The Boga Wreck: Bali's Best-Kept Wreck Secret, 100 Metres Off the Beach
One hundred metres off the beach in Kubu, a 45-metre Indonesian cargo ship sits in eighteen to thirty-six metres of water with a Volkswagen Beetle still strapped to her deck. This is the Boga Wreck, and only a small number of divers have heard of her compared to the Liberty.
The Boga was scuttled deliberately in 2011 to seed an artificial reef. Now, many years later, the experiment has worked out spectacularly. Soft corals sheath her railings. Trevally and batfish hold station above the bow. A bronze statue of Dewi Saraswati, placed near the wheelhouse during the sinking, hosts its own colony of cup corals and feather stars. There is plenty of small stuff to be found too — leaf fish, stonefish, lionfish and nudibranchs, to name a few.
Why she is worth the trip
For divers who have ticked the Liberty off the list and want a wreck that actually looks like a ship, the Boga is the dive worth booking. Most days you will share her with a few other divers; sometimes almost none. The Liberty's traffic does not follow you here yet, because the Boga sits past the depth threshold for casual divers — Advanced Open Water certification or equivalent is required to dive the deck.
The contrast with the Liberty is what makes the Boga interesting. The Liberty is large, accessible and famous; the Boga is intimate, technical, and almost no one's first answer when you ask about Bali wrecks. Photographers love her for that reason. The composition is cleaner with no other divers in your frame.
What you need to know before you go
Depth. The bow sits at eighteen metres and the stern reaches thirty-six. Plan your dive accordingly. Nitrox extends your bottom time considerably and is worth requesting if your operator stocks it.
Entry. The Boga is reached by a short walk on the beach from the parking lot by Kubu Tempel. Most resorts in Kubu run her as a one-tank morning trip. An alternative is a two-tank trip: after the Boga wreck, the artificial reef just left of the parking lot makes a great second dive. Combining the two reefs in one trip works well, and you are back at the resort just before noon — ready for lunch, a rest, or another dive in the afternoon.
Marine life. Schooling jacks are common around the bow. The wheelhouse interior can hold glass fish so densely packed that you can swim through them in daylight and still feel like you are in a snowstorm. White-tip reef sharks have been recorded resting in the cargo hold; they are not guaranteed, but they are seen often enough to be worth the look. Great barracuda can be seen close by, hovering for a clean or scouting an easy snack. Big snappers under the wreck are a common sight.
Visibility. Typical range is five to fifteen metres, lower than the Liberty because the deeper site catches less surface light. This is not a problem for the dive; it is part of the atmosphere.
Who should dive the Boga
Honest answer: experienced divers with Advanced Open Water or a higher certification — nitrox is recommended. Not for first-time divers, and not for anyone who finds thirty-metre dives stressful. The Boga rewards a diver who has slowed down, who has the air control to spend twenty-five minutes on the deck without burning through a tank, and who wants something less photographed than the Liberty.
If you can spare a morning of your trip for a dive most travellers will never log, this is the one.
ABWonderdive Beach Resort in Kubu's house reef sits close to the Boga site; our bus reaches the wreck location in under four minutes. Advanced Open Water certification required; nitrox available on request.