Falling in love, again and again...

There is one place in the world, where I manage to fall in love all over again: Tulamben, Bali.

Of course I haven’t seen all the places in the world, but I’m lucky enough to have been diving in some amazing dive spots.

Tulamben for me is just magical.

There is an EVERYTHING about it that just…

On the Est of Bali, just arriving to Tulamben is breath taking. Amazing rice fields through the mountains, to end up on the squirts of the Agung, amazing deep blue ocean, with volcanic black rolling stones…

The USAT Liberty wreck, was a “victim” from the second world war. At the time, ended up on the beach (they say many houses are built with pieces of wreck), but on 1968, the powerful volcano Agung, pushed the boat back to the sea, leaving there for us, the most amazing wreck.

Any time of the day is good. But in my eyes, the best time, is 6am.

Sun is rising, and the sea is calm, quiet, waking up, like you.

You walk in from the stony beach, like you don’t want to make any noise.

As soon as your head is down, that’s it.

This multicolour corals, on black sand, are alive!

You descend slowly, checking out all the “mini oasis” in the middle of black dunes, shrimps, nudibranches (all the colours, all the shapes), crabs…

The water is 30 degrees and you know that looking at each thing, you could be there forever… but you carry on, and in front of you: the big stern of  the USAT Liberty.

The light still low, so the wreck is a ghost…

In front of us, a magnificient school of bump head parrot fish are leaving the wreck. You want to join the group and swim along with them all the way. Slow and relax… they just go for the day.

Swimming left shoulder, you descent to the deepest area of the wreck, 28m, but if you escape for a little on the sand, the sea fans hide some pigmy sea horses, and in the blue, giant trivalies swim on top of your head.

Staying close to the wreck, you realise very fast that he has become, with the years, a living reef.

After turning all around, I’m shallower, garden eels on my right on the sand, and anemones and corals dress the hull and pieces of the old ship.

It’s time to come out, and I don’t want to.

Swimming along the sand in 5m, I’m just discovering more and more, and there, in front of us, 3 black tips enjoy a morning swim.

Coming to the surface, the sun start to heat up the atmosphere. In front of us the Agung is showing his head between the morning clouds…

It’s just time for coffee.