We’re trundling down a dirt track towards the sea on the outskirts of Amed, a jumble of villages stretching for miles along Bali’s east coast. Gentle waves lap against a beach of large, smooth stones lined with narrow, brightly-coloured fishing boats. Behind us, the steep sides of Mount Agung, an active volcano, rise sheer above the lush green countryside. It’s a vast, impressive scene. But we’re here for the small stuff.
Bali, with its pretty beaches and highlands, vibrant culture, friendly locals and relaxed vibe, has long been a magnet for holiday-makers and weary travellers seeking respite from the pace of everyday life. It’s also an increasingly popular hub for scuba divers from around the world, eager to explore the island’s exciting underwater landscape.
It’s our third time diving in the waters off Amed. Three hours from Denpasar and a million miles from the choking traffic and thrumming streets of the island’s more popular locales, Amed is a diver’s haven, offering one of the world’s best wreck dives along with some outstanding muck diving.
Amed’s brooding volcano, Agung, last erupted a little over forty years ago, inadvertently creating one of Bali’s greatest dive sites when tremors from the eruption shimmied the grounded cargo ship USS Liberty off the beach at Tulamben and into the sea.
Over time, nature reclaimed the wreck, turning it into a spectacular reef covered in coral that attracts sea life from the tiniest shrimps to giant whale sharks (apparently…we’ve yet to see one).
We’ve already dived the moody wreck on this trip, hanging out with some enormous bumphead parrotfish around the ship’s bow at dawn and exploring the huge ship’s collapsed interior.
Now we’re ready for some muck. Yesterday, we pored over cracks and crevices for critters at a dive site called Seraya Secrets. Today our guide Kamong has brought us to a quiet little rocky beach fronting onto a dive site called Kuanji.
Offshore, the sea floor is brown, almost muddy. Bits of broken coral and the occasional rock scatter the sand, while a pile of tyres form a man-made reef. It’s a classic muck environment: a sanctuary for the young and the unusual. Komang is busy combing through fan corals and peering into holes, tapping his tank whenever he finds something to show us. The creatures he reveals are miniscule, fascinating and fantastically well-hidden.
It’s mesmerising diving: so much so that we spend a good couple of days and multiple dives up close and personal with some of Amed’s smallest watery inhabitants, a GoPro and macro lens in hand.
Here’s a selection of our favourite photos of the colourful cast in Bali’s vibrant muck diving scene.
Good to know
Getting there: Amed is on Bali’s east coast, a 2.5-3 hour taxi ride from the airport at Denpasar. Amed itself spans several villages and stretches a couple of kilometres along the coast. There’s accommodation, restaurants, dive centres and dive sites right along the stretch, with a cluster around the centre of the town. If you’re after greater choice for eating, drinking and accommodation, stay closer to the town centre as it can be a serious hike in the heat if you’re staying further out (a number of restaurants do offer free pick-up and drop-off though).
Diving: We dive with Adventure Divers Bali. They’re professional, their divemasters are excellent and the gear is well-maintained. They also include lunch with their dive packages as well as pick-up and drop-off.
Check out some of our other diving adventures around the world here.