Help with North Sulawesi Itinerary for Newer Diver

[Jim4911]

Hello. I am a newer scuba diver with Open Water certification but not many dives under my belt. For what it is worth, I am a strong swimmer and a practiced freediver. I am going to North Sulawesi for three weeks in August as a solo traveler, with the intention of spending about 15 or 16 days snorkeling and scuba diving. I am hoping I can get some advice on the best spots for me to visit in order to do some easy dives, see beautiful fish and other marine life forms, and get some diving experience under my belt.

The places I am considering are the following: 1) Bunaken; 2) Lembeh; and 3) Bangka. I was excited about going to Bunaken but have read some less than positive opinions of it on here from posters who seem to prefer Bangka and say that it has much more plentiful marine life in its waters. But I have also read that the currents can be rough in Bangka, and maybe this makes it less suitable for a new diver. Also it seems kind of remote and isolated, and I'm not sure this is so great for a solo traveler (though I'm not looking to party and the like). I have also considered staying in Manado, which seems pretty vibrant, and using it as a base to do my diving.

Can anyone help me in suggesting an itinerary of places to visit? Are there other excellent diving locales I did not include on my list?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Centrals]

I prefer Bunaken over Lembeh. Period.
Never been to Bangka.
Lembeh is famous for macro and majority of visitors are keen photographer. Diving is easy and shallow with not much current to interfere.
Bunaken is more open, nice drop off, and definitely with current.
There are dive operators in Manado town. You have to find out the cost differences between staying in Bunaken(all inclusive) and Manado town.

 

[Searcaigh]

Contact Murex Divers they have a fairly good set up in all locations.

Forget Lembeh for snorkelling, this is primarily muck diving.

Bangka has good all round macro and wide angle opportunities and is one of my favourite destinations.

You have some good selection of dive ops from Manado to dive Bunaken. I've used Murex and NDC in the past as well as from Siladen Island.

Check out the rest of the Indonesian forum for Trip Reports to get a feel for what you will encounter.

 

[Luko]

Firstly you don't need to stay all your 14 days in one spot, Transfers from any of these places will only take you a half day for the most. Depart early and you will be in the water at noon.

My favorite place is Bangka where currents are manageable on most of the spots, only some places can be challengy at times. This is true that Bangka is remote you will remain clustered at your resort however it is really a place to dive, try staying 4-5 days. I recommend Murex for Bangka.
Manado is in my opinion a better option than staying on Bunaken the latter being (quite boring) wall diving for the most, less corals and less fish than Bangka. I recommend Murex as well for Manado but there are less costly options.
Lembeh is however worth a try if you are scuba diving, I suggest you leave 3-4 days free in your itinerary, try some muck diving with your Manado based operator and it if clicks, look around for days in Lembeh. There are plenty of options, I am sure you will find available spots in Lembeh for the remaining days. You can find more budget to ridiculously expensive options in Lembeh (like Lembeh resort)

 

[Jim4911]

From what I have been reading, Bunaken seems like a good place for some easy and cheap shore dives, while I am getting reaccustomed to scuba, and also for snorkeling. Bastianos on Bunaken has guided shore dives for ~16 euro a pop (with the 10% discount they are offering now). After getting some practice on Bunaken, I plan to spend 5 nights or so on Bangka. The two places I am considering are Blue Bay Diver Resort and Gangga Island Resort. The latter is usually way out of my price range, but they have a deal for $105 per night right now on Agoda, including full board but not diving. That's still a little more than I am used to paying when traveling but quite a good deal and not outrageous. Everything I read about Blue Bay is very positive, except for the fact that they cut off fans at night. I've been sleeping with AirCon at 26 degrees all summer; not sure how I will handle no fan.

 

[Luko]

The two places I am considering are Blue Bay Diver Resort and Gangga Island Resort.

Why is that?, you have many more options that all are worth taking a look at. I mentioned I liked Murex, which gives you a less expensive option than Gangga (and is better located), newer Bastianos is just next to Murex (conveniently located as well), and you also have a selection of smaller dive centers around.

 

[Jim4911]

I will have a look at Murex as well. Thanks. I thought I had read that the house reef at Gangga is particularly superb. If my freediving experience is any guide, then shore diving will appeal to me particularly when scuba diving. The thing that appeals to me about Blue Bay is the price structure--they don't gouge solo divers and charge only an addition 10 euro per night. Plus at Blue Bay the price for non-diving days is particularly reasonable at 70 euro including board. I will want to spend some days doing snorkeling and relaxing only.

 

[Luko]

and I'm not sure this is so great for a solo traveler (though I'm not looking to party and the like)

I would like to add that this exactly the contrary, that's the magic of being stranded on a beautiful island.
Some resorts have a family feel where you can socialize from the first day. Everybody gathers around for dinner, sing and play guitar with the crew, DMs and boatmen.
I haven't seen any solo travelers left alone at his own table in all my trips to Bangka.

I thought I had read that the house reef at Gangga is particularly superb.

Not really, wasn't impressed from what I remember (already stayed there in 2009), they're planting corals.
Best house reefs from the locations would be Coral eye and Bastianos (even though I never stayed at any of these).
Murex's is good too although I dived too much to regularly spend a 4th dive on the house reef (Stayed at Murex 5 or 6 times, only dived the house reef twice).

(Edit : BEST housereef in all worlds would be on Likupang side just located on Batu Mandi/Doktor's place, though I don't remember which resort and whether it is running now, -it used to be Dr.Batuna's annex in the past-. Maybe Indah would know.)

 

[Jim4911]

Again, thanks for this info. Bastianos sounds like a real winner IMO.

 

[Searcaigh]

From what I have been reading, Bunaken seems like a good place for some easy and cheap shore dives, while I am getting reaccustomed to scuba, and also for snorkeling.

You can shore dive from Murex's resorts at Manado, Bangka and Lembeh

Why not check out their deal, "Passport to Paradise", with transfers from Manado to Bangka to Lembeh by boat with dives en route.