Tauch Terminal Dive Resort – 100 meters walk away from fantastic diving in the Marine Protected Area of Liberty Wreck
12 – 19 September 2009
First I have to pay tribute to the women porters of Tulamben. They literally risk their necks for us, and it’s quite embarrassing to see them carry one or two or even three tanks for our diving ease and pleasure! Here is some of the amazing carrying that they do!
With perfect balance and a strong backbone, these women porters put us divers to shame
15 years ago, they did this daintily clad in traditional sarong. Modernity and efficiency have changed their look but the carrying remains the same
When visiting our favorite Balinese restaurant in Seminyak, Ibu Eny told us that at a young age, Balinese girls in the villages would start carrying heavy baskets in their heads. When old enough, they would carry up to 50 kg! That would be around 30 coconuts with their husks. She considered 25 kg nothing – too light!
And they carry our two precious Seacam housings as well . . .
We stayed in one of Tulamben’s oldest resorts Tauch Terminal and as the name suggests, it’s German run with many German guests.
Axel in the middle and his staff with the Freund Factory
The lively owner Axel Schwan hit a gold mine with his lovely dive resort situated right beside a world famous ship wreck, the Liberty Wreck. Axel teaches a course in “How to Survive in a Competitive World” in Udayana University and he quotes a business MUST: “location, location, location!” Well, so long as there is a wreck down there, he will never run out of divers making a pilgrimage here.
Tauch Terminal is a beautiful resort but we spent most of our time here in the dive base gearing up
The 120 meter long Liberty Wreck is a WWII American cargo steamship built in 1915. In January 1942, the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine 15 km SW of Lombok. No one died and while still floating, the ship was beached in Tulamben. In 1963 when Mt Agung erupted, the earth tremors caused the ship to sink into deep waters, making it now a superb dive site with abundant fish and coral life. It has been a well known dive site since 1978.
This is a wreck with so many holes I could swim in and out of
More holes and swim through
So much gorgonian fans and soft corals encrusted on the ship
There’s soooo much fish life in this wreck
And the sand too had critters. With two cameras with us, we were making 100 minute dives in the wreck!
