Diving Lembeh on a budget...?

[InDaWata]

Hey everyone.

Im heading off to Sulawesi soon, really looking forward to spending a few days diving on Lembeh.

I am a traveler. Therefore Im not looking forward to paying stupid amounts of money on accommodations in "Diving resorts" or the like. Is it possible to find other places to stay in the area, and dive with diveshops there? Is there anything in Bitung?


Thanks!

 

[Kilili]

You'll likely wind up in a "resort", as there is little else, but some are quite inexpensive. Check out Two Fish Divers, both in Bunaken and Lembeh (Bitung). Inexpensive, and worth the visit. Lembeh place quite small, and one of the dive guides, Opo, has been there for ages, and can find most anything. He's the one the other guides go to when looking for unusual things.

Both locations have lots of places to stay, don't bother looking for dive shops, really aren't any of note anyway, and the two I've seen have very little of anything.

For the money, Two Fish is hard to beat.

 

[dave martin]

i would add my vote to Two Fish Divers. A well run and reasonable cost option.
Dave

 

[kilo_fox]

+1 vote for 2FD. I dove with them in Lembeh one year ago, excellent!

 

[Mike Veitch]

to dive in Lembeh you will need to stay at one of the resorts, there are no dive shops in Bitung. I doubt you will find a resort that will take a "day diver" from Bitung either.

you may try a dive shop in Manado and do day trips to Bitung, but i would think that would be more expensive.

 

[xariatay]

You should consider NAD Lembeh... They don't have pool, so u r not paying for the frills. Think they have foc (or cheap) jetty/ shore dive, viz is bad but u can find some critters...

 

[Dive~Bunny]

I'm planning a trip also...thanks for the suggestion for Two Fish. I found their website and their services look great. I was considering staying at their accomodations too and was wondering if you guys stayed there or somewhere else. There were some reviews on tripadvisor about the accomodations being pretty bad...just wanted to confirm since there were only 2 reviews posted

Two Fish Divers Bunaken (Manado, Indonesia) - Specialty Resort Reviews - TripAdvisor

 

[InDaWata]

Yeah, I ended up going with Two Fish.
Great staff and cool diving. I liked the atmosphere there, but theres not much to do really, other than diving.

As for the complaints- to be honest I had no problems with the budget rooms, they were nice. Then again, opinion is everything and Im sure there will be quite a few softies who will cry and cry that their room isnt five star quality.

 

[Dive~Bunny]

how was the location of the hotel?

 

[AlanWald]

TWo Fish Divrs Lembeh is on Lembeh Island , a short distances from Batianos Lembeh. So most dive spots are five to ten minutes away.

I have been diving with Opo of two fish for many years. He is one of most outgoing of all the guides (many are rather shy) I have met and great fun and an enthusiastic guide and a real character Very experienced.

Bring a light to use in the daytime and also a magnifying glass. I give mine to the guide when I leave. Most of the people in North Sulawesi love T-shirts with English writing on them, so they make great gifts for the staff.