Warmwater Wank
Contributor
Just a short but very positive review of our stay at Black Sand Dive Resort on Lembeh strait. We were there for only 5 nights (Nov.20-25) but had a most enjoyable stay. It was our second time in Lembeh and if anything, more critterful than when we were there March, 2012.
We over-nighted in Manado after a 2 wk Raja Ampat lob. (Stayed at the Novotel, a great $50. bargain!) It was a positive sign that our driver Stefan was 10 minutes early the next morning. Hassle free check in at the resort by Roustan got us feeling at home right off the bat. There are only 6 bungalows on the well tended grounds. It is not a big, bustling place and it is kept up beautifully. We were in #3 bungalow, up the hill from the dive op. It was a quiet, comfortable and enjoyable room on the hillside w/ a deck overlooking the water and jungle. We had more than adequate A/C and a superb Balinese style open shower area in the bathroom. (All the bungalows are similar as far as I know.)
Meals were in a common-area building close to the rooms. Very open and bug-free (still, use some repellent), clean, nicely appointed. Meals were pre-ordered from a menu each day, 3 choices for main meals. When you sat down things were brought out as you were ready. There's no need to ask, they will know who you are at the first meal Really nice presentation and variety to the meals, filling without overdoing it. Their soups were practically a signature course, not an after-thought (and I'm not one to comment on soups).
Diving was Lembeh! Compared to our March diving, the water was a bit cooler (82-84F in Mar., 80-82F in Nov.) and viz was better this time. Not sure if that correlates but it did seem like we saw more activity and certainly could see more of the surroundings. Had one afternoon of about as hard a rain as I've seen in the tropics and next day viz was just fine even shore. A partial critter list included: various pipefish, 7-8 frogfish, Tiger shrimp, many Mantis shrimp, Pygmys, nudis, crabs etc.
Black Sand uses 3 speedboats that take a max of 4 divers plus a dive guide. The last 2 days that we dove the other couple diving w/ us left and no one had yet had checked into that bungalow. Rather than combine us w/ another boat we stayed w/ our dive guide (Hengki, a great one!) and had a boat to ourselves. Dive times were 8am, 11am 2:30 and guided night dive as arranged (or house reef on your own, anytime--and Hairball is a great house reef to have!). The camera room was adequate, plenty of counter space for all. Dive ops ran smooth, we got out on time, dove until the spg said time to quit, came in quickly. (Breaks up the day more it seemed, having longer surface intervals ashore.) We had five days of most excellent diving and of course the dive ops are always a make it or break it factor.
I was surprised how much our total topside experience added to our sense of this being a more relaxing yet intense dive experience. The diving was really good Lembeh diving (lucky us!) but the accommodations and how we were treated put this one over the top. A great place, highly recommended. What a treat, thanks Bruce & Fung! // ww
We over-nighted in Manado after a 2 wk Raja Ampat lob. (Stayed at the Novotel, a great $50. bargain!) It was a positive sign that our driver Stefan was 10 minutes early the next morning. Hassle free check in at the resort by Roustan got us feeling at home right off the bat. There are only 6 bungalows on the well tended grounds. It is not a big, bustling place and it is kept up beautifully. We were in #3 bungalow, up the hill from the dive op. It was a quiet, comfortable and enjoyable room on the hillside w/ a deck overlooking the water and jungle. We had more than adequate A/C and a superb Balinese style open shower area in the bathroom. (All the bungalows are similar as far as I know.)
Meals were in a common-area building close to the rooms. Very open and bug-free (still, use some repellent), clean, nicely appointed. Meals were pre-ordered from a menu each day, 3 choices for main meals. When you sat down things were brought out as you were ready. There's no need to ask, they will know who you are at the first meal Really nice presentation and variety to the meals, filling without overdoing it. Their soups were practically a signature course, not an after-thought (and I'm not one to comment on soups).
Diving was Lembeh! Compared to our March diving, the water was a bit cooler (82-84F in Mar., 80-82F in Nov.) and viz was better this time. Not sure if that correlates but it did seem like we saw more activity and certainly could see more of the surroundings. Had one afternoon of about as hard a rain as I've seen in the tropics and next day viz was just fine even shore. A partial critter list included: various pipefish, 7-8 frogfish, Tiger shrimp, many Mantis shrimp, Pygmys, nudis, crabs etc.
Black Sand uses 3 speedboats that take a max of 4 divers plus a dive guide. The last 2 days that we dove the other couple diving w/ us left and no one had yet had checked into that bungalow. Rather than combine us w/ another boat we stayed w/ our dive guide (Hengki, a great one!) and had a boat to ourselves. Dive times were 8am, 11am 2:30 and guided night dive as arranged (or house reef on your own, anytime--and Hairball is a great house reef to have!). The camera room was adequate, plenty of counter space for all. Dive ops ran smooth, we got out on time, dove until the spg said time to quit, came in quickly. (Breaks up the day more it seemed, having longer surface intervals ashore.) We had five days of most excellent diving and of course the dive ops are always a make it or break it factor.
I was surprised how much our total topside experience added to our sense of this being a more relaxing yet intense dive experience. The diving was really good Lembeh diving (lucky us!) but the accommodations and how we were treated put this one over the top. A great place, highly recommended. What a treat, thanks Bruce & Fung! // ww
