Lembeh: Two Fish or NAD?

[Camel]

Only know Two Fish, but one of their dive guides, Opo, has many years of experience, and arguably the best guide in Lembeh Area. Seems to know where everything is. You see it, and he can open up the book and show it to you.
One thing he taught me, if you're not seeing enough, go slower.

As I understand, NAD has strong focus on UW photography, if you're doing that.

Another place to consider is Bastiano's, which is between the two. Stayed with them 3 years running, usually about 3 weeks at a time. I really like the place, and rates seem reasonable. Also AC, and it does make the nights far more pleasant.[/QUOTE

Opo is a very nice fun guy and a good spotter. But if you want an amazing Lembeh specialist then also consider some of these guys.

Ben @ Lembeh Hills
Iwan & Detmon @ Eco Divers
Paulus @ Lembeh resort ( whatever name they are using for the dive op this year )
Liberty @ KBR
Nus @ Kasawari
Henky@Black sand ( not sure if he still there )

These guys are some of the original Lembeh diveguides and really outstanding ( just ask Nat Geo, BBC, Animal Planet and the thousands of guests they have made happy). Lembeh's dive operations have increased 5 fold in the last few year which means that u now have a bigger demand for dive guides. A lot of the Bunaken guides are not overly keen in doing long stints in Bitung so most of the guides are local based. Unfortunately this now means there are not enough experienced DM's to fill the gap. Diving on a wall outside of Lembeh or in Bunaken u can normally get away with an inexperienced guide but in Lembeh it can ruin your trip. Don't get me wrong it is rare not to see anything but and experienced Lembeh guide knows exactly where to look rather than hope. I now see some high end resorts boasting they have some of the best dive teams in the area when most of them until very recently were compressor boys and boat captains. It is something not much discussed here but so important to a Lembeh trip ( especially on a return visit ).

NAD does have more comforts on offer and permanent experienced management on hand. Mike & Simon are 2 very well known asian based photographers but that does not mean it becomes a photo resort. They both have a lot of years in the biz and did long stints with the Aggressor fleet so understand first hand what high end service is about and how to cater for your needs. If u are a photographer then you can learn heaps from them. If not then they will not put u in a camers intensive group. Remember u r only diving in groups of 3 or 4.
Hope my experiences have helped.

 

[Indah]

Camel, your opinion on the Lembeh guides might have been true 10 years ago. But in the meantime most of the guides working in Lembeh made at least 1000 but many more than 4000 dives here in the Lembeh Strait. For example in our place the guide joined another guide for at least 400 dives before he starts guiding alone.
Further the number of dive centers did not increased 5 fold in the last few years. in 2002 there were 4 dive resorts: KBR, Lembeh Resort, SDQ and our Divers Lodge Lembeh. Now, 8 years later there are 12 dive resorts.

 

[Xscream100]

I stayed at Bastianos Lembeh last year and enjoyed my stay. However, it sounds like their manager (a German-Lebanese) has quit and the locals are running the resort without any guidance. I could see how that could make for a less than ideal stay at Bastianos. So, I'm planning to stay at either NAD or Two Fish. Waiting to hear back from NAD about availability.

 

[Magrone]

Xscream100: I dove with NAD in June and have nothing but good things to say about it. It is a professional operation. The email trouble you are having is odd. The owner, Simon Buxton, was handling all the emails when I was booking and was very quick about responding. I have not been to Two Fish but NAD offers great food, great guides (Johan was my favorite) excellent service with gear on the boats and very decent budget accomodations. I did not use the AC the whole time I was there and was perfectly fine. The temp is quite mild in Lembeh especially at night.

 

[CajunDiva]

Although we have not undertaken our trip yet, I'm sure they are both great. We chose Two Fish because of the following information on their website:

"As a member of the local conservation group North Sulawesi Watersports Association (NSWA) and Green Fins, we are active in reef conservation and all guides and guests are encouraged to look with their eyes and not their hands. We are also proud to be involved with Shark Guardian, an organisation dedicated to the conservation of sharks."

Their focus on conservation is very important to me, plus the fact that they run an instructor development program...they are all about DIVING, and diving in a responsible way. I guess we all have our individual preferences - I'll find out about the experience in about 6 weeks

 

[xariatay]

During 1 of the dives with Lembeh Resort (dive op Critters@Lembeh), they opted to change to another dive site when there were already 2 boats at the originally chosen. I think overcrowding any dive site will not bring enjoyment for guests, so they would work hard to avoid it... :blinking: