Help Plan a Lembeh trip

So we are ready to book a trip to Lembeh area for 08'. Open to all land based diving, live-aboard or combo of the two. Looking to spend 10-12days in the water. Willing to pay a little more for a more upscale or adventurous operation and SMALLER groups. MUST cater to photogs. March, April, June are out for months we can go.

1. Favorite Land Based Op

2. Best live-aboard

3. Possible best combo

4. Must dive areas

5. Best time to go

Thanks all input, options welcome.

So we are ready to book a trip to Lembeh area for 08'. Open to all land based diving, live-aboard or combo of the two. Looking to spend 10-12days in the water. Willing to pay a little more for a more upscale or adventurous operation and SMALLER groups. MUST cater to photogs. March, April, June are out for months we can go.

 

1. Favorite Land Based Op

2. Best live-aboard

3. Possible best combo

4. Must dive areas

5. Best time to go

 

Thanks all input, options welcome.

I spent the month of Feb in Lembeh. We stayed at Kasawari Lodge and can't say enough good things about it. The facilities are brand new and elegant. The staff were extremely attentive and the boats very easy to dive from. You can't miss there. The diving is second to none, IMHO.

If you would like some pictures, I can post them.

So we are ready to book a trip to Lembeh area for 08'. Open to all land based diving, live-aboard or combo of the two. Looking to spend 10-12days in the water. Willing to pay a little more for a more upscale or adventurous operation and SMALLER groups. MUST cater to photogs. March, April, June are out for months we can go.

 

1. Favorite Land Based Op

2. Best live-aboard

3. Possible best combo

4. Must dive areas

5. Best time to go

 

Thanks all input, options welcome.

my 2 cts, thoughts and preferences, ymmv

i have been to lembeh a number of times now and _my_ preferred resort is Lembeh Resort (based on my tastes and preferences). i found that i got along easily with the owner, danny, and the new dive and resort managers, karl and linda, the dive groups are small, the guides are _excellent_ in taking care of both finding the critters and managing the uwphotogs. the crews are very careful with the gear and basically you don't have to worry about anything.

another nice things about LR is that it's on the sunny side in the afternoon, which in summer is a bonus when the wind is blowing through the strait as the temperature can get relatively chilly (it's all relative but after 80mn dives ...)

food is good, the resort staff make you feel welcome and are always cheerful and helpful (like in most resorts in that part of the world).

personally, i don't see the point of a liveaboard for diving the strait. it takes 25mn to go from the top to the bottom of the strait. also i think there are enough boats there already, and the few new liveaboards i have seen have either not moved for most of their trip or on the bad side dump umpteen divers and clueless dive guides onto fragile sites.

time of year: there is no one better time of year, each period brings its own bonuses. i have been there in february, july, september and october. i had the most luck in my september trips, but that's high season, so the number of day boats coming from the bunaken side is high.

must dive areas: all of the strait the most productive sites vary all the time so it really depends on the year/season/luck of the draw. there's always the favs such as polis pier, the TK's, hairball, nudi falls etc ... don't forego the opportunity to dive the wrecks there as they are quite interesting, and also see if you can a dive towards the northeast of the straight such as california dreaming as the corals are really pretty up there.

i have been only to lembeh or i have combined with bunaken for a few days just to get some colour back in my eyes. but i think that next time i'll try and do a combo with the north of the island, bangka (not sure of the spelling). this can be arranged by the resort (kbr and LR i know can arrange it, kawasari i don't know but I am sure they can).

in any event whoever you go with, whenever you go, you'll have a blast. the diving is spectacular (in a macro/muck sense:)) and the photo opps are superb...

hth, enjoy...

/paul

Here are a few pics of Kasawari;

...

i have been to lembeh a number of times now and _my_ preferred resort is Lembeh Resort (based on my tastes and preferences). i found that i got along easily with the owner, danny, and the new dive and resort managers, karl and linda, the dive groups are small, the guides are _excellent_ in taking care of both finding the critters and managing the uwphotogs. the crews are very careful with the gear and basically you don't have to worry about anything.

 

..snip...

 

/paul

I can second all good things said about Lembeh Resort

The Lembeh Resort operations is now managed by Les, an Australian with a great attention to Detail. I thought, the place was in a mess when Dani was in charge. Karl and Linda have moved on. I know them from their time with Kararu, not while they were in Lembeh.

The separation of resort management and diving management works really well. The diving is now managed by Kat and Johan, a czech/swedish couple who are also doing a great job.

I visited KBR (Kunkungan Bay Resort) on my first trip to Lembeh in 2005 and will never go there again. We arrived in a hired boat from "across the strait" and thereby represented potential future customers wanting to see what the competition has on offer. The local staff were timid, but I would go as far as describing their attitude as mildly friendly. The western staff however treated us like thieves in the night and just wanted us out of there. What a terrible attitude.

Even KBR old timers, like Burt and Maurine, are coming to Lembeh Resort now - In October 2007 actually.

