Ideal length of stay in Lembeh

[WetPup]

We found it on our 4th trip.. and 14th consecutive day diving there!! But we had also found one in Alor earlier this year as well!!

Love Lembeh and you will enjoy it no matter how many days you stay there @Tippytoes12 My advice to everyone is to take the time to watch behaviors of critters. So many people just snap pictures and move on to the next critter. They miss so much like cleaning, predation, and breeding.

Indeed. I've been known to spend an entire 90 minute dive watching one critter

 

[Dan]

I like watching bobtail squid using its tentacles to put sands on its head to cover & bury itself in the sand. I still see you, little bud.


Also watching flamboyant cuttlefish using it's rear fins & 2 lower tentacles to walk on the sand, then extending its tongue to snap & capture its prey.

 

[WetPup]

I remember spending an entire night dive in Lembeh (IIRC it was one of the Hairball sites) watching a bobbit worm trying to catch a small fish. In hindsight, I wish I'd put my camera on video mode, because it was hilarious to watch. The photos don't tell the story very well.

 

[Cali_diver]

Too funny... I spent a good portion of a dive in Lembeh helping a Golden Trumpetfish hunt for lunch. He was using me to hide behind. I just sat there floating right above the reef and he would get so close that his eyes would almost touch my mask!! I think the guide thought I had lost my mind... So many things to see and so little time!! I love it when the fishes get comfortable with your presence, especially when it is a school of Batfish.

 

[billt4sf]

Indeed. I've been known to spend an entire 90 minute dive watching one critter

Which one?

I've been known to be left by dive buddies when I was watching something - not taking pics, just watching. In my case it was garden eels.

 

[WetPup]

Which one?

I've been known to be left by dive buddies when I was watching something - not taking pics, just watching. In my case it was garden eels.

Crinoid shrimp. Octopus. Seahorse. Bobbit worm.

 

[pelan-pelan]

So much to see. And the more you stay still, the more you see. And do look up occasionally. There is surprisingly big stuff there as well. Like the big octopus living in the weeds on the underside of a boat - looking down at us looking down at sea horses. Then there was the puffer, so big I still feel faintly queasy. A bit like the alien ship in sci fi.

What's the biggest creature you have seen in Lembeh? A new approach - what's large in Lembeh?

 

[WetPup]

There's been manta sightings...So big stuff is around.

 

[CajunDiva]

I asked the same questions before our trip to Indonesia, never having experienced muck diving before. I had no idea if we would like it or not. During my planning, AlMitch was right on the money with his advice...as I suspect he is now. I agree with everything he has said.

We ended up spending 8 days diving Lembeh and 5 days diving Bunaken. During our stay at Lembeh, TwoFish Divers provided (at our request) a day trip to dive Bangka Island. We enjoyed our stay at TwoFish - they did a great job for us. In retrospect, it would have been better to split our time between Lembeh and Bangka. I think the recommendation of 10 days Lembeh and 5 days Bangka would be ideal. We thought Bunaken was a lovely spot - the walls and reefs were exactly what we were looking for. But the currents were absolutely wicked...enough to spoil the diving for us. That's just the luck of the draw, but Lembeh provided much better conditions and it turned out we LOVED much diving Our day of diving at Bangka definitely left us wanting more!

 

[AlMitch]

I asked the same questions before our trip to Indonesia, never having experienced muck diving before. I had no idea if we would like it or not. During my planning, AlMitch was right on the money with his advice...as I suspect he is now. I agree with everything he has said.

Glad my rantings and ravings were helpful! Thanks!

What's the biggest creature you have seen in Lembeh? A new approach - what's large in Lembeh?

_DSC3315 by Angmo Al, on Flickr

The wife was pointing like a crazy person upwards and then out of the haze came this giant! I was so flabbergasted I completely forgot I had the +10 diopter screwed on!