u/VivoTivo

My review of Amed and Tulamben shore dive in August 2026. Second visit.

Tropical temp 30 celcius, calm seas.

1.Jemeluk - first dive, the dive itself was average but the vibe of jukung boat and seeing Mount Agung on surface after was priceless. It was not shore but the jukung took us out in 5 mins.

2.Amed Pyramid walls - while the sea floor was void of living creatures, the man made reef was filled with spectacular life. I know most people would choose UAST as highlight but pyramid walls was really good if u want to explore mini sea creatures.

3.Tulamben Coral Garden (actually in 2024) - average with stupa as articulate reefs.

4.Tulamben drop off - also average but awesome jackfish crowd if u can catch it.

5.USAT Liberty - The highlight and though 2024 had more fish than 2026. the ship was initially by the shore but was carried into the sea after a volcano eruption 63 years ago.

The fishes were sweet lip fish, puffer, box fish, giant clam, big blue octopus, giant gravelly (jack fish), lion fish, scorpion fish, electric file clam, barracuda, trumpet fish, stone fish, leaf fish, hawksbill turtle, curry sea cucumber (biggest I’ve seen!), garden sand eel (many), parrot fish, trigger fish, butterfly fish and obviously Nemo. Either Tulamben drop off or pyramid walls had lots blue spotted sting rays.

Instructor said that on very rare occasions there were whale sharks and mola mola, wow!

Thank you Amed and Tulamben 😊

Been thinking through Amed vs Tulamben for a short Indonesia stay where mornings are for diving and you still need to get some work done on land. I plan to carry a monitor and plug it into my laptop, if you have any resorts that is work friendly with good wifi and proper tables, or even a co-working ish environment (long shot but just checking) at one of those places?

Cairns is an Australian city at Northern Queensland. It is situated north east Australia and quite far from other major cities with 150k permanent inhabitants. Some call it the furthest city from cities!

Abott Street is the Main Street, but the city is quite sprawling. The Esplanade main tourist area have lots of eateries and pleasant sunshine in July. Esplanade pool is a big attraction. Upon arriving I have this sense that while pace of life is slower (Chiang Mai-ish) it has everything a clean city has.

Attractions are Sky Rail up to small hilltop Kuranda. It has some eateries, waterfall and local souvenirs. I took the train from Kuranda back to Cairns. The journey along the way was pleasant. I stopped for short while at a station call freshwater station is that it’s very clean and the living quality is very high. No wonder people want to move to Australia! My Grab tell me it isn’t the same in Melbourne or Sydney, u reckon?

The highlight was taking an hour of helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef. We passed by a 60km2 wide shallow coral and saw many manta rays and even more turtles! Also went to an animal sanctuary call Rainforestation is, seeing wombat, kangaroo, koala, Tasmanian devil, dingo. The place is not big but animals are well taken care of and no smell that sometimes zoo have.

There are two major markets downtown. The hawker centre and rusty market. Rusty market is a must go, open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At rusty market, Ice coffee is $7, sandwich good size $15. Meat banh mi good size $12. If u r at Rusty, I recommend sandwiches at Cakao Plus with a Annees Vietnamese coffee. Or try the grateful coconut stall and Billy’s blend coffee. Buy some local fruits when u r there!

As a digital nomad, I find Cairns to be particularly attractive. It’s Japan-level clean and feels safe, with some touristy part focused on nature. There are co working space which one could try, but I just worked in my hotel. And Australians are very friendly and polite! Striking up conversation daily should be possible! There’s a sizeable Japanese community living and travelling there, and the biggest travellers itself should be Australians from other cities!

If I must pick a bad side, there seem to be too many ambulance sirens, easily ten times in my one week stay so far.

Thank you Cairns for having me! 😊❤️

Practical things to note:
Woolworth can be half the price of touristy convenience stores so buy your milk and fresh produce there
Restaurants charge 15-20% extra during holidays and gst is already included.
Credit card gets charged 2% extra
No tipping needed so staffs will just prompt the exact amount when u pay.
If u go to Holloway beach, try Code Cairns for dinner.