Liveaboard Diving without a Boat! – Trip report Northern Sulawesi Part 1 of 2

[BigJeff]

In December I started to put together a plan for a dive trip to the Manado area, I have dived this area a few times before on a live-aboard with stays in dive resorts (KBR & Minahasa) before and after.
I really liked the itinerary starting in Lembeh Straits, going north to the volcanic islands and finally round to the Manado side and Bunaken. The variety of the different sites and types of dives made the trip more interesting than just a stay in a single location. However there was no live-aboard available this time, so my plan had to change – I decided to make the trip a three dive centre one, with the places as spread out in the Manado area as I could make them.
After talking with some friends, one of which was kind enough to send me some of his trip reports, I had the choices narrowed down to:
1. Lembeh – either Kasawari or KBR
2. Gangga Island
3. Minahasa Lagoon
The criteria were quite simple, I wanted somewhere comfortable with good food and a good diving operation. I had ruled out Lembeh Resort not because it didn’t match these but because I have a “stiff” leg and so don’t have a great love of stairs. Gangga was new to me, and chosen because of a friends recommendation and finally Minahasa, because I’d enjoyed my previous stay there.
After checking out each internet site I sent enquiries directly to each resort – within 3 days all except KBR had replied with information and prices (January is low season for the resorts following Christmas/New Year so as a single diver I benefited from the low occupancy rates). After a week with no reply from KBR I sent them another request, again this went unanswered so my choice of place to stay in Lembeh was made easy.
Flights were booked with Silk Air over the internet, a quick and easy process. My dive equipment lives in Phuket so the itinerary was finalised as a return Phuket – Singapore – Manado. The outgoing flight from Phuket does not get to Singapore early enough for a direct connection, so in that direction an overnight stay was needed. I chose to leave the airport and stay in a local hotel.
So off we go on the trip...
The trip from Phuket to Singapore was uneventful, I like the level of service given by SA, as a diver my baggage allowance had been increased to 30Kg, excluding my carry on laptop (in a backpack) and my housing and strobes (in a small camera bag) the case and dive bag weighed in at 38Kg. No mention of this was made by the check-in staff and they even gave me a nice smile when handing me the boarding passes. As my stopover was less than 18 hours I was able to check the bags straight through, avoiding the hassle of luggage in Singapore.
I really like Singapore airport, when I reached immigration after a short look around the shops there was only one person waiting in line in front of me. Despite the very small line they still opened another desk! In the morning I arrived a little early at the airport – worth it to have a look around the shops, have a nice breakfast and do some free internet surfing.
Arrival in Manado, and my first nice surprise. Despite being fairly far back on the plane I was first to reach the visa on arrival desk – this meant I actually got through immigration and into the baggage hall before anyone else on the plane. Bags were out early and the Kasawari rep. was waiting just outside with my name on a big sign.
Kasawari* is close to Bitung and located to one side of a small fishing village, for those who know Lembeh it’s just in front of Jahir.
* I’ll rate the 3 dive centres against each later in the report.
The resort is only a few years old, and like many in the area has been designed primarily with diving in mind. The resort, camera facilities, equipment area and rinse tanks are all set out just about as well as you can achieve – and the resort has a well built and “solid” feel to it. The standard diving is arranged with 3 day dives and a choice of 4th evening or night dive each day. They do offer a pool, spa and land day trips – but this is primarily a dive resort.
For those who don’t know this area, Lembeh Strait is a muck diving destination. This means most sites don’t have nice coral, big fish or visibility for wide angle. However, living on the black sand and assorted pieces of rubbish (garbage) is an amazing array of interesting and rare animals in a concentration seen in only a few places on the planet. BE WARNED – diving here is very addictive.
Day 1: Nudi Retreat, Nudi Falls & Aer Prang.
Three great sites with all sorts of Nudi’s and Critters, of special note a nice Rhinopias at Aer Prang

Day 2: Police Pier, Panta Parigi, TK3.

Some nice HQ Shrimp at police pier, dismembering a sea star.
Day 3: Makawidy, Aer Prang, TK1

– Strange Rhinopias at Makawidy.
Day 4: Aer Prang, Makawidy, Jahir
It’s not unusual to dive the same site many times – you never see quite the same range of critters each time.

