Question Indonesia itinerary August 2025

[Luko]

Re: Bunaken - for someone who hasn't dived the region. Bunaken is absolutely worth it. I fully agree that if you dive Komodo or Raja first, it might be a bit of a disappointment to then visit Bunaken,

Personally I won't agree because this wasn't my experience : I've been in this situation as one of my second or third dive trip to Indonesia a long time ago (2002) was Bunaken, long before Raja and Komodo. I was disappointed though, gave it a second chance years later, still disappointed.

That doesn't minor any merit owed to Dr. Batuna, co-founder of Bunaken NP, whom i've been speaking to a few times when I was staying at Murex. Compared to Bangka (which place Hanny Batuna told me was his favorite of all : why do you think there is a spot called Doktor's place?) , I am not the only one to state that they might be quite disappointed if they're looking for a healthy coral coverage on the walls of Bunaken.
Funnily enough I remember some words I heard in the early 2000's from a very well known dive pro of the area "Bunaken has sunk".

So another opinion doesn't make it a truth either.

LR is still the premier dive resort in Lembeh,

Saying that is a marketing term but doesn't make it an experience either : I've witnessed more than once than more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better, it surely means well off customers, many of whom think more expensive is better.
There are lots of resorts in Lembeh that give a great diving experience at more affordable price (and better guides currently).
As a customer I don't think it's worth 65$ the nitrox dive. For the record I had to pay 87USD for a night dive, on that particular trip I also booked a dive guide (120USD/day), was fine for the first day then they wanted to change him because they prefered to give me their most inexperimented dive guide (seems logical : since I already paid, my diver satisfaction wasn't valuable to them anymore).
Long story short : I had to speak to Danny the owner to get things changed because that was not the plan of the dive manager.
Here's for a customer experience at this"premier" dive resort...

I think it would be fair to give Lembeh first visitors alternatives that are not so agressive on their wallets, and mention that if they're not going to this "premier resort" (whatever that means, beats me) they will not find themselves in a dump nor diving with freeflowing regulators, probably with less groups. (Indah from DiveLodge may witness that too, BSDR is a nice alternative, since you were also speaking about the op : Kaj the ex KBR manager also owns Dive Into Lembeh, NAD is a favorite amongst photographers, etc.)

We took long weekend trips to Manado and Bali to dive quite often (so much so that we stopped counting quite a while ago

Right, take this advice from this guy below .

This provide some backing for your opinions, it's doesn't make them any more right or wrong...

 

[Lu Y]

@Luko , @cetacean, Thank you both for the detailed information, experience sharing, and fun debate! I agree with everything that was said, in particular we cannot see everything in 1 trip and will go back multiple times anyway.

We have bought London-Singapore flights and will be in N Sulawesi over Aug 23-Sep 5 (followed by a few days in Singapore as I have never been). We will do 5n LR (will spend 1 days at Tangkoko as I love wildlife), 4n Murex Bangka and 4n Siladen. I have asked them to arrange private boats with guide so hopefully this mitigates some of the downsides.

Now that this trip is kind of sorted, we will add (1) Komodo+Bali, (2) Banda Seas, (3) Raja for the next few trips. I might book the Raja and Komodo LOB soon as I feel most of the luxurious LOB in RAJA for this year and next year already sold out.

Thanks again for all the precious tips!

 

[cetacean]

Personally I won't agree because this wasn't my experience : I've been in this situation as one of my second or third dive trip to Indonesia a long time ago (2002) was Bunaken, long before Raja and Komodo. I was disappointed though, gave it a second chance years later, still disappointed.

That doesn't minor any merit owed to Dr. Batuna, co-founder of Bunaken NP, whom i've been speaking to a few times when I was staying at Murex. Compared to Bangka (which place Hanny Batuna told me was his favorite of all : why do you think there is a spot called Doktor's place?) , I am not the only one to state that they might be quite disappointed if they're looking for a healthy coral coverage on the walls of Bunaken.
Funnily enough I remember some words I heard in the early 2000's from a very well known dive pro of the area "Bunaken has sunk".

So another opinion doesn't make it a truth either.


