Snorkeling is one of those activities that brings you through a different universe. All your senses become enhanced as you swim and float in a blue world. You disconnect yourself from everything. I wish my parents had given me a mask and tuba on my first trip to Asia. Although I might have touched a poisonous snake or pretty creature all too quickly. Snorkeling is one of my favorite activities and it is free. Especially that it even cools you down and is a perfect mid-day adventure. Indonesia brought snorkeling to a whole new level as Wildly Intrepid explored WWII shipwrecks.
Back in high school and college, I often heard the stories of World War II. However, there’s nothing that can throw you back in time like WWII shipwrecks does. When Cory and I were in Bali, Indonesia we had the opportunity to go to the North-East coast, more precisely to Amed and its surroundings. There we found two WWII shipwrecks ; a Japanese shipwreck and the USAT Liberty.
With Mount Agung volcano watching over us we made it first to the Japanese shipwreck just meters away from the beach in Banyuning. As the skeleton of the shipwreck appeared in front of us I was breathless. Some WWII shipwrecks are only accessible while scuba diving meanwhile this one was only a mere 3 meters deep at its shallowest point. We were surrounded by vibrant shades of blues and bright corals. As we swam along its hull and peeked out the windows, schools of fish stared back. I’ll also mention that there was nobody in sight, our private sneak peak back in time.
We even spent another day of Asian-style scooter driving across Bali just to do it all over again and marvel at the shipwrecks. Not to mention that the curry was exquisite at one of the little restaurant on the beach. This second time we even went to see another WWII shipwreck, the USAT Liberty.
At the USAT Liberty wreck we found other tourists snorkeling and scuba diving. This one was humongous and at depths of 5m to 30m. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable to snorkel around this 130m long beast. Seeing a ship under water is a totally different experience than standing beside a floating one. It provides you with that ghostly feeling of coming straight out of a movie. The Liberty ship was struck by a torpedo and beached at Tulamben. Later on when Agung erupted in 1963, the WWII shipwreck slipped out to sea.
Being my first time snorkeling around WWII shipwrecks I was speechless. I definitely recommend to anyone to go check the WWII Japanese shipwreck and the USAT Liberty. For more snorkeling adventures check out these stories. You can also find more pictures on our Facebook page by clicking here.
Alex
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