The second Rhinopias at Aer Prang.
Day 5: Angels Window, Nudi Retreat, TK1

A frogfish trying to turn himself inside out. He learned not to try and eat Dragonets!
Day 6: Nudi Falls, TK3, TK2 - My best day in Lembeh, so three pics for this one

My first Cruenta

Two Flamboyant Cuttle Fish (small ones)

And a stripy octopus (it could not do Elvis, so can’t be a mimic)
Day 7 (Last Day): Kapal Indah, Batu Sandar, TK3

This guy sums up my feelings leaving Lembeh, remember the warning – Diving here is addictive.
Off to Gangga next – The resort is on an island, so transfer is first by car, and then a 20 min boat ride.
Gangga is more of a “real” resort, much bigger (60 spaces) with white sand beaches, spa and big pool. The diving centre is well equipped but feels more like an additional service than the focus for the whole resort. The camera room is good, but small for what could be up to 30 divers. Diving is arranged with two morning dives, and afternoon dive and the option of an evening/night dive for number 4.
Diving in this area is generally slope/wall dives with the best sites (in my opinion) being around neighbouring Bangka Island or on the mainland. Visibility is better than Lembeh, opening up the possibility of wide angle. Still being in Lembeh mode I tended to still go for the small stuff. As these sites are more Open Ocean they can be affected by waves and current.
Day 1: Batu Tiga, Sabina Timur, Lakehe

About time I put one of these in – lots of leaf fish around.

Day 2: Pulisan, Paradise Jetty – skip afternoon
Day 3: Efratha, Sempini, Lihaga

At first I didn’t see the shrimp the guide was pointing to
Day 4: Busa Bora, Rainbow, HBO - best day at Gangga so 3 pics



Day 5: Batu Tiga, Sahoung – skip afternoon

If only you could get underneath these Pegasus fish.
See Part 2 Next.....

 

[BigJeff]

Day 6: Tindila, Lihaga, Busa Bora Barat

Day 7 (Final Day): Aer Banua 1, Tanjung Tarabitan – skip afternoon.

These are nice to watch “wafting” along the bottom.
Off to Minahasa next – The resort is on the mainland, on the opposite side of Manado from the airport.
Minahasa fits between Kasawari and Gangga in terms of diving. Like Kasawari the resort offers spa and tours, and like Gangga the resort does not focus on diving, more relaxing. It is possible to make 4 day dives in the local area if you start early. If you head over to Bunaken then 3 is a more reasonable total as it takes a little over an hour to go each way.
Diving in this area is a mix, muck diving is available on the mainland side and if you head over to Bunaken then there are good wall dives available with good visibility. Again waves and current can be factors, the waves reducing visibility on the local dives and current likely at Bunaken.
Day 1: Malcom, Critter Circus, Bethlehem

Not sure what the slug is – but it was moving fast
Day 2: Lekuan (I, II, III)

Nice Shrimp
Day 3: Mandolin, Alung Banua, Muka Kampung

This Turtle was BIG, same size as my guide.
Day 4: Bethlehem, Malcom, Bethlehem, Critter Circus – Best Day in Minahasa so 3 Pics


He was big for a Pygmy pipe horse

And the bravest shrimp in the world
Day5: Rons Point, Fukui, Muka Kampung

Day 6: Emmas Point, poor vis today due to waves – gave up after first dive.
Day 7 (Last Day): Bethlehem, Malcom

Transfer back to airport and fly back to Phuket via Singapore. In this direction a connecting flight is no problem so back to Phuket on the same day. Again no hassles with my heavy bags.

Now Part 3 ...

 

[BigJeff]

Now the interesting part, how do these three resorts compare to each other?
A note on the ratings 1 is best, 2 is second and 3 is third – This does not mean 3 is unacceptable (unless I say so), it just means third out of three.
Accommodation - All provide a good standard of accommodation
1. Kasawari – I preferred the solid and good quality construction over the others. Furnishings were solid and comfortable and rooms nicely presented.
2. Minahasa – Wooden construction, also nicely furnished but not quite as modern as I liked.
3. Gangga – a duplex unit (similar to KBR in 2006), rooms are smaller than the other two.

Food - All provide a very good standard of food, the difference in rating is down to my taste in food.
• Minahasa – The chef managed to pull out some very good results. Meals are served from a daily menu with a choice of 3-4 dishes per course.
• Kasawari – with less than 12 guests the food is pre-ordered (before dive) from their menu. There are a large number of choices (greater than 20) and I really liked being able to have the same thing more than once if I enjoyed it.
• Gangga – anyone who has stayed in Gangga is now wondering why they came third. I enjoyed the food there very much; they are third in a group of 3 places with very good food.Like Minahasa meals are served from a daily menu.
Booking Communication & Transfers – again all that replied (not KBR) were good, I cannot split these.

