Lembeh at Present?

[matts1w]

Has anyone here been to Lembeh recently? I am thinking about making the trip next week for five days, but have no idea what to expect. It seems almost everyone is closed, but I am told Two-Fish is operational.

Does anyone have insight about conditions? Getting tested in Manado for a return flight to Jakarta? What to expect from scaled-down dive centers? Is nitrox around? Anything?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chillyinCanada]

@Indah

 

[Centrals]

https://www.facebook.com/two.fish.divers.lembeh/posts/6162105477140542

It is opened.

Also in Bali(Lembongan)

 

[Indah]

Has anyone here been to Lembeh recently? I am thinking about making the trip next week for five days, but have no idea what to expect. It seems almost everyone is closed, but I am told Two-Fish is operational.

Does anyone have insight about conditions? Getting tested in Manado for a return flight to Jakarta? What to expect from scaled-down dive centers? Is nitrox around? Anything?

Thanks in advance.

We are (Divers Lodge Lembeh) are open for divers as well. You can test in Bitung. However, I wonder what will happen the next couple of days with the rules for travelling. The covid-19 situation is as expected completely out of control now. We need the money, I would like to talk with somebody else than my family but I think travelling now is not the best thing to do.
Anyway, you can always decide last minute, we do not ask for any down payment.

 

[tgarvin]

Any update on how the dive ops and the locals are doing? I suspect that most resorts are operating in a limited capacity or shut down entirely at this point.

 

[matts1w]

I did end up going for six days in the middle of July and pretty much had Lembeh Bay to myself. Two-Fish took me on as they had a small group and I was able to get in on the tail end of their stay. They did a great job accommodating me and I had a wonderful time. To answer your question, every place in Lembeh was pretty much shut down. Apparently, the Bunaken resorts were still getting some local guests here and there...but yeah... it was pretty grim.

 

[Indah]

Any update on how the dive ops and the locals are doing? I suspect that most resorts are operating in a limited capacity or shut down entirely at this point.

We live at our Divers Lodge Lembeh and would be able to serve guests. But most requests we get are for single persons who expect a huge discount. It seems they cannot understand that with one or two guests only it is impossible to give any discount on our already very reasonable rates. So, practically we are empty. This seems to be more or less the same for most of the resorts here. A pity, because our resort looks amazing now. We have 25 hectares (50 soccer fields) of beautiful natural forest and only 1 hectare is used for the actual resort. Perfect for birds, butterflies, lizards and Tarsier.

 

[tgarvin]

We live at our Divers Lodge Lembeh and would be able to serve guests. But most requests we get are for single persons who expect a huge discount. It seems they cannot understand that with one or two guests only it is impossible to give any discount on our already very reasonable rates. So, practically we are empty. This seems to be more or less the same for most of the resorts here. A pity, because our resort looks amazing now. We have 25 hectares (50 soccer fields) of beautiful natural forest and only 1 hectare is used for the actual resort. Perfect for birds, butterflies, lizards and Tarsier.

Thank you, Indah for the dive operation update. How are the locals doing that live in the villages outside of Bitung and on Lembeh island?

 

[GF99/99]

Has anyone here been to Lembeh recently? I am thinking about making the trip next week for five days, but have no idea what to expect. It seems almost everyone is closed, but I am told Two-Fish is operational.

Does anyone have insight about conditions? Getting tested in Manado for a return flight to Jakarta? What to expect from scaled-down dive centers? Is nitrox around? Anything?

Thanks in advance.

I can't speak for Lembeh but I do have a friend that just went to Unauna (still is there) with a group of people and they are having a blast.

I think most dive centers are "half open" as in they are in care and maintenance mode but if you message them and say you want to go diving they will make sure staff is available, tanks, equipment, boats, etc. and will be more than happy to accommodate you. O2 availability is hit or miss, last month it was very difficult to get but it seem this month it is better. My friend and I were able to pick up a G in Sulawesi couple weeks ago
Traveling is actually fairly easy if you have the correct Covid test and vaccinations. Right now since the PPKM is at level 3 you only need antigen test (which can easily be found in Bitung or Manado) to travel if your fully vaccinated. I literally just flew from BauBau to Bali 3 days ago and had no issues. Only minor hiccup is the new Peduli App. If you remember last year they introduced the eHAC app that never worked well the new Peduli is supposed to be better and is required for traveling but still is a mission to use as a foreigner. The application does not accept foreign vaccinations. I have 2 shots of Pfizer from the US and the new Indonesian procedure is that you have to upload these to the app then they will submit them to your embassy for verification. Don't really know how this will work but I guess will find out. For now you just show them at the airport that the app does not work and your vaccination is not from Indonesia. Politely explain to them what the problem is and they will be very confused and eventually just let you go as they do not know what to do with this type of situation.

 

[Indah]

Thank you, Indah for the dive operation update. How are the locals doing that live in the villages outside of Bitung and on Lembeh island?

As far as we know they all somehow make a living. Tourism never was the main economical activity at North Sulawesi. The fish industry is a much larger employer. But for many their income is much smaller than it used to be.