Two of Bali’s best-known stretches of coast sit a short drive east of Tejakula. Here is what to see, and how to fit both into one unhurried day.
Most visitors reach Tulamben and Amed from the south, after three hours or more in a car. From Tejakula they are close. The coast road runs east out of Tembok, through Tianyar and into Karangasem, and Tulamben is the first place you reach. Amed is a little further on, at the island’s eastern tip.
Tulamben is less than 30 km east of Poinciana, roughly half an hour by car along the coast road. Amed is about 37 km away, under an hour. Tulamben is known for the wreck of the USAT Liberty, which lies just off the beach. Amed is a string of quiet fishing villages with good snorkelling close to shore. Both fit comfortably into one day, with time left for a swim.
Both sit on the north-east coast in Karangasem Regency, under the slopes of Mount Agung: Tulamben in Kubu district, Amed in Abang. The road from Tejakula follows the coast the whole way, with the sea on your left and the mountain on your right.
Few people make the trip in this direction. From Tejakula you are already on the right side of the island, and the drive is short.
The beach at Tulamben is not sand. It is made of large, smooth volcanic stones, and the name is said to come from the Balinese batulambih, “many stones”. Wear reef shoes or booties: the stones make footing tricky at the water’s edge.
A short swim out, some 25 to 40 metres from shore, lies the USAT Liberty. She was a US Army transport ship, built in 1918. On 11 January 1942 she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine about ten nautical miles south-west of the Lombok Strait. She was taken in tow and beached at Tulamben so her cargo could be salvaged. In 1963, tremors from the eruption of Mount Agung made her slip off the beach into the sea.
The wreck is about 125 metres long and lies from about 5 metres below the surface down to about 30 metres. Over more than eighty years the hull has broken up and become a reef in its own right. Divers of every certification level dive it straight from the beach, and on a calm, clear day snorkellers can see the upper wreck from the surface without a boat.
Two other sites are reached from the same stretch of shore: the Coral Garden, a shallow reef, and the Drop Off, a wall that falls from the shallows to well beyond recreational depth. Just north, off Kubu, the Boga Wreck is a cargo vessel of about 40 metres, sunk on purpose in 2012 as an artificial reef. It sits in about 15 to 40 metres of water, so it is for experienced divers.
If you would like to dive here during your stay, guided dives can be arranged through a certified local dive partner.
“Amed” is not one place. It is the name for a strip of fishing villages along about 14 km of coast: Amed, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Lehan, Selang, Banyuning and Aas. Traditional jukung outrigger boats line the beaches, and the road winds over headlands between small bays.
Jemeluk Bay is the easiest place to snorkel, a sheltered bay with coral within an easy swim of the beach. On clear mornings Mount Agung rises behind the coast.
The Banyuning wreck lies just off the beach further east, in about 6 to 12 metres of water, with the shallowest parts only a couple of metres down, so it is easy to snorkel. Nobody is quite sure what the ship was.
Amed salt is still made by hand. Farmers soak prepared soil with seawater, filter the brine through bamboo cones and dry it in the sun for about four days in troughs cut from split coconut trunks. It is only made in the dry season. Amed salt is protected as an Indonesian geographical indication, and it is worth bringing a bag home.
Amed is the natural base for two of East Bali’s best-known sights, both about 15 km away.
Tirta Gangga is a royal water garden of pools, fountains and stepping stones, about 7 km north of Amlapura. It was built in 1946 and almost entirely destroyed by the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung, then restored. Taman Ujung, a second water palace on the coast south of Amlapura, makes a good pair with it. Poinciana’s Water Palace Tour covers both.
Lempuyang is one of Bali’s Sad Kahyangan, the great directional temples, and guards the east of the island. The split gate seen in so many photographs belongs to Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang, the lower temple. Pura Lempuyang Luhur, the highest, is reached by a climb of more than 1,700 steps. Expect a queue for the gate photograph, often a long one by mid-morning, and arrive early. There is an entry fee and a shuttle from the car park, and you will need a sarong.
Trying to fit Lempuyang, Tirta Gangga, Tulamben and Amed into one day is too much. Choose the sea or the temples.
You will need a car and driver for the day. Reception can arrange one, and can help put together a day that suits you.
East is not the only direction. Within Tejakula itself are the Yeh Mampeh waterfall at Les, the sea temple at Ponjok Batu and the old Bali Aga villages of Julah and Sembiran. Our guide to Tejakula covers them, and sunrise dolphin watching starts from the beach at Poinciana.
Less than 30 km east of Poinciana along the coast road, roughly half an hour by car.
About 37 km, under an hour by car. Tulamben is on the way.
Yes, on a calm, clear day. The wreck lies some 25 to 40 metres from the beach, and its upper parts are about 5 metres below the surface, so snorkellers can see them without a boat.
Yes. Both are on the same coast road, so a day with a snorkel at Tulamben in the morning and lunch and a swim in Amed works well. Adding Lempuyang or Tirta Gangga makes the day long.
The dry season, roughly April to October, usually brings the calmest sea and the clearest water. Go early in the day.
At Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang, about 15 km south of Amed. The photographed gate is at the lower temple. The climb of more than 1,700 steps leads on to Pura Lempuyang Luhur at the top.
Stay by the sea in Tejakula, half an hour from Tulamben.