Diving Operation – This is where there was a real difference between resorts.
• Kasawari – As you’d expect from a resort designed for maniac camera divers who want to spend more time under the water than above.
o Likes: Huge camera room, Nitrox, good guides, quality operation (when the owner arrived and came diving the first thing he looked at on the boat was the safety equipment)
o Dislikes: When invited to have some whisky with the owner it was 12 yr old Macallan – I wish it had been the 18 yr (OK you’ve got me, that’s not a real dislike).
• Gangga Island – Even though the diving centre is not run for the maniac, it still functions well
o Likes: Good (but small) camera room, day trips to both Lembeh and Bunaken are available – and the Gangga boats are surprisingly fast so transit time is not too long. Good guides. Suitable for non-diving partner (or even children).
o Dislikes: The afternoon dive is generally done close to Gangga, unfortunately these are not a good as those around Bangka where the morning ones generally were. No Nitrox during my stay (this has already changed; the guides were doing their Nitrox training while I was there).
• Minahasa Lagoon – Don’t know what has happened to the organisation of this in the last two years. While I was there this time they were hopeless, there were only 4 guest divers there at the same time I was.
o Likes: The food, I know that’s not really diving but compared to the other two places they are just too far behind in the diving.
o Dislikes: Trying not to moan too much I’ll make a list of things that went wrong.
i. Arrival day, I discussed my diving plan with the diving manager. Later in the day he came and told me the tanks I had requested a month before (15 litre, Nitrox) were not available as they had been filled from the air compressor. Should be ready on second day.
ii. First diving day, depart 90 mins late – boat was nowhere near ready. Cut planned dives to 3 due to lack of time. Crew also forget the ladder to get back on the boat after dive, I spotted this not the crew. As we are only 10 min from resort I ask them to pick it up during first dive. They do not do this and I have major hassle getting back on boat (think back to why I ruled out Lembeh resort, bad leg)
iii. Second day diving, the CERTIFIED Nitrox blender has managed to fill the tanks with Nitrox 21 (for non-Nitrox divers that’s AIR). When we get out to the dive site the crew admit they have forgotten the oxygen meter to check the other tanks – without the ability to check percentage (they have already admitted the % in some is wrong) I switch back to air and take the bottom time penalty.
iv. Out of 7 diving days we departed on time only twice. All the others were between 90 and 20 mins late.
v. At the end of the second day the diving manager mentioned a refund of the diving package to me due to the problems, later on they put a percentage on it, by departure day they said maybe when I came back they would give me a discount – and the letter confirming this was not ready so only a verbal offer. This constant moving of goal posts may be due to me calling the diving manager an incompetent buffoon after the first problems (after trying to climb back on the boat without a ladder I was a little angry).
Conclusions
For me the idea of a liveaboard trip covering a range of diving is still the best, but I would tag on some dedicated Lembeh diving from a resort like Kasawari at start or end of trip.
If I ever take a non-diver with me then Gangga Island is the choice that would cause the least grief, and yet still keep the option of Lembeh and Bunaken as day trips.

Enjoy Your Diving
Jeff

 

[Malene]

Thanks for this very good report !
I am going to Central then North Sulawesi in May, so it is always interesting to read about this destination. Also I am very glad that one of the place I will go is Gangka Island since you seem to have really liked the dives there !

 

[shortysmadre]

Nice report, thanks. I will be in N Sulawesi at the beginning of May staying at KBR part of the time. I had a little email trouble with them but gave them an alternate address and have had no problems since, always get a timely response to my questions.

 

[Harley1962]

Great report Jeff! Always great to read comments about the Dive Operations themselves, in addition to the diving itself! As a Dive Professional, I certainly understand that "serious" divers don't require (or usually even want!) a lot of "fluff", or pretense of "fanciness".

However, one still needs to eat (well), and be well-rested and relaxed, so I believe the environment of any given Resort does indeed affect the overall "experience" to a degree--to some extent the individual determines precisely how much! (since we may have slightly different concepts of what is "basic" and what is "luxury", right?)

I sent you a PM (Private Message) for advice on travel arrangements from HKT, since I plan to take the same routing in the very near future.

HB

 

[scorpenesub]

Excellent commentary on your dive trip, specially the evaluation of the resorts, Jeff. Always helpful to get first hand experience of a fellow diver and not rely on the marketing by dive centres.

Good job, Jeff. Keep posting...

 

[hallboy]

for those who have hanged around those places:

i ve been in bunaken already, and il liked it a lot, but i mnot a muck diver fan ; so, no lembeh for me. if i would like to come back around there, to again enjoy all that coral life, but with a litlle bit more " so called big fishes " , whould it be a good thing to try bangka islands? a cruise to Biaro/sangihe islands? or stay again in Siladen and ask to spend e aday going north to bangka?

 

[Kupu]

Thanks for adding the pix to your report, very nice. Great report...

 

[Rickg]

Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to generate such an informative and detailed report about your trip.