Saying that is a marketing term but doesn't make it an experience either : I've witnessed more than once than more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better, it surely means well off customers, many of whom think more expensive is better.
There are lots of resorts in Lembeh that give a great diving experience at more affordable price (and better guides currently).
As a customer I don't think it's worth 65$ the nitrox dive. For the record I had to pay 87USD for a night dive, on that particular trip I also booked a dive guide (120USD/day), was fine for the first day then they wanted to change him because they prefered to give me their most inexperimented dive guide (seems logical : since I already paid, my diver satisfaction wasn't valuable to them anymore).
Long story short : I had to speak to Danny the owner to get things changed because that was not the plan of the dive manager.
Here's for a customer experience at this"premier" dive resort...

I think it would be fair to give Lembeh first visitors alternatives that are not so agressive on their wallets, and mention that if they're not going to this "premier resort" (whatever that means, beats me) they will not find themselves in a dump nor diving with freeflowing regulators, probably with less groups. (Indah from DiveLodge may witness that too, BSDR is a nice alternative, since you were also speaking about the op : Kaj the ex KBR manager also owns Dive Into Lembeh, NAD is a favorite amongst photographers, etc.)


Right, take this advice from this guy below .

@Luko

We may disagree on the opinion of diving Bunkaken... most of the dive resorts make diving this region easy and fun. It's easier to get to than Bangka, and you can sill find very good fish life. Bangka is hit or miss, and I would rate 3rd across the 3 areas in N Sulawesi (and this after diving there 4 times).

Re: Lembeh and LR specifically - on this one you are just off. We dove NAD last summer, it was fine - but it's not LR (the rooms are better, the food is better, the boats are better, and the gear area is better at LR). NAD has a better camera room, mainly because of the size.

Instead of arguing just look at bookings... LR is consistently more booked than any other resort in Lembeh. That's not opinion, that's just true. You can see it in their online availability calendar.

 

[Luko]

Bangka is hit or miss, and I would rate 3rd across the 3 areas in N Sulawesi (and this after diving there 4 times).

Bangka has been consistently good through my 6 stays in various seasons, from Feb to September.
Sahaung is probably one of the sites I have dived the most in indonesia : it was always fantastic.
Not for nothing when Dr. Batuna was talking about Bangka and Sahaung, it seemed he had stars in his eyes.
So that's just not only my experience.
(FYI, probably the "less good" selection of dive sites in Bangka happened when I dived with Gangga island, although they probably had the best dive boats I have ever been on, lesser posh Murex Bangka had the best dive options. )

On your "ease to go" remark : Bangka is 1,5hours drive in the countryside from the airport and 20 minutes boat ride. Bunaken is 40 minutes ride in Manado traffic and the same time to get to the island. I wouldn't say either options are much longer/difficult to get to from the airport.
I don't think it should be a Go/NoGo criteria.

the food is better.. at LR

Food was actually one of my concerns at LR. It was each time either mundane and/or greasy, trying to hide their mediocrity with pompeous service "à la table".
Greasy food and bacon smell at breakfast all over the restaurant is not our cup of tea (even on our first stay where we got along very well with the manager, she was asking us some recipe ideas to improve their breakfast or lunch buffet, she admitted she had issues with the cooks.).
Maybe french vs. american tastes.

But this is a minor issue with LR. I wasn't very satisfied with the dive center services/flexibility, the questionable quality of the guides (some were still on training and couldn't find anything, a senior one had the brightest idea of capturing a few juve froggies to put them in a bucket with the idea to release them on their housereef... needless to say he was surprized there was only one left in the bucket when the boat arrived at LR), the lackadaisical attitude of the bule dive managers (btw completely different management style from Murex Manado or Murex Bangka resort), the number of divers on the boats where they mingled groups and individual divers, etc.

Instead of arguing just look at bookings... LR is consistently more booked than any other resort in Lembeh. That's not opinion, that's just true

Well, more bookings doesn't mean "best". it means their marketing and distribution network performs (which is the case when I see all the shows they attend in Europe or the US for instance, where only few other competitors are present : part of the cost paid by the customer too).
"Better/Best" is an individual criteria because it results from various dimensions weighted differently rom person to person.
For instance NAD is not known for its room comfort but rather for the quality of the guides and optimal conditions for photographers.
If your preference is into bigger sized resorts, lots of fellow divers onto the boat and feel reassured with expensive features then I can understand why you like LR better... but that said it has no universal value.