A place like Lembeh Resort or KBR is a must if you want to actually find stuff - their guides are the best in the area. Do not under any circumstances go with an outside operation. You will miss half of the cool critters that are there.

Jandri is the best at LR, with Abner a close second. Both have been there for many years and were trained at KBR in the olden days under the late Larry Smith. They know how to make you happy on a dive.

Jandri finds out your level of experience and what you wish to see and adjusts the dive to your preferences . He is quite happy to switch between an beginner with a compact digicam and an ichthyologist with a big DSLR setup in a matter of minutes - making sure that each one of them has a great experience.

Photos from my March trip to Lembeh are here

Lembeh Straits 2007

I hope that helps.

Cheers

Fred

Some good news from Lembeh and the near town of Bitung. Bitung just received the price for being the cleanest city of Indonesia. Yes, that much have changed since only one year ago. No, the Lembeh Strait is not as clean yet as she should be. But also on the surface and in the water the difference is visible.

Diving is great at this moment. Paddle flapped scorpionfish, Lacey scorpionfish, 8 different frogfish in one dive, bobbittworm, Hairy frogfishes, Harlequin shrimps and so on.

If you look for information about Lembeh Strait you could have a look at the excellent site:

http://www.starfish.ch/starfish.html#fact

Much information about the dive sites, the 8 (yes eight!) resorts around Lembeh Strait and incredible complete info about frogfish.

Enjoy your trip, Rob Sinke, Divers Lodge Lembeh

Hi Martin,

Cheryl and I stayed at KBR and we loved it. They have a good working relationship with Lembeh Resort and ensure that their boats don't end up on the same dive site and crowd it. They share diving schedules so I think either resort would be awesone. At KBR there is awesome shore diving and the photo opps are plentiful. Not sure about Lembeh resort but I can vouch for KBR. They may have had some bad press on facility condition but it was because of a pissed off diver who had flooded his camera system at another resort prior to arriving at KBR. He thus hade a tude.

Don't do a liveaboard. Waste of time and money in my opinion. There is plenty of diving at KBR and the staff is awesome. Steve and Miranda do go out of their way to assist you...and if you have any needs just pull Steve aside and he is very good at trying to accommodate you. I talked with him about getting on a boat with fewer people and he made it happen.

Either way, you will have an awesome time. Bring your macro setup because you will need it. I'd also recommend the 12" inch stainless pole with a ring on the side to clip it on your BC. TIt is good for sticking in the sand to steady yourself on the flat, sandy bottom when there is current. Most of the sites are simply sand and trash...not much in the way of reefs and many of the animals are hiding under the trash.

Joe

I haven't been to Kasawari, but I've heard it's nice. Lembeh Resort I've been to and am going back. Love it! The rooms are really nice (good airconditioners), the food is good, and the guides are great! And the fresh water pool is soooo refreshing on those hot afternoons.

I've been to Murex in Manado also, diving Bunaken and that was nice also. This year we've arranged to go to the Bangka Resort at the end of our stay for a few days. I couldn't resist the pictures of white sand beaches and blue water. Will report when we return (going in September).

And I would check out the Starfish link above. There is lots of useful information on their website.

Kathy

Thanks to all for the great info. We just booked Lembeh for August of 08'; 5 days diving at Bunaken, staying at Cocotions and then 7 days diving out of Kasawari. So our 08' line up is Yap/Truk in February, Cocos/Mapelo in April and Bunaken/Lembeh in August. With lots of local diving sprinkled in.

Thanks again for all the help.

I can second all good things said about Lembeh Resort

 

Do not under any circumstances go with an outside operation. You will miss half of the cool critters that are there.

 

Cheers

Fred

I BEG to differ. Most of the resorts have excellent guides. My guide from Kasawari found incredible things. Actually, as you know from being there, it is hard NOT to find great stuff.

I would say to everyone out there, watch out for Bruce Moore's new place Black Sand Dive Restreat. If you haven't heard of Bruce Moore, he was the manager of Lembeh Dive Resort for quite a while. He's the most enthusiastic Lembeh fanatic I've ever met, you'll love him! He's the best man in Lembeh by far, even though I haven't dived with all the others, I know someone with passion when I chat with them about diving and Bruce has this and some more...

Black Sand Dive Retreat is nearly finished and I think he'll become very busy very quickly once word gets out! For next year you'll be glad you booked early. There are only 6 bungalows accommodating 12 guests. The house reef is the best of any resort Lembeh area. When I next go back to back to Lembeh I'd want the best house reef, this way you can go back to the best site when you want.

Mail Bruce for more details at info@blacksanddive.com

If you haven't firmed up your plans yet, you might concider contacting a travel agency the specializes in dive trips. I use http://www.scubatravelventures.com to make all my plans now. They make excellent plans that are always executed as flawlessly as the areas allow.

I have given up making my own plans. These people know the area, the people to contact, the places to see.