North Sulawesi on a Liveaboard or Resort?

[Tonester]

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to North Sulawesi this summer and was wondering if anyone has dove there before and would recommend just resort diving or a liveaboard?

I was looking at the North Sulawesi Aggressor that dives the Lambeh Strait and Northern Bangka Islands. I know resorts for the Lambeh Strait are limited but wondered if it was worth the liveabord or not.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Tonester

PS apologies for repetition, i have already posted this in the general travel area (i'm new)

 

[DontLieToMe]

Look at the Ocean Rover www.ocean-rover.com. Good boat that does a 10 night itinerary that takes in Bunaken, Lembeh, Bangka, etc.

If I had limited time and the resources (not cheap) - then this would give you the opportunity to dive all major areas in Northern Sulawesi. On a liveaboard, like the Ocean Rover, you can do five (5) dives a day - 4 day and 1 night. At any land-based resort you will probably only get to do three (3) dives a day and pay extra for a night dive - if available.

 

[Batfish]

The liveaboards are not cheap at all, but with something like the Aggressor, you know exactly what you are getting. You will get more dives on the liveaboard and be the first in the water, even at Lemebeh, where the resorts are close by.

Sulawesi Aggressor

The cost of the resorts is very attractive, and you have another advantage. You can make a combination of 2 different resorts and dive the Lembeh/Bangka area, and also Bunaken. Transfers between the 2 are not difficult. Something like 4-5 days at Lembeh Resort and 4-5 days at Tasik Ria would make a good package.

More information :

Lembeh Resort

Tasik Ria Resort (Manado)

Lembeh Dive Sites

Bangka Dive Sites

Bunaken Dive Sites

 

[AlanWald]

Excellent analysis by Batfish.

I personally prefer my budget room (bigger than any boat cabin) on land to the fanciest cabin of the Aggressor. I also like to come back to land after a dive and have lunch and take a nap.

Boats like the Aggressor are necessary for diving in remote areas like Galapagos (esepcially Wolf and Darwin) and Cocos Island, but not for Manado area where most dive sites are five or ten minutes away. I can dive for a month (including air fare from the US) on less than it costs to spend a week on the Aggressor (without air fare).

Even when going on a day trip from Bunaken Island (both dives at the same place and lunch on board) to Popo which is an hour a way, it is a pleasant crusie along the coast, good chance to see dolphins and pilot whales.

To get to Catalina from the mainland here in Southern California it is typically an hour, so I don't consider an hour a long trip.

Where I dive on Bunaken (http://twofishdivers.com/ they also have a resort at Lembeh Island now) , I have the flexibility of making as many or as few dives as I want and there is no artificial time limit on the dive.

I changed plans to dive a liveaboard in the Red Sea when I heard they limit dives to one hour. In Southern California on a day dive boat time is limited because the boat needs to move to another dive site and then has to get back to port. Most people running day boats in Southern California have other jobs and lives outside of diving unlike a dedicated dive resort like you find in the Manado area or a liveaboard. My dives in 2005 lasted from 70 to 100 minutes.

Be sure to ask a dive operations policy on length of dive and ratio of divers to guides. If it is eight divers to one guide, you don't have a guide, you have a "leader." There is a lot of small stuff to see and its hard when there is a lot of people trying to get a look at once.

Another plus for land based diving is that you are not fixed into a Saturday to Saturday itinerary.

Also a land based resort has people coming and going all the time and part of the dive tirp is meeting divers from around the world. I even ran into a couple who I had first met the year before.

I will be posting my 2005 Bunaken report very soon.

 

[Reefwalker]

Hi Tonester
I don't know about the Aggressor, but try contacting Murex Dive Resort & Live-Aboard, they have a land based resort south of Manado for day trips to Bunaken, a resort on Lembeh Island for day trips in Lembeh Strait, and small low key chalets on Bangka Island. They also run a small fleet of live-aboards that won't break your bank!
The Batuna family run and own Murex, the father (Dr Hannny Batuna) was one of the main instigators of diving around Bunaken and the main figure behind the formation of the Bunaken Marine Park.

 

[Rickg]

Hi Tonester
I don't know about the Aggressor, but try contacting Murex Dive Resort & Live-Aboard, they have a land based resort south of Manado for day trips to Bunaken, a resort on Lembeh Island for day trips in Lembeh Strait, and small low key chalets on Bangka Island. They also run a small fleet of live-aboards that won't break your bank!
The Batuna family run and own Murex, the father (Dr Hannny Batuna) was one of the main instigators of diving around Bunaken and the main figure behind the formation of the Bunaken Marine Park.

Tonester,

We also had good luck when we dove with MUREX in '04. Here is link to my trip report from our visit. The Serenade is by no means a luxury LOB but it was a great trip for the price. I'd go back again.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread...ighlight=rickg

Rickg

 

[scubahar]

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to North Sulawesi this summer and was wondering if anyone has dove there before and would recommend just resort diving or a liveaboard?

I was looking at the North Sulawesi Aggressor that dives the Lambeh Strait and Northern Bangka Islands. I know resorts for the Lambeh Strait are limited but wondered if it was worth the liveabord or not.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Tonester

PS apologies for repetition, i have already posted this in the general travel area (i'm new)

Maybe M.C. Dive Bunaken is something for you
www.mcdivebunaken.com The prics are very reasonable.
I have been there 3 times and go in may for the fourth time.
Te food is very good there , the resort and divingschool are just been renovated .

Greetings
Scubahar

 

[pelan-pelan]

It may help to decide whether you want to focus on muck-critters or general or wall/drift. Bunaken has fantastic wall/drift. Lembeh is classic for muck but both lumbalumba and eco-divers have amazing critters and PoPo is only minutes away, and also day trips to Bunaken and Bangka.

Years of experience in the area, personalised service and new cottages - lumbalumbadiving

Efficient, friendly, larger operation and hotel - eco-divers at Tasik Ria Resort.

Have dived with both repeatedly and have known long time (9 years) - check out the web-sites - both places are probably more beautiful in real-life than their beautiful web-sites!

 

[Indah]

There is now a much bigger choice in dive center in Lembeh Strait. Apart from the existing KBR, Lembeh Resort, SDQ and our Divers Lodge Lembeh you will find Bastianos, Two Fish Divers and two other resorts that will open soon.
If you want to dive as often as possible but do not like the restricted space and big groups of a live aboard you could consider our no limit diving service.
Dive as often as you want whenever you want. Five times daily with two night dives? No problem. You will have your own boat and guide. Dive on air or Nitrox. Including diving, own boat, guide, bungalow with full board starting Euro 110, - per day per person. (US$ 130, -). Enjoy the space of our big bungalows and 25 hectare protected nature. See http://www.diving-on-sulawesi.com
On Bangka you can find both Murex and Blue Bay Divers. By the way, the Agressor is a very nice boat indeed!