01 What Amed is
Amed is the collective name for a string of small fishing villages — Amed, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Selang, and Aas — running along the northeast coast of Bali beneath the slopes of Mount Agung. It's the part of the island that most resembles Bali before mass tourism: black sand beaches, outrigger canoes, salt farms and a quiet that's entirely absent from the south.
The primary draw is underwater. The coral reefs off Jemeluk Bay are among the best shore-accessible diving and snorkelling in Bali, and the USAT Liberty shipwreck at nearby Tulamben — one of the most accessible wreck dives in Asia — is genuinely world-class. Non-divers still find plenty to like: the landscape, the pace, and the lack of hustle are a real contrast to South Bali.
02 Diving and snorkelling
Jemeluk Bay has a house reef accessible directly from the beach — snorkellers can enter from the black sand and be above coral in minutes, with reasonable visibility and a good chance of sea turtles on most mornings. The bay is also a popular sunrise snorkel spot. Shore dives from Amed itself cover coral walls and Japanese anchors from WWII at 20–30 metres.
Tulamben, 15 minutes north by road, is the main event for serious divers. The USAT Liberty was a US Army cargo ship torpedoed in 1942 and now lies parallel to the beach in 5–29 metres of water — shallow enough for open-water divers, interesting enough for advanced divers who've done hundreds of dives. You can enter the wreck at the shallower sections; the stern is at 26m. Multiple dive operators in Tulamben run morning and afternoon dives; a two-tank morning out runs roughly IDR 600,000–900,000.
03 The landscape and surroundings
Amed sits directly below Mount Agung (3,142m) — on clear mornings the volcano fills the view behind the village. The black volcanic sand beaches are not swimming-from-a-sunlounger beaches; the appeal is the setting, the reef access, and the fishing boat atmosphere rather than the beach itself.
Inland from Amed, Tirta Gangga — a royal water palace with ornamental pools and fountains — is 30 minutes by road and one of East Bali's more photogenic stops. Candidasa is a further 40 minutes south along the coast road, worth the drive as a base for exploring Karangasem regency.
04 Staying in Amed
Accommodation runs from simple guesthouses with fan rooms at IDR 150,000–300,000 per night to small boutique properties with pools at USD 60–120. Most places are small-scale and owner-operated — genuinely different from the villa and resort infrastructure of the south. Book in advance for peak season (July–August) when the dive operators fill up and rooms follow.
05 Getting there
Amed is roughly 2.5 hours from the airport under decent conditions — longer if you hit Denpasar or Gianyar traffic. The most common approach is a private driver for the full journey (IDR 350,000–500,000 from the airport) or renting a scooter from a base further south and riding the coastal road north from Candidasa. See our getting around guide for how to approach East Bali logistics.