Amed Snorkeling and USAT Liberty Shipwreck

The northeastern coast of Bali — the strip of fishing villages from Amed through Tulamben — is home to some of the finest snorkelling and diving in all of Southeast Asia, anchored by the legendary USAT Liberty shipwreck and surrounded by pristine coral reefs whose relative inaccessibility has kept them in excellent condition.

The USAT Liberty is a 120-metre US Army supply ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942, beached at Tulamben, and pushed back into the sea by the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung. It now rests on a gently sloping black sand bottom, with its shallowest sections beginning just 3 metres below the surface — easily accessible to snorkellers as well as divers. The wreck is completely encrusted with corals after 80 years of submersion, creating a spectacular artificial reef.

The marine life around the Liberty is extraordinary. The wreck is home to the largest school of bumphead parrotfish in Bali — massive, prehistoric-looking fish that move in synchronized schools of 50 or more individuals. Larger marine visitors include giant trevally, bumphead parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse, giant moray eels, and occasionally (in early morning) the shy oceanic mola mola (sunfish) in the deeper sections. On the wreck’s encrusted hull, nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, and ghost pipefish reward sharp-eyed observers.

Amed’s own reefs, particularly the Japanese wreck and the Amed Wall, offer different but equally remarkable snorkelling — clear water, healthy hard and soft corals, and easy access directly from the black sand beach. The fishing village atmosphere of Amed itself is a pleasure: traditional jukung outriggers dragged up the beach, salt-drying operations, and the quiet rhythm of a community that has faced the sea for generations.