Manado SDQ - Sulawesi Dive Quest

[diver69]

Hi all,

After having done more research, I am leaning towards going with Sulawesi Dive Quest for my dive trip to Manado.

My sis and I are arriving in Manado on Sep 14 and flying out on Sep 19. We were planning to go with Eco Divers at Rasik Ria, but in the interest of our wallet (we have to budget real hard as we're spending a week in Sipadan before heading to Manado, and a week in Thailand after), we are leaning towards SDQ now.

In addition to costs, SDQ also run resorts at both Bunaken and Lembeh. I've phoned up Eco-Divers, and the package deal they have cannot be combined (Rasik Ria and Kungkungan).

Now comes the question - Anyone with an opinion on SDQ? Also, they have a dive trip where you go to Bangka by boat for 2 dives, then on to Lembeh for a night's stay, then I assume (they didn't explain on their website), you do a day's dives at Lembeh before heading back to Bunaken. Has anyone been on that dive trip? How was it? My only worry is they require min 6 divers for that trip.

We are hoping to spend 2/3 nights at Lembeh and 2/3 nights at Bunaken; if that doesn't work, then we'll have to look at spending our time at Bunaken and taking that dive trip to Bangka and Lembeh.

Would really appreciate any comments/suggestion.

Come on September (eventhough it signifies the end of summer for us up in the great white north)

 

[calypsonick]

I have only been to Froggies www.divefroggies.com on Bunaken and they were great. You hand your gear over to the dive master when you arrive and while the only time you have ot touch your gear while you are there is to put it on right before going into the water, very nice!!

If you get a chance try swinging by East Timor while you are in the neighborhood. We found the coral reefs here in much better shape than in Bunaken. It is another ~250 from Bali to get here and you have 25+ dive sites less than 45min by car right off the north shore. No need to make boat arrangements and wait for everyone to get in the boat, etc... You just drive out to the dive spot and jump in.

If you head out this way, contact us and we will find you some dive guides and dive buddies.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[diver69]

Hey Nick,

Thanks for the info, and for the offer to assist in Timor. Unfortunately we've got all our trip booked (we're flying the Asia Pass with Malaysia Airlines).

May be next year I'll make it to Timor. Will you still be there next year? The other spots I want to hit next year are Palau and Papua New Guinea.

btw, I have an Oly 5050 and PT15 as well. Mine haven't seen the water yet - can't wait for my trip so I can get it wet (the case, not the camera).

 

[diver69]

Contacted SDQ - they are fully booked at their Lembeh resort. Now I'm left with the following options:

1. split my stay between Tasik Ria and Kungkungan Bay Resort - this gets expensive as I can't take advantage of their special packages due to my short stays. So the question is, should I even try Rasik Ria, since it's not even on Bunaken? I've been to Sipadan numerous times, Moalboal and Apo Island in Phi, Perhentian in M'sia, Phuket, Cozumel and Maldives, so I'm kinda spoiled with reef dives and stuff like that. On the other hand, I've never done any muck diving and am really interested in it. Mind you, we will be staying in Mabul for a day or two as part of our Sipadan trip the week before we get to Manado.

2. Go with Liburan liveaboard for 5 days/4 nights diving Bangka and Lembeh Strait. Problem is, we can only do 4 days/4 nights because of our arrival and departure time. Not sure if they can accommodate us - sent an e-mail and phoned. Person in charge away for the week (probably on the boat with a group - her mom was kind of hard to understand)

3. Go to Kungkungan Bay US$670 for 6 days/5 nights and forget about Bunaken

4. I'm gonna contact Murex and see the schedule of their liveaboard.

5. Have also contacted Froggied regarding their sleepaboard - waiting for reply.

Any other suggestion?

Has anyone been to Sipadan and Bunaken and can give a comparison of the two?

 

[Indah]

Okay, I'll take the risk of being accused of spamming. But since you really seem to have a problem finding a place to stay you could take a look on our site http://www.diving-on-sulawesi.com. Our Divers Lodge Lembeh is situated on Lembeh Island.

