Lembeh (+Bangka) Trip Report

[WetPup]

So @WetPup how would you compare Lembeh vs Anilao?

Different.

Lembeh has a greater diversity of critters - biodiversity.
Anilao has more critters in general - biodensity.

As in you can swim around in Lembeh for a while and not see a whole lot, but when you do find things it tends to be quite varied. In Anilao I found that there's always something to look at, but there's not generally the same variety of critters.

The resorts in Lembeh are nicer though (based on my stays at KBR and Critters@Lembeh)

 

[Cali_diver]

I'm headed to NAD in October for a few days. I'm glad to hear that. Thanks!

You will love it!!

 

[Luko]

Lembeh has a greater diversity of critters - biodiversity.
Anilao has more critters in general - biodensity.

We discussed this point a year ago around a lunch with Ben Sarinda, expert indonesian guide from Lembeh who is sometimes leading photographers in Anilao and Dennis Corpuz, my usual guide in Anilao, also award winning photographer.

Dennis was of course advocating for Anilao as the local boy, Ben and me came to the exact opposite conclusion : Lembeh is denser in critters, this is why they get crazy eat themselves out, leading to find incredible behavior scenes, while you can sometimes dive 10 minutes in Anilao without spotting a worthwhile critter.

That said we agreed there were more rare species in Anilao.

 

[WetPup]

Interesting. Goes to show people can dive the exact same sites on different dates and come to the polar opposite conclusion!

 

[Tippytoes12]

Thanks again WP , what were the water temperatures like in Anilao and which month were you there ?

 

[WetPup]

Anilao: I was there in late December and again in early-mid June. The first trip in December temps were basically between 25-28C, and the most recent trip in June the temps were warmer, mostly around 27-29C.

 

[AlMitch]

I was there in March and it was consistently 24-25C and I froze my butt off in my 2-3mm, but then I rented a 5mm and was toasty warm.
Looks like my next trip will be in June!

 

[Luko]

what were the water temperatures like in Anilao and which month were you there ?

3 trips in Anilao Dec13+ end of feb14 were in the 24-26°C range, end of march16 in the 25-27°C.
That said colder temps bring more chances to spot a rhinopias.

 

[Luko]

Interesting. Goes to show people can dive the exact same sites on different dates and come to the polar opposite conclusion!

Anilao is quite spectacular in that respect, I am always using the same free lance dive guide also been 3 times on comparable periods from december to march. From year to year the same spot can either be crazily populated with critters (for instance 6-10 small hairy frogfish on a single site north of Secret bay) or devoid of anything interesting the year before.
One of my favorite spot in Anilao is Anilao pier on a nightdive (which I reckon to be the best nightdive all around) : one night I had more than 12 bobtail squids of different colors from orange yellow to silver, the next year not a single one but an orgy of rare nudis like Kalinga ornata.

In Lembeh, I found the sites were less variable from year to year on the same season. There are some sites you can always bet on like Pantai Parigi, Hairball, TK3, Jahir, Nudi falls, etc.

Who was your dive guide at Lembeh Resort? I found they had somehow gone downhill as some of their senior guides left (Andy, Ronald, Michael, etc.) ...while the prices went upwards.

 

[WetPup]

Hairball was dead as. One flamboyant cuttlefish, that's it. There is one (yes, one) single hairy frogfish in Lembeh right now. It's the only one that has been spotted for over 5 months, and the senior guides and resort managers don't think it'll survive too much longer. Everyone wants to dive Slow Poke right now to see it, so there's a lot of pevved off guests when their boats arrive only to find the site already has too many divers on it forcing them to go elsewhere. TK3 was dead too, a few nudis and a donald duck shrimp.

Best dives were all down the other end of the strait towards the port. Trikora was the best site on this most recent trip by a long shot.

I had Elbart mostly. Good guide, but the merry-go-round when Elbart got sick was less than ideal. I get that guides can need time off, but I would have preferred a single replacement than what ended up happening.

My fave dive site in Anilao is Saim-Sim (spelling?). Just down from Secret Bay, it had a basketball court right in front of it. Epic