Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site
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Noel Hitchins 1951-2005
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My Yachting Adventures
Below is a list of links to the main pages about my yacht, Catlypso and My Yachting Adventures:
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  • My Yachting Adventures.
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    Michael's 4WD Trips
    Click here for a list of my Four Wheel Drive and Camping Trips.
    Home Brewing
    Click here for an article about Home Brewing.
    Sydney Dive Site Hints
    "Balmoral Baths has lots of White's sea horses on the net"
    Big Tree, Tulamben, Indonesia
    Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving, Big Tree, Indonesia

    In 2024 I travelled to Tulamben for the fourth time and spent just over two weeks diving the north-eastern coast of Bali. I used Liberty Dive Resort, click here to read about the town and dive operations. This was a new site that I had not previously dived in my trips in 2011, 2014 and 2023. There are literally hundreds of potential dive sites located within a few kilometres of Tulamben but only a dozen or so are able to be visited.

    Big Tree is located about 3.0 kilometres to the south-east of Tulamben (by road) and next to the Blue Dive Resort. An approximate GPS mark for the dive spot is S8° 17.466" E115° 36.466" (using WGS84 as the datum).

    Satellite Photo
    A satellite photo from Google Earth that shows the location of the dive site
    Big Tree is top left next to the word yana. About 200 metres down the beach is Agung as shown.

    After heading south-east out of town, you travel along the main road and then down about 2.8 kilometres from town you turn left onto a side track towards the ocean. This is straight before the dive resort. There are a couple of large shade shelters, some tables/seats, a toilet, shower and camera wash tank. There is also a small shop.

    This dive site is very close to another dive site, Agung (click here to read about that site) which is about 200 metres down the beach to the right. That was done as a second dive after first diving Big Tree.

    Agung
    A panoramic photograph of the beach looking north-west

    We actually started about halfway between both sites and ended back at Big Tree. The porters carried our gear about 100 metres down the beach and we walked there. Once geared up, you enter water over the black sand beach. It was an easy entry and exit. The attraction of this site are donut nudibranchs. These live on hydroids and are fairly common here. See the photograph lower down.

    Big TreeBig Tree
    A flutemouthLots of razorfish in the shallows
    Big TreeBig Tree
    A large moray eelOne of a few ribbon eels seen

    On my dive here I went to around 25 metres down a ridge. In the shallows the bottom is quite rocky and once you get past 7 or 8 metres it becomes black sand. Here are some anemones and clownfish and we saw both juvenile and adult ribbon eels. There are also lots of razorfish. One the sand there are the occasional rock. We headed north-west once at 25 metres and gradually got shallower.

    Big TreeBig Tree
    A goby on a red sea whipAnother goby on a sea whip
    Big TreeBig Tree
    An absolutely stunning nudibranchThese were fairly common here

    As we went along there were quite a few mooring blocks see with ropes and floats going up to 4 or 5 metres. Around the moorings there were plenty of lionfish and a large moray eel. There were lots of sea whips and some had gobies on them.

    Back near the dive site sheds, there are some tyres as well as a truck cabin and other structures put there as artificial reefs.

    This is a very good dive site and it is well a number of dives, including a night dive or two. So much to see! Well worth doing it if you have the time.

    MORE NUDIBRANCHS

    Some more photographs, this time of nudibranchs. The first one is the donut nudibranch, Doto greenamyeri.

    Big TreeBig Tree
    Big TreeBig Tree

    Copyright © Michael McFadyen 1990 to 2024
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    This web site has been wholly thought up, designed, constructed and funded for almost 30 years by Michael McFadyen without any help from the Australian Dive Industry.
    Website created 1996!