 

[diver69]

Thanks everyone. Decided to go with Liburan Liveaboard.
Cost, flexibility, and timing are the major factors in m decision. Will report trip upon return.

 

[Rickg]

Contacted SDQ - they are fully booked at their Lembeh resort. Now I'm left with the following options:

1. split my stay between Tasik Ria and Kungkungan Bay Resort - this gets expensive as I can't take advantage of their special packages due to my short stays. So the question is, should I even try Rasik Ria, since it's not even on Bunaken? I've been to Sipadan numerous times, Moalboal and Apo Island in Phi, Perhentian in M'sia, Phuket, Cozumel and Maldives, so I'm kinda spoiled with reef dives and stuff like that. On the other hand, I've never done any muck diving and am really interested in it. Mind you, we will be staying in Mabul for a day or two as part of our Sipadan trip the week before we get to Manado.

2. Go with Liburan liveaboard for 5 days/4 nights diving Bangka and Lembeh Strait. Problem is, we can only do 4 days/4 nights because of our arrival and departure time. Not sure if they can accommodate us - sent an e-mail and phoned. Person in charge away for the week (probably on the boat with a group - her mom was kind of hard to understand)

3. Go to Kungkungan Bay US$670 for 6 days/5 nights and forget about Bunaken

4. I'm gonna contact Murex and see the schedule of their liveaboard.

5. Have also contacted Froggied regarding their sleepaboard - waiting for reply.

Any other suggestion?

Has anyone been to Sipadan and Bunaken and can give a comparison of the two?

diver69,

We just got back from a 10-day stay with MUREX including 6 days on their liveaboard M/V Serenade and has a fantastic trip. Their liveaboards normally depart Saturday afternoon at about 5:00 PM for either a 4-day or 6-day trip.

FYI, they also have resort on Bangka Island and at Pulisan (nothern tip of Sulawesi across from Bangka Island and not too far from Lembeh) and are the dive operator for the Lembeh Resort. This is a brand new resort and a "bit" on the pricey side but we got to tour the property when the Serenade stopped near there and it is a beautiful resort.

http://www.lembehresort.com/

Don't expect "luxury" if you stay at MUREX in Manado or at their Bangka Island or Pulisan resorts but the resorts are clean and comfortable, the staffs are fantastic and the food is plentiful and good (as long as you are not looking for a lot of western style food).

Regarding MUREX, we would go back in a heartbeat if I had the vacation time and money available

I'll post a trip report on our dive trip as soon as I can get off my butt.

My recommendation is you try to dive all 3 locations (Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh) if at all possible. All are different and all are great.

Hope you have a great trip too.

Rickg

 

[diver69]

rickg,

Good to hear you enjoyed your trip. How was the diving?
I am hoping to do allthree sites, Lembeh, Bangka and Bunaken. The liveaboard tour is listed as Bangka and Lembeh, but I think there's only my sister and me on that trip, if so, we can probably rty to get them to throw in Bunaken for a day for a few extra $$.

Will report upon return.

D69

 

[Rickg]

D69,

We had a great trip and the diving was some of the most varied and best we have ever done. I'll be posting a trip report as soon as I get off my butt and write it. If you can get them to take you to Bunaken for a day you may want to try a dive site called Batu Kapal. It is off of Nain Island (the northern most island in the Bunaken Park). Shoot for an early morning dive (0630 or earlier is possible). It is a deep dive to a pinnacle that is about 15 meter away from the wall and at a depth of 40m at the top of the pinnacle. We saw a thresher shark cruise by above us followed by 4 great hammerheads a minute or two later that cruised between us and the surface as we were working our way up the wall. They got within 4-5m of us and were probably about 3-3.5m long. That was my first ever thresher shark and the closer I've ever gotten to a hammerhead. It was a great last day to our dive vacation.

Dive safe,
Rickg

 

[edwinh]

rickg

What time were you at Batu Kapal?

I was there "hunting" for hammers, but all I did was to sit on the rock at 30m till my computer screamed Deco with a dumb clown fish taking shots at my mask.