I am seriously thinking of booking a trip to these three Indonesian (North Sulawesi) destinations, using the 'Passport to Paradise' combo deal offered by Murex Resorts with transfers between them by dive boat.

I was thinking of 5 days in each - maybe a couple extra in Lembeh which I've always wanted to dive.

Anyone tried this Murex deal?

Thoughts on how to split the trip eg. equal days in all three?

Suggested time of year?

 

And finally, I've heard that Lembeh is so popular these days that diving there is crowded and not so good any more. But I really want to get stuck into the muck diving there...

Thoughts?

Is Murex a good dive operator for Lembeh?

Thanks in advance...

I haven't done the Murex deal but I know people doing it in a month or two. 

 

I went to Diver's lodge Lembeh when I did Lembeh a few years back and I would highly recommend them.  They have as standard 2 divers one guide, though they now have a private boat scheme which may add to the costs if you are travelling alone.  They will also pick you up of drop you off at other resorts.  An additional consideration is they will dive the far side of Lembeh Island at the right time of year which has coral sites as opposed to muck sites being at the SW end of the island the trip around to coral sites is relatively short.

 

In addition, food is good, accommodation comfortable and pricing reasonable.

 

https://www.diverslodgelembeh.com/

 

also see their FAQ page about timing.  I was there in November just as the wet season was kicking off so it was drizzling a bit.  Some critters are seasonal for example Ornate ghost pipefish are most sighted June-October.  This guide may be useful:

 

https://critters.lembehresort.com/ornate_ghostpipefish_solenostomus_paradoxus_c62.html

 

Just type in critters you are interested in and it says where they are found and any seasonality.

Thanks Chris. If anyone else would like to jump in and say how crowded with divers (or not) Lembeh is today, that would be helpful.

Just got back from Lembeh and used Dive into Lembeh. It was not crowded bc they have great guide to diver ratio and if we saw boats could move dive sites. The popular sites were busy on one or two occasions but didn’t find it an issue at all. Maybe depends on the dive resort and guests etc and dive itinerary 

We're headed for north Sulewesi a month from today, our first trip to this area.  We're doing a modified "passport"--a week at Bunaken Oasis, five nights at Murex Bangka, and a week at Lembeh Resort (NAD was booked solid, but completely happy with prospect of LR).  Boat transfers with a couple of dives between each site. 

 

Dentrock asked whether Murex is a good Lembeh operator.  My understanding is that Murex doesn't have a separate operation in Lembeh, but partners with Lembeh Resort.  All of the major Lembeh operators seem to have good reputations and committed fans, no?

 

We had planned to go to Little Cayman during the same period, but after seeing the devastating bleaching in nearby Cuba in January, we revised our plans.   

@dentrock did you end up doing this trip?

Currently looking at booking the Passport to Paradise for 2028 (with the local dive shop) that goes to Manado, Bangka and Lembeh so wondered if you'd recommend it?

I'm mostly into macro but thinking if maybe need to get something for some wide angle too!

3 hours ago, Yorkie88 said:

@trock did you end up doing this trip?

On that trip last year I ended up only doing Lembeh / Murex resort. The diving pretty much met my expectations, although the room was a bit ordinary. Food was incredible though. Guides were mostly very good, but I'm not keen on queuing up to take a photo, and some divers were really good at messing up the viz.

I don't know if I would return, but I doubt if other operations are any better.

Have been some renovations this year. Not sure if they improved the rooms though.

Also just returned from Siladen Resort (in the Manado / Bangka area). Resort is lovely and I really like the traditional style rooms with outside bathroom etc. Diving however focuses on Bunaken wall dives. Biodiversity is very low on those, so unless you are happy with turtles and drift dives, a little wall diving is more than enough. There is almost no large fish, and even the range of small critters is very restricted. Muck dives at Manado were much better / more critters / more diversity, but I had to work hard to convince the dive operator to go there.

I won't return, not because of the resort, but because of the dull diving.

I have just booked a return trip to Kri Eco resort (Raja Ampat) in July 2027, which has the best house reef I know of. And cute over water traditional cottages!

Thanks for the info! Hopefully the queueing up won't be too much of an issue, I like to be polite and try to go last......and hope that people in front don't take that as "spend as long as you like and kick it all up afterwards" 😂 - I'm also happy to go look for something else while everyone crowds around 1 critter!

Sounds like the Lembeh resort diving is going to be the kind of stuff I like in terms of critters, Manado too - and Bangka might be a nice change in the middle, I only have a macro port at the moment so usually skip the camera for drift dives.

Kri Eco looks great - Raja is on my list for the future!

Try the Solitude in Lembeh I was there in february very good.

