"Lembeh Outside"

[pygmy_whaleshark]

T


Thank you for your response. I understand your viewpoint. If you're only comparing rates of accommodations with air conditioning, you will indeed find prices lower than ours when traveling solo. However, this is comparing our spacious bungalows to much smaller rooms in shared buildings. Given Divers Lodge Lembeh's location, air conditioning isn't a priority for most of our guests. We offer bungalows for IDR 875,000 (USD 59) per person, based on single occupancy.
As for private boats, based on our experience of over 20 years diving in Lembeh Strait, we are committed to offering only the best service. Our guests value the freedom to create their own schedules, without having to accommodate others. They have the flexibility to decide their meal times and dive duration, and can dive wherever and whenever they wish. They also appreciate not having to wait for others, rush, or queue for their turn to take a photo. Is it expensive? Let's consider an example: a private boat and guide for a single diver, 3 dives plus 1 night-dive, all with Nitrox, cost IDR 3,660,000 (USD 229). For more details, please visit: Prices and Booking - Divers Lodge Lembeh - Lembeh Strait
We are sorry to hear that your experience at Lembeh did not meet your expectations. However, we do not observe an overall degradation of the underwater life.

Ok, I'll do the math more closely on your resort next time. Somehow I didn't find it to be that low of a price if I were to pay Room + diving + boat cost by myself, but maybe I misunderstood your pricing.. I also have to add the now highly increased cost of domestic flights when making decision on where to go.

And I don't know what to say about the low critter turnout. I've been over there 4 times plus tons of muck diving elsewhere. I went with one of the best shops in the area and spent 5 days. By comparison to other times, it was crap. The only dive site that delivered anything was the one with fan corals, as I saw lots of pygmies.

I was also specifically looking for yellow gobies on bottles, cans, etc. Not a single one anywhere in sight on 15 dives. That used to be the staple of Lembeh photos, and was one of my wish-list shots to do again. Didn't see any crinoid shrimp, no crabs inside urchins. Only one or two very skittish flamboyant cuttlefish. Quite a few formerly reliable go-to shots of Lembeh never happend this time. That's not just bad luck.

Maybe it just happened to be that 1-2 weeks when suddenly almost every major critter disappeared, but based on feedback i got about Bangka, I think it's just gradual changes in environment. Probably climate change or overfishing, or some other conditions. In the end, I'm part of the customer base and just giving feedback.

 

[cetacean]

@pygmy_whaleshark

If you were looking for yellow gobies in bottles I would have chosen Anilao, litterly dozens of opportunities there (so many that most photographers stop looking for them).

Lembeh has changed, but not quite how you have described it. The number of nudis (and variety) are down, Anilao is now clearly more "target rich." Dumaguete is a better frogfish and ghost pipefish destination, however Lembeh still has more cephalopods (BTW - how can a flambuoyant be "skittish?" Were they hiding under something?)

Not impressed with Alor? You either went at the wrong time of year or with the wrong guides. Did you find a rhinopias?

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

I can only say that I had a wonderful time at Divers Lodge last August. The food, the diving and Rob’s lovely family were excellent. As for AC; the very spacious bungalows did not need it! There was a beautiful breeze every day.
Rob is a very interesting man, his local and Indonesian Knowledge is very impressive as are the family’s conservation efforts. I was able to share a boat when someone else wanted to share. I too was traveling alone, so I do understand that it can get pricey. I had dived in Bangka for 5 days before arriving at Divers Lodge. I much preferred my diving and stay at Divers Lodge.
My only regret is that I only did one night dive….and that was amazing.
As for Octopi: Coconut, Blue Ring, Mimic and Wunderpuss were seen several times….amongst many other creatures of course!

 

[Indah]

I can only say that I had a wonderful time at Divers Lodge last August. The food, the diving and Rob’s lovely family were excellent. As for AC; the very spacious bungalows did not need it! There was a beautiful breeze every day.
Rob is a very interesting man, his local and Indonesian Knowledge is very impressive as are the family’s conservation efforts. I was able to share a boat when someone else wanted to share. I too was traveling alone, so I do understand that it can get pricey. I had dived in Bangka for 5 days before arriving at Divers Lodge. I much preferred my diving and stay at Divers Lodge.
My only regret is that I only did one night dive….and that was amazing.
As for Octopi: Coconut, Blue Ring, Mimic and Wunderpuss were seen several times….amongst many other creatures of course!

Thank you for this kind words, Lorraine. Since your stay last year we did a lot of renovations. All is in great shape again. Related to replies from other in this threat, we looked again at the page with our rates. We did our best to make all clearer:

Rates and Booking - Divers Lodge Lembeh - Lembeh Strait

Divers Lodge Lembeh: Clear rates, easy booking, no deposit or cancellation fees. Secure your reservation hassle-free.

www.diverslodgelembeh.com

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

Thank you for this kind words, Lorraine. Since your stay last year we did a lot of renovations. All is in great shape again. Related to replies from other in this threat, we looked again at the page with our rates. We did our best to make all clearer:

Rates and Booking - Divers Lodge Lembeh - Lembeh Strait

Divers Lodge Lembeh: Clear rates, easy booking, no deposit or cancellation fees. Secure your reservation hassle-free.

www.diverslodgelembeh.com

I will definitely return Rob! Even if the renovations hadn’t been done! The view from my bungalow was incredible, the food fantastic, dive guide Radiol (sorry for spelling), lovely dogs and family (sorry, humans always last to be mentioned!)The company generally great and a lovely family atmosphere….I just wish I had done more night dives! Those Mandarin Fish were such posers!

 

[cetacean]

Maybe they're very particular about the month / moon cycle. All other times I've been there was in early / mid August and I'd see tons of them ...like almost on every dive. If I don't see a single one over 15 dives with some of the best guides in the business, that tells me either climate change is affecting their seasonal patterns, or they migrated. My friend dive guide in Bangka claims there are plenty over there, so maybe the conditions in the straight itself are affecting it.

I have been to Alor, it's ok, not worth the hassle in retrospect. I spent 6 days there and that was enough for me. The dive shop told me their muck diving is hit and miss, they were not raving about loads of critters and how I should definitely check it out.

I almost went back to Ambon this time around, but the flight schedules were horrible, and it was a choice of either one overpriced resort, or a reasonably priced dive shop that doesn't have Nitrox. I may still give them a try now that I'm done with Lembeh for a while.

Good thing is Tulamben has been awesome last 2 years and still the best deal for muck diving.

Might be the wrong time of year - as I mentioned, I was last there in the spring at they were frequently found. Coconut Octopus do not migrate, so that's not a possibility. Bangka has a few (there are some specific sites that have a high likelihood of finding a few). As an aside, Bangka is one of the few places where you have a reasonable chance of seeing a Dugong underwater (while diving) as well - great experience.

Alor is hard to get to - but much higher chance of finding a Rhinopias, which for many is on most muck divers bucket lists. Which resort did you dive with - because that's not the story of any of the top 2-3 places in Alor.

Last - having dived most of the northern coast of Bali- it's very good (on average) but rarely great for critters. I agree it's convenient, but I would choose Anilao over Tulamben virtually every single time (unless I had a stopover in Bali (to Sumbawa or Komodo) for example.