Bangka & Lembeh Current - Thoughts on Bring a Newbie Along

[pconsidine007]

Hi all,

My buddy and I have pretty much agreed that we'll dive (with Murex) the following itinerary in Bangka / Lembeh in early September:

fri, sept 4th: travel to bangka, lodging at murex bangka

sat, sept 5th: 3 boat dives from Bangka

sun, sept 6th: 3 boat dives from Bangka, +1 House reef dive afternoon dive

mon, sept 7th: 3 boat dives from Bangka, + 1 house reef night dive

tue, sept 8th: boat transfer to Lembeh, 2 boat dives en route, 1 house reef dive and maybe 1 house reef night dive

wed, sept 9th: 3 boat dives from Lembeh + house reef afternoon or night dive

thu, sept 10th: 2 boat dives from Lembeh, lodging at Lembeh resort

I have a few questions for those that are in the know:

We have a potential (quite new - less than 10 dives), open water diver interested in joining us. I'm quite apprehensive to include her if its going to significantly limit the sites we're able to dive (just have my first son, and these types of trips won't come often). I did some research, and there's a full moon on September 2nd, which is 3 days prior to our first day of diving in Bangka (Sept 5th). Given this, what are peoples thoughts on the type of currents that we'd experience across the itinerary, and subsequently, how does the inclusion of a new open water diver affect which sites we'll potentially be able to dive (my buddy and I are both advanced OW, with relatively decent experience diving current / deep)?

Also, anyone have any thoughts on the above itinerary? Suggested amendments? Must do's? Must not do's? etc.?

As always, thanks to the SB community for the invaluable resource its been planning this trip - I can't wait to get underwater after seeing everyone's posts, trip reports, and pics on here!

Thanks for your replies in advance.
Peter

 

[WetPup]

There's not much current to really speak of in Lembeh, so your inexperienced friend shouldn't have any issues there in that context. If anything, their issue in Lembeh will likely be their buoyancy control. If they don't have that down very well yet, then it's probable that they'll be kicking up a lot of sand/silt/mud on the dives, which can more or less mess up the dives.

I'll let others speak to the situation in Bangka.

 

[Wingy]

Depending on the tides and time of year, Murex will know if you let them know your buddies experience level which sites are suitable. The one site I definitely wouldn't recommend is Batu Goso (?? spelling) due to down currents however this may be a time of year thing - others may be more help. Sauhong pinnacles seems to me to be a better dive deeper, the smaller pinnacle near the house reef houses a couple of mandarin fish throughout the day and this may be a better site for a beginner.

Lembeh is easy diving and enjoyable for a beginner as WetPup has mentioned.

 

[Searcaigh]

Currently at the end of a two week trip to North Sulawesi, part of which was the Murex Passport to Paradise, which I will be writing up during my return journey to Dubai.

We certainly had a very fast 22 minute dive close to Bangka on our way by boat from Murex Manado. Weather at Bangka was not very favourable and we only had one dive at Bangka during our three day stay there, although we did all other dives over on the North Sulawesi mainland.

Lambeth on the other hand is quite benign current wise, usually if a current is running the dive site is changed, but as WetPup mentioned this is muck diving and the lava sand is easily disturbed. I for one would not welcome any diver who has poor buoyancy control messing up photo opportunities, and 99% of people diving there are photographers.

 

[pconsidine007]

Thanks for the feedback all.Will keep an eye out for your write-up Searcaigh. Can I ask why it was you stayed closer to the mainland, rather than diving Bangka? I was under the impression that the better sites were around Bangka. Sounds like the weather altered the plan. Did you get a sense that currents are a regular thing at Bangka? Does Murex often opt for the mainland sites, rather than Bangka proper? What generally drives the decision to dive mainland sites, vs. Bangka proper?Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a better understanding of the conditions that drive the decisions - and also, how having an all-new diver will play into it as well.Thanks again all.

 

[Luko]

There can be southern winds on Bangka strait that wil bring on lots of waves right on Bangka southern and eastern sides, ie. where the better Bangka sites are located. Hence crossing the strait to go diving Mainland gives a solution when the situation occurs.
Southern winds pick up from june to august with a different intensity according to the period of time, I guess Searcaigh didn't have much luck this time.

Mainland is not bad, there are very good sites such as Paradise pier and Batu Mandi, but with the exception of the latter it is mainly muck, coral rubble sites where frogfish or octopii can be found; while the beautiful coral and colorful sites are located around Bangka (Sahaung, Batu Gosoh, Batu tiga).

Murex does ALL the sites, it's the benefit of a small operation where you talk every evening with the guides and discuss what you would prefer to see or where you want to go.

September is usually better than July/August in terms of Wind.

 

[Searcaigh]

Thanks for the feedback all.Will keep an eye out for your write-up Searcaigh. Can I ask why it was you stayed closer to the mainland, rather than diving Bangka? I was under the impression that the better sites were around Bangka. Sounds like the weather altered the plan. Did you get a sense that currents are a regular thing at Bangka? Does Murex often opt for the mainland sites, rather than Bangka proper? What generally drives the decision to dive mainland sites, vs. Bangka proper?Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a better understanding of the conditions that drive the decisions - and also, how having an all-new diver will play into it as well.Thanks again all.

As Luko mentioned - Southern Winds, in fact the waves hitting Murex Bangka shoreline were two meters high, mooring the boats when we were docking at Bangka beach was pretty challenging for the crew. The water calmed down when we were around half way across to the mainland.Yes, Paradise Pier is a superb site, pity the hotel there is going to be renovated as a golf resort, but then again that might be a good thing

 

[AlMitch]

Echoing the above, in 3 trips to Bangka and 3 to Lembeh I am struggling to remember a single dive that I would have been concerned had I had a newbie with me. Generally the dive guides know the dive sites so well that they just time the dives right or pick another more sheltered dive.
BUT taking a newbie is certainly a risk. Depth is the one issue, as for instance at Sahoung (the primo dive site on Bangka) usually the big schools of snappers are down around the 25m+ mark. SO for the deeper dives try and get an extra dive guide to stay with the newbie and you get one for yourself to go deeper. OR just get the DM to stick with the newbie and you and your buddie can drop lower for a short period of time to watch the snappers. In Lembeh depth is not really an issue as most often the good stuff is often sitting in like 5m of water!
The other risk major risk is mentioned above, which is bad buoyancy and kicking up a sand stand at the muck sites. But if you take a bit of time explaining this to your mate and pointing it out to them under water and helping him with it then it will be a good learning experience for the person. Also make sure they have a muck stick and teach him how to use it properly.