One shouldn't be obsessed with rankings or which is "first", "premium" (I still don't understand what that is) or "better" as I think it has no sense with regards to individual preferences : some people like me put more value into the diving features (flexibility, quality of dive guides, smaller resorts with less divers...) you seem you put more value into expensiveness/"sense" of luxury (I'd rather write "sense of luxury" than "luxury" when speaking of indonesian resorts).
Where you are completely "off" (as you say) is that there is no "truth" nor "misinformation" nor "being off" with individual preferences. It's a matter of individual criteria and experience. Hence there are luckily different options of resort diving with their pros and cons, not only "a good one" and all others "the bad ones".
That's why I was saying that there are far more options to consider than just LR (Which in my exeprince doesn't deliver its cost, I am not asking myself whether its the "premium resort" underwater) when diving Lembeh.

I think OP has had all the information needed, I am replying to you athough I am not sure this discussion adds anything useful to the original question from now on.

 

[Lu Y]

Bangka has been consistently good through my 6 stays in various seasons, from Feb to September.
Sahaung is probably one of the sites I have dived the most in indonesia : it was always fantastic.
Not for nothing when Dr. Batuna was talking about Bangka and Sahaung, it seemed he had stars in his eyes.
So that's just not only my experience.
(FYI, probably the "less good" selection of dive sites in Bangka happened when I dived with Gangga island, although they probably had the best dive boats I have ever been on, lesser posh Murex Bangka had the best dive options. )

On your "ease to go" remark : Bangka is 1,5hours drive in the countryside from the airport and 20 minutes boat ride. Bunaken is 40 minutes ride in Manado traffic and the same time to get to the island. I wouldn't say either options are much longer/difficult to get to from the airport.
I don't think it should be a Go/NoGo criteria.


Food was actually one of my concerns at LR. It was each time either mundane and/or greasy, trying to hide their mediocrity with pompeous service "à la table".
Greasy food and bacon smell at breakfast all over the restaurant is not our cup of tea (even on our first stay where we got along very well with the manager, she was asking us some recipe ideas to improve their breakfast or lunch buffet, she admitted she had issues with the cooks.).
Maybe french vs. american tastes.

But this is a minor issue with LR. I wasn't very satisfied with the dive center services/flexibility, the questionable quality of the guides (some were still on training and couldn't find anything, a senior one had the brightest idea of capturing a few juve froggies to put them in a bucket with the idea to release them on their housereef... needless to say he was surprized there was only one left in the bucket when the boat arrived at LR), the lackadaisical attitude of the bule dive managers (btw completely different management style from Murex Manado or Murex Bangka resort), the number of divers on the boats where they mingled groups and individual divers, etc.


Well, more bookings doesn't mean "best". it means their marketing and distribution network performs (which is the case when I see all the shows they attend in Europe or the US for instance, where only few other competitors are present : part of the cost paid by the customer too).
"Better/Best" is an individual criteria because it results from various dimensions weighted differently rom person to person.
For instance NAD is not known for its room comfort but rather for the quality of the guides and optimal conditions for photographers.
If your preference is into bigger sized resorts, lots of fellow divers onto the boat and feel reassured with expensive features then I can understand why you like LR better... but that said it has no universal value.

One shouldn't be obsessed with rankings or which is "first", "premium" (I still don't understand what that is) or "better" as I think it has no sense with regards to individual preferences : some people like me put more value into the diving features (flexibility, quality of dive guides, smaller resorts with less divers...) you seem you put more value into expensiveness/"sense" of luxury (I'd rather write "sense of luxury" than "luxury" when speaking of indonesian resorts).
Where you are completely "off" (as you say) is that there is no "truth" nor "misinformation" nor "being off" with individual preferences. It's a matter of individual criteria and experience. Hence there are luckily different options of resort diving with their pros and cons, not only "a good one" and all others "the bad ones".
That's why I was saying that there are far more options to consider than just LR (Which in my exeprince doesn't deliver its cost, I am not asking myself whether its the "premium resort" underwater) when diving Lembeh.

I think OP has had all the information needed, I am replying to you athough I am not sure this discussion adds anything useful to the original question from now on.

