Accomodations/Diving in North Sulawesi

[blenny]

Hi Everyone, I need some help, actually lots of it. We have selected to go to the North Sulawesi are in March of 2009 for approximately 10 days. We need to ask where should we stay and dive.

Our family consist of a 7 year old "city boy" who likes snorkeling and doing stuff, my wife who is OW and Nitrox certified (50+ dives) and myself AOW + TDI Trimix (100+ dives). We are on a reasonable budget and would like to keep it in the $100-$150/day incl 2 tanks/day diving if possible (we would like EAN32 but can air if we have to_. Our concern is while we love some of the eco-lodges we are not sure our little guy will have fun (he hates bugs and so Roatan or most of Honduras actually is out), the place has to have a kids program or full day babysitting and we do not want to get up at 7 on vacation to go diving (8am or later suits us).

We have dove in varied places but loved the GBR, Saba, Bonaire, Fiji, Red Sea and liked Curacao, San Andreas, Bali where not as keen on Hawaii, Dominican Republic and Cuba. We like Wall or Pinnacles and not really into muck diving.

Any suggestions or tips would be welcome and as we are coming from Ottawa, Canada and have a 2-3 day layover in Singapore suggestions for that destination are welcome too.

Also some people are recommending a 5mm full suite,that sounds heavy to me is it really needed? Normally I am fine with a 3mm shorty but have to admit 40-60 min is the limit before it gets cold are the dives often longer?

 

[AlanWald]

there is a zoo and aquarium in Singapore that might be of interest to you

 

[BlueBayDivers]

hi blenny,
all indonesians love kids. you will not need an extra kid program. your son will be in good hands of the staff from the resort.
your budget 100$-150$ for accommodation, food , drinks and 2 dives a day is for one person or 3 three person? if its for one person, then you can check out nearly all midrange resort in bunaken or bangka. lembeh is muck diving only, that you dont like , you say.
how long the dive is, depends mostly from your air consumtion. but mostly is 60min+ . i dive here with 3mm long and that fine for me.
hope that helps
anke
Blue Bay Divers | Home

 

[Allison Finch]

I stayed at the Kasawari Resort in Lembeh. It was absolutely wonderful. The grounds were lovely and the building very elegant and comfortable. The food was very good, and the diving the best!. I can post photos, if you would like.`

 

[TSandM]

We stayed at Tasik Ria on the Bunaken side of Sulawesi. The resort has a fantastic pool for kids. The diving is in the Bunaken Reserve, which is all wall diving and a lot of it drifting. It was very colorful, with lots of macro life.

The food was okay (much better at KBR, where we spent the second half of the trip) but sitting in the bar at the end of the jetty and watching the sun go down was splendid. The boats are large (which is actually nice, because it's a fair trip from the resort to the reserve) but they broke us up into groups, so we didn't feel as though we were diving in a crowd. The guides were extremely good at finding well-camouflaged little stuff. There were charging stations on the boat for batteries between dives, and the food on the boats was fantastic -- big crockpots full of Indonesian dishes.

I actually enjoyed the second half of the trip more, at Kunkunken Bay Resort, which is incredibly beautiful. But it's muck diving, and I don't know what there would be there for kids to do.

 

[blenny]

Thanks everyone for the replies, we are thinking of 3 days in Singapore as we have to overnight there on our outbound flight anyways. In terms of budget it was per diver so I should really say $300 per day for all of us incl 4tanks of nitrox per day (unless there is any reason to do Deco Dives,any thoughts? Anything special past the recreational limits? Not keen on passing 200ft as that takes up all the diving for that day, but if there is something special well....)

 

[Wiggsy]

I'm going to Siladen Dive Resort and Spa June 28 - July 7. I don't know if it would quite be in your price range, but I think it would be close. I have a large group (30 plus) going and we've got a discounted deal that gets us 11 boat doves for $240 (australian dollars) so the diving is certainly affordable, Couldn't tell you what the room rates are exactly but we've got it all up including airfares ex Melbourne; all meals (reputedly gourmet!) 7 nights at Siladen; one night Singapore for $2269 aud...and that's pretty great value for a 'luxury' resort. A lot of freebies thrown in as well - massages...SCUBA pool lesson for newies, etc. And Siladen is right in Bunaken Marine reserve, near some very good dive sites. In fact great diving just off the beach. I can fit in another few couples if any Aussies out there are interested - just e-mail me on awiggs@netspace.net.au Mandarin fish and pygmy seahorses right at the resort reef. And they just had a clutch of Olive Ridly Sea Turtles hatch at the resort. Looks superb.

 

[Vidiotic]

We stayed at Lorenzos at Bunaken, very very cheep and very nice (Lorenzo is a very funny guy !) and dove with 2 fish who we found we OK though we did have one or 2 issues with them (I had about 60Bar left and a 7 min safety stop to do and DM more or less forced me to go up to the surface, plus he was a bit touchy feely with the marine life) however they changed our DM after that and we found him to be a whole lot better. Indonesian people love kids your lad will be well taken care of and probably will be made a fuss over. If you go to Bunaken you can snorkel in the afternoon with Dugons (SP).

Dive lengths vary depending on your consumption, most of our dives where for about 75 mins plus and you will not need a wet suit, I dove in just some board shorts and rashie and was never cold. IF you like Walls then you will love Bunaken as the wall dives there are some of the best in the world IMHO.

Have fun you lucky lucky person

 

[blenny]

Thanks everyone, we have managed to swing th trip so we have 3 days stay in Singapore and 12 in Sulawesi, realized that Benjamin can start the bubble maker program at 8, anyone tried it or know of anyone offering it?

At this point in time (barring last min airline issues we are heading there Feb 26 and back on the 16 of Mar 2009.

 

[pelan-pelan]

Last year at Lumbalumba diving there were kids there - as there have been in previous visits. The staff are absolutely great with them and Roel and Juud always take a personal interest in all their guests. The kids respond with excellent behaviour which simply puts everything on an upward spiral. The food is outstanding and there is a mix of European and Indonesian and chef Martin responds to requests. The pancakes (including banana pancakes) are dangerously good. The grounds are secure. The cottages are spotless and well-appointed. And stunning views.

The boat is large and comfortable and there is plenty of room for everyone both inside the cabin and outside. Try lying face down on the nets between the twin hulls only feet away from the dolphins playing in the bow waves.

They are close to Manado-side critter diving and straight across to Bunaken. Their jetty provides snorkelling and diving opportunities. DM ratio seems to be 4 but often less.

We have always had a good time there and there have been other positive posts on this site including from single divers (some female). One of them said that lumbalumba "blitzed" the other resorts for standards of diving and accommodation. Diving Bunaken / Manado with Lumbalumba Diving, North Sulawesi - Diving Bunaken with us