I bought a new diopter for my camera. So I booked a trip to Lembeh for a week to test it out. Because why not, right?
Flew in to Manado from Australia via Singapore on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir - 30kg baggage allowance.
I'd considered staying at Lembeh Resort for a change of scenery, but availability was an issue (I booked this on less than 2 weeks notice). So ended up going back to Kungkungan Bay Resort (KBR) again. Thankfully the management has changed there since my last trip, and the sleazy guy who was running it has gone, and now Beary and Linda (both locals) have taken over management of both the resort and the dive operations. It's running extremely well now. My favourite guide (Liberty) has moved on, which is a great shame, but the situation was explained to me, so I get it. It still sucks when the best guide leaves though
Resort is up to its usual standards. Good rooms, good camera room, good spa, good food, good guides
Diving delivered the usual awesome. I had a hairy octopus on my critter hit list for this trip. And they saw one the day before I arrived, so I was really optimistic...But no, the critter gods weren't feeling the love. Despite multiple attempts to go find one again, we didn't. We also didn't see a single blue ring all week, which was a bit weird for Lembeh. There's always next time
Frustratingly, as I was sitting at the departure gate at Manado airport on the way home, Maluku Divers in Ambon posted on Facebook that they'd spotted a psychedelic frogfish - with eggs. After hyperventilating for 5 minutes, I actually went and queried the airlines about getting a flight to Ambon that day and changing my flights home, cost be damned. I was actually that desperate to go see it. I couldn't get a flight to Ambon easily, so with disappointment, I went home. On the upside, it did have eggs, which means that we should expect to see some new itty bitty baby psycho frogfish in Ambon some time next year I'm already planning it.
My photos from Lembeh are here.
Flew in to Manado from Australia via Singapore on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir - 30kg baggage allowance.
I'd considered staying at Lembeh Resort for a change of scenery, but availability was an issue (I booked this on less than 2 weeks notice). So ended up going back to Kungkungan Bay Resort (KBR) again. Thankfully the management has changed there since my last trip, and the sleazy guy who was running it has gone, and now Beary and Linda (both locals) have taken over management of both the resort and the dive operations. It's running extremely well now. My favourite guide (Liberty) has moved on, which is a great shame, but the situation was explained to me, so I get it. It still sucks when the best guide leaves though
Resort is up to its usual standards. Good rooms, good camera room, good spa, good food, good guides
Diving delivered the usual awesome. I had a hairy octopus on my critter hit list for this trip. And they saw one the day before I arrived, so I was really optimistic...But no, the critter gods weren't feeling the love. Despite multiple attempts to go find one again, we didn't. We also didn't see a single blue ring all week, which was a bit weird for Lembeh. There's always next time
Frustratingly, as I was sitting at the departure gate at Manado airport on the way home, Maluku Divers in Ambon posted on Facebook that they'd spotted a psychedelic frogfish - with eggs. After hyperventilating for 5 minutes, I actually went and queried the airlines about getting a flight to Ambon that day and changing my flights home, cost be damned. I was actually that desperate to go see it. I couldn't get a flight to Ambon easily, so with disappointment, I went home. On the upside, it did have eggs, which means that we should expect to see some new itty bitty baby psycho frogfish in Ambon some time next year
I'm already planning it.My photos from Lembeh are here.
