The Kubu Wreck Dive Site as a Teen Movie, Starring Schools of Fish

Yeah okay, wrecks are fun to dive, but probably wouldn’t be as fun without the adorable fishes. I got to dive the Kubu Wreck just North of Tulamben, in Bali, and encountered various groups of fish. Even more fun was that I imagined them as the stereotypical characters of a high school movie.So as a special treat for you, here comes an account of the school of fishes  -oh no, I didn’t !- chilling at the Kubu Wreck:

Descend onto some very shallow rocks at 1.5m and past these at about 3m you’ll enter the high school hallway at the start of the Kubu Dive site. The fish hanging out around here, on the bommies scattered about the sandy slope, seem too busy cracking jokes to each other to get to class on time. They’re the class clowns. The goofy-looking trumpet fish, the box fish, the puffer fish, and –dare I say it- the clown fish (har, har)

Go down to 5m and you’ll find a jackstay. The rope that begins here will lead you to the Wreck. As you follow it, you’ll come to a spot at 17m deep where it crosses with other rope. Here we see some intimidating trigger fish and a single no-nonsense barracuda. They protect the wreck and they mean business. But, hey, so do you. You came all this way to see the Wreck and you will, diver. Just as you would deal with a bully, ignore them and keep going.

Phew! You made it to the bow of the Wreck sitting at 15m high. Here, on the outside of the sunken ship are a couple of suspicious bat fish. The rebels thinking of ditching class, perhaps ? Tsk, tsk naughty bat fish.

Swim a
long the starboard adorned with little round windows and developing coral, and you will get to the stern, with the boat’s rudder at 35m. Well actually, you shouldn’t be going that far if you don’t have your Deep Diver Specialty. And that would be a shame because at 32m there’s a group of pretty Sweetlips, Angel fish, and Moorish idols. Want to say hi to these popular kids having lunch at the cool table ?

On your way back up to the bow, you might notice a school of barracudas swimming overhead in the blue at 15m or so. Could it be that no-nonsense barracuda from earlier found some friends ? You, go barracuda ! Perhaps we misjudged you earlier when we took you for a loaner. Perhaps you’re on the school’s sports team and on the way to practice now.

Drift over the top deck of the bow, where you can take your next Facebook profile picture at the steering wheel. You can also see tufts of fluffy-looking coral here. These are littered with the usual tiny fish. The young damsels, chromis, and anthias, having a play at recess.

Heading back to the beach, slightly to the left, there are man-made cage-like structures at 13m. Sitting pretty here are a clique of red-tooth trigger fish. These triggers are too small to be scary. Actually, they look so cute swimming with their dorsal fins. Their fins look like cheerleader skirts swaying as they move. Next to them on a sandy patch are some awkward-looking garden eels. They keep darting in and out of their sandy nerd’s lair, trying to work out if they have the courage to talk to the cheerleaders. Don’t be so shy, eels ! You have so much to offer !

As you get ready to end your dive, back at the crossing at 17m where the ropes intersect, will appear a group of 5- 6 bumphead parrotfish. These gentle giants weren’t here earlier. They must have just come out of their drama rehearsal.

So that’s the Kubu Shipwreck and its resident fishes as experienced and imagined by yours truly. I think fish are so much more fun to look at and admire when you know what you’re looking at. Why not join me and try the Fish ID Specialty course ?