Hi Luko,

In an ideal world we would like to combine upscale resort (no need for Aman standard luxury) with very good dive flexibility and guides, hence I am taking the private boat and private guide option.

Do you know any particular guides at LR and Murex Bangka & Siladen that I should request in advance? Or the ones I should avoid?

 

[Luko]

Do you know any particular guides at LR and Murex Bangka & Siladen that I should request in advance? Or the ones I should avoid?

Dive guides come and go, they get more experienced with the years, so it's difficult to recommend specific names if you haven't stayed with any in the past 5 years.

Some of the guides I have been diving with at LR are now gone to competitors or in Japan (I liked Andy who was a dive encyclopedia specialized in... gobies ). I have dived once with Opo Kecil who's one of the most experienced guides in Lembeh, he checked off an entire list of critters in a single dive, hence impressed me much. He's still at LR, if you can book him.
On the other hand I had a really bad experience with Fandy who's now at the photo center, he probably improved much meanwhile maybe he's really good now who knows?

At Murex Bangka, one of my favorite ever guides was Aswar who's now working in Bali/Padang Bai. With passport to Paradise they're now mixing guides in various areas, hence it's difficult to say who's specialized in where now, however I remember Sandro -if he's still on premise- was very good, as well as a fun guy too.

Siladen : Dimpy trained by Murex and based at LR some years ago was great, she's a marine biologist supervising and training guides, I don't know whether she still dive with customers but I would book her anytime if she was available.

 

[CF L]

Dive guides come and go, they get more experienced with the years, so it's difficult to recommend specific names if you haven't stayed with any in the past 5 years.

Some of the guides I have been diving with at LR are now gone to competitors or in Japan (I liked Andy who was a dive encyclopedia specialized in... gobies ). I have dived once with Opo Kecil who's one of the most experienced guides in Lembeh, he checked off an entire list of critters in a single dive, hence impressed me much. He's still at LR, if you can book him.
On the other hand I had a really bad experience with Fandy who's now at the photo center, he probably improved much meanwhile maybe he's really good now who knows?

At Murex Bangka, one of my favorite ever guides was Aswar who's now working in Bali/Padang Bai. With passport to Paradise they're now mixing guides in various areas, hence it's difficult to say who's specialized in where now, however I remember Sandro -if he's still on premise- was very good, as well as a fun guy too.

Siladen : Dimpy trained by Murex and based at LR some years ago was great, she's a marine biologist supervising and training guides, I don't know whether she still dive with customers but I would book her anytime if she was available.

Not sure when Luko dived with Fandy but we dived with him for several days at LR in 2023 and thought he was good, found lots of critters, and he's good with photography too. I also dived with Ramly one day and thought he was good as well.

Last year at Murex Bangka we had Billy as our private guide and he found lots of critters on my wish list. When we return to Bangka, which we plan to do, I will not hesitate to request Billy if he's still there.

 

[Luko]

Not sure when Luko dived with Fandy but we dived with him for several days at LR in 2023 and thought he was good, found lots of critters, and he's good with photography too.

A while ago before COVID so you have a better assessment than mine for the current situation, he has certainly improved then but at the time nobody wanted to dive with him (at the point everybody was wondering why the dive management was assigning him to guiding customers instead of training with the other guides.). We were almost sorry for him.
That said Opo Kecil was already there and fantastic, I wouldn't believe his experience decreased.

Last year at Murex Bangka we had Billy as our private guide

Was Sandro still there?

 

[CF L]

A while ago before COVID so you have a better assessment than mine for the current situation, he has certainly improved then but at the time nobody wanted to dive with him (at the point everybody was wondering why the dive management was assigning him to guiding customers instead of training with the other guides.). We were almost sorry for him.
That said Opo Kecil was already there and fantastic, I wouldn't believe his experience decreased.


Was Sandro still there?

Opo K was at LR in 2019 when we were there previously and in 2023 he was their most senior person.

Sandro was at LR in September 2023, I don't remember him at Murex Bangka last year.

 

[Lu Y]

@Luko @CF L Thanks you both for sharing the useful names! I'll ask for Opo K and Ramly at LR, Sandro or Billy at Murex Bangka, and Dimpy at Siladen. Hopefully they are not booked so far in advance