Divers lodge Lembeh

[frogfish]

Has anyone been to this resort ? Any feedback appreciated !

 

[rvdw]

I stayed at Lembeh divers lodge in february , and will be returning next spring.
The lodge is run by Rob and his wife Linda. They opened the resort earlier this year. Before that they managed Benteng resort - so they know the area very well. I also visited Benteng resort but the resort was further away form the Lembeh Strait.
Compared to other diving resorts the place not a big luxury resort, but everything you need as a diver is there: big airy rooms with attached bathroom - delicious Indonesian cuisine - breathtaking views - very personal service. No swimming pool: but do you need this when being in the water the whole day?? No discos... hey but if you are coming for the diving...
Lembeh strait is so unique...People often mistake Lembeh as only a critter paradise with nothing else than black sand with strange creatures- but Rob and his diveguides know the area very well, so they'll take you to other marvellous places with lots of coral gardens, and there are very nice wrecks (hiddden treasures) in the area that are not frequently dived.
For the biodiversity: I was able to almost fill my entire wishlist: mandarin fish, frogfish, thorny seahorses, pygmee seahorses, ribbon eels, nudis in all colors and sizes, mimic octopus, metasepia even big stuff like nurse sharks, turtles (sorry I didn't see any Manta or Whale sharks - but who knows)
So for me this is the perfect dive hideaway.

Reine

 

[grafvonhattn]

Hi,

I´ve been there in August and it´s just fantastic. They know the best dive-sites, the food is great, they have a really nice and kind staff, and I never had a holiday that was so cheap in comparison to what you get. The maximum was 5 divers with 3 guides on one boat. Bye the way, we never were more than 6 guests in 2 weeks time at all. You don´t dive in groups, and you don´t go down if an other boat is at the dive-site already (the others do it vice-versa). In 20 dives i saw about 7-8 clown frogfish, not to mention all the other unique critters i never saw before.
And if you need a big, nice swimming pool and air condition... you better stay at home. The houses are new, clean and each is located minimum 20-25 mtrs. to the others. Excellent view included.

After beeing to every continent now, this is the first time i know i have to return to exactly this place. Ok, and australia sometime...

Get there or nowhere!

Greetings

Marco

 

[hansj]

Hi,

I totally agree with rvdw and grafvonhattn. We just returned and we had a great time. Nice houses, excellent food & service. The intention of the owner is to keep it personal and small scale and we really enjoyed that. As a rule 2 divers will be accompanied by 1 guide. No big groups.
We had an excellent dive guide who managed to find all the specialities of Lembeh strait, we saw the pictures of all the fascinating stuff before our vacation and as usual we wondered how many of those creatures we would see in reality but to my surprise we saw it all.
We also did some exploration diving on new sites and this was totally different from the muck diving in the strait and here we saw some bigger things, big napoleons, sharks . We didn't see a manta but other people that stayed on the boat saw one while we were down. (the only negative point of our stay ;-) )
There are also some nice wrecks in the strait. On of the (many) great things of Divers Lodge Lembeh is their boat. If is big, comfortable and safe. We saw some boats of other operators in that area and we were very happy with our luxery. The worst dive boats were the rented watertaxi's used by operators from Bunaken.
As long as you are not looking for a real luxery resort DLL is an excellent choice!
Hans
(if you need more info or pictures send me a private message)

 

[Peter & Monique]

Hai,
We went to DLL in the last two weeks of september and the first week of october. We also didn't know what to expect. After beeing once to Bali we thought we where "indonesian" veterans. At first arrival our first impression was "how are we going to last for three weeks". But believe me till now nothing comparse to the North of Sulawesi. Diving is great and diverse. Lost to bee seen at Lembeh strait, Gritters, nudy branches, pigmea seahorses (once 8 in one dive), mandarin fish(we saw 12 in on dive), frogfishes, mimic ocotopus, and so on. At 1.5 hours to sail there is the Molukka Sea(a.k.a Celebes Sea) with unspoiled hard and soft coral, droppofs, nice currents and the big fishes. On land you can make beautifull tripps to vulcanos, local markets, Manado and so on. For us the 3 weeks were too short while there is still lots to be discovered. Also higly recommendable, beautifull and save diving, very good and fresh food, good beds and a dedicated staff. It was our first but not our last visit to DLL.

 

[frogfish]

Thanks for all your responses - Sounds like we are going to have a great time ! just a few days before WE leave for Sulawesi ! If anyone is interested I'll post a report when I come back

 

[Peter & Monique]

We wish you a good journey and a nice holiday at DLL. If you are going to see the things we saw you won't be dissapointed!
Can you give Rob & Linda and the crew our greetings from holland?
And please tell Andris (diveguide) that monique says "ik hou van jou"? That would be nice! I'm very interested in your report! I'm making a videomovie of our journey on DVD. If you're interested I can send you a copy. Hope to finish it in january.

Greetings

Peter&Monique