for more advanced divers. For divers who want to advance their wreck diving skills, the first step would be to perfect their buoyancy, then to take a wreck diver course.
In the wreck diver specialty course, divers will learn how to survey a wreck, use lines and reels, manage buoyancy in an overhead environment and avoid common problems during wreck diving. A wreck diver certification is necessary if you want to enter the Liberty wreck. Alexis and Miriam are professional divers with wreck specialty certifications.
To take your wreck diving even further, divers should look towards tech diver courses. I’m a scuba instructor, not a tech diver, but I would love to learn someday. These technical wreck diving courses allow divers to explore deeper wrecks in low-light environments that require decompression stops. The opportunities in wreck diving are endless!
Why Should You Dive the USAT Liberty Wreck?
We all know that divers are modern adventurers who love to explore new places. It is fascinating to explore shipwrecks in different places since every vessel has its own history and unique features. Other approaches are also needed to plan dives and maneuver in the many wrecks worldwide!
The USAT Liberty is a wreck with a fascinating backstory. When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, USAT Liberty was already in the Pacific. In January 1942, she was en route from Australia to the Philippines with a railway part and rubber cargo. Then, on the 11th of January, Liberty was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine southwest of the Lombok Strait.
After the attack, another ship was trying to tow USAT Liberty to Singaraja on the north coast of Bali. However, the efforts proved impossible, so it was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at Tulamben. Finally, in 1963, the eruption of Mount Agung caused the ship to slip off the beach and into the shallow waters nearby.
The Liberty is a large ship, about 130 meters long, with plenty of space for exploratory diving. It has also been sitting there for decades, plenty of time for various marine life to move in and call the Liberty home.
You could dive the Liberty twice in one day and have two incredibly different experiences. You can see schooling bump head parrotfish on a sunrise dive, and night dives here are so cool and eerie.
One of the Coolest Dives I’ve Done
I love to enjoy diverse topography during my dives, so shipwreck dives like the Liberty make me very happy as I get to enter a small place to check it out. It has a very different feeling from coral reef or muck diving.
Since I’ve been learning to take underwater pictures, I find myself incorporating more people into my images. Especially models in small places or topography create fascinating images that I would like to continue creating.
Wreck diving is incredibly fascinating. Once you start to explore a wreck, you get to see different perspectives and compositions everywhere you look. I could easily dive the USAT Liberty 100 times and find new angles for taking pictures.
Again, I could’ve not done this without help from my friends Miriam and Alexis, so thank you to them. I also hope everyone gets to visit the USAT Liberty and enjoy this shipwreck dive as much as I did!
About the Author
Indi Putra is a dive instructor and underwater photographer from Jakarta, currently residing in Labuan Bajo, Komodo, Indonesia. He loves traveling and photography, which you can see more of on his Instagram @indinesia.underwater.
He is also a recurring contributor to Ocean Pulse. Learn more about diving in Indonesia from his article on Manta Rays in Komodo National Park!