I have done several P to P trips at the Murex resorts and highly recommend them - I prefer doing Manado, Banka then Lembeh route personally - starting with wall diving and a plethora of turtles in Banka, then Manado with the reefs & macro & if you're lucky a Dugong could make an appearance - ending up in Lembeh for macro critters & one of the best resorts I can recommend.

The dive groups are usually 4 per DM & they are really great in finding critters

Flying in and out of Manado is easy - either Scoot Air in Singapore or Guarda air in Jakarta

It's such a great diversity trip and highly recommend it

16 minutes ago, JMC22 said:

The dive groups are usually 4 per DM & they are really great in finding critters

Solitude 1 Guide for maximum 2 divers.

That's an important point for me.

Updating on this I went to Lembeh again, September 2025. Went with Divers lodge Lembeh again, as I said food/accommodation was nice, Most dive sites we were the only boat there, had one or two other dive boats at Nudi falls, other sites just us or another boat at an adjacent dive site.

I was travelling solo, so they provided me a dedicated guide, on most dives I had one other couple with their guide on the dive boat and a couple of days two other couples. If you search you'll find my trip report. I had mostly no queues and good guiding. Their policy is one guide - two divers, I highly recommend it and I'll be going back at some point.

Yes, 1 to 2 would be good, since it's easy to 'take turns on who is first'.

Kri is that. I will avoid 1 to 4 in future.

FYI I didn't do 2 or 3 P to P resorts because I decided I hate packing and unpacking mid way through a trip!

I get settled in to a room then like to focus just on the photos!

On 10/20/2026 at 8:48 PM, Chris Ross said:

Most dive sites we were the only boat there, had one or two other dive boats at Nudi falls, other sites just us or another boat at an adjacent dive site.

Nudi Falls is I believe the most popular dive site in Lembeh - it's not uncommon to see 1-2 other boats there, but I have never had any issues with other groups as most will stagger their entry to not overlap in the water

16 hours ago, JMC22 said:

Nudi Falls is I believe the most popular dive site in Lembeh - it's not uncommon to see 1-2 other boats there, but I have never had any issues with other groups as most will stagger their entry to not overlap in the water

When an other boat is at the same site, I never had any problems.

The only one was to wait until the other divers finished with a "good subject" You need to be patient


BUT the good point if there are other boats is that there are also other guide searching for good things...

BUT the good point if there are other boats is that there are also other guide searching for good things...

12 hours ago, CaolIla said:

BUT the good point if there are other boats is that there are also other guide searching for good things...

Agreed, sometimes having more guides in the water searching for critters is a good thing - more eyes the better

I'm considering the passport to paradise next Oct / November. Has anyone ever done the trip at this time?

I ask this because I know it's 'shoulder season' in Indonesia, and my wife doesn't dive any more so if its likely to pour with rain constantly then it'd have to be put back to 2028.

We've been in. Tulamben in November before with good success for the weather so we are considering giving this a go. The odd shower isn't a problem, but if its like to be constant rain its a no go, cheers

2 hours ago, Pooley said:

I'm considering the passport to paradise next Oct / November. Has anyone ever done the trip at this time?

I ask this because I know it's 'shoulder season' in Indonesia, and my wife doesn't dive any more so if its likely to pour with rain constantly then it'd have to be put back to 2028.

We've been in. Tulamben in November before with good success for the weather so we are considering giving this a go. The odd shower isn't a problem, but if its like to be constant rain its a no go, cheers

I was there last October, there was a little rain, but weather mostly pretty good. It switches sometime in November usually in Lembeh. I would also add the seasons move around in Indonesia depending on what part you visit - it's a huge place. For example peak season in Komodo is low season in Raja Ampat. Many of the liveaboards move between the two areas.

I also went to Lembeh in November many years ago. It had started raining but wasn't too bad and certainly didn't rain all day. In November the lodge I visited offered dives in the south east side of Lembeh as well as the much dives inside Lembeh, the SE dive sites are coral reef sites.

Thanks Chris

Oh boy sorry I missed this. I've done the "passport to paradise" twice before and am heading there again in May. Fantastic deal, great distinct diving in each area and Murex resorts are constantly upgrading their product. They were bought by a new family back a few years I think and have been upgrading their shore and boat products since. Personally I like staying at the Lembeh Resort last, it's the best resort in the group. A little pampering before the long haul home. In May we'll probably only stay at Bangka and Lembeh because we plan on heading out to Rajat for a few weeks while we're there. One key thing for me is that when you move to the next resort you don't have to do a thing. While you're out diving that day, they'll take another boat and deliver all your luggage to the new resort and it's in your room waiting when you arrive at the end of the diving. Can't say enough about the staff and management, very well run in my opinion. One thing that I changed from my first experience is their policy was to keep the same dive guides with you through the whole trip and although this does have some benefits we found that getting new guides at each destinations (especially important for Lembeh)meant you got guides that were more knowledgable where to find critters and what sites were the best recently.