North Sulawesi Trip Planning – February

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We have travelled fairly extensively between Java and Manado. Really good advice to sleep at Jakarta airport. We were there earlier in the year and it is airy and new. This is where you get rid of any fatigue and allows you to have extra hours to make the connection. It is amazing how quickly the hours mount up if anything goes wrong. (Like we were delayed at London on the runway for 4 hours because someone was ill and needed off-loading and finding their luggage and getting their luggage off.) And the traffic in Jakarta is bad off the scale.

A friend from NY travelled the route you proposed and found Tokyo to be the biggest hell. From time to time posts here have considered flying the other way, ie east. Or the route we took one time which was via Australia! It's not just the time on the aircraft, it's the possibility of foul-up at each change.

You are right - travelling between locations in N Sulawesi is going to lose you time. We have stayed at Lembeh a few times. It is wonderful. NAD was great - the owners are right there all the time and will give you all help and guidance. We have saved time by travelling from Lembeh across to Manado and dived with operations such as LumbaLumba and Tasik Ria. Either end will arrange the road transfer. If you want en route you can use it as a land tour. We have dived the morning in Lembeh and the evening in Manado = 2 dives per day. Manado-side operations can take you across to Bunaken every day (strong possibility of dolphins on the way across) and there is some amazing muck and low wall diving on the Manado (mainland) side. Rhinopias, Flamboyant cuttle fish, blue ring octopus etc. And there are house reefs at both Lumbalumba and Tasik Ria but I am not sure what their policy is on solo diving. Certainly at Lumbalumba they are happy to provide you with a guide - just you, it doesn't have to be a group.

Solo diving and travelling - I have done both in these areas and never missed a beat. Food - I love the local Minnehasan food - spicy - just let them know, they will be thrilled (otherwise they will assume that you can only manage very bland "American" food and try to make you welcome in that way). When I said I liked the local food they even tried out special little dishes on me at NAD, and then ramped it up when they saw how the other guests were diving into my dishes.

And we have dived both sides in February and had no problem with weather, sea conditions, temperatures and the variety of fish life.
 
I've been solo in North Sulawesi every visit save my last. Never a problem.
 
Our Divers Lodge Lembeh (since 2002), proud sister of Weda Resort and Magic Bay Rao, would be happy to show you the best of Lembeh Strait in the best way. Each two guests are accompanied by one excellent dive-guide. If we would not have a buddy for you here who fits with your style of diving you will be diving alone with one of our guides, without surcharge. We do not have limits on dive-time and we offer Nitrox here. Further, you would be staying at the most beautiful location of Lembeh Island.
The price for the full board accommodation, which includes: all meals, all tea, coffee, drinking water, fruit, snacks, W-Fi (also in the room), laundry service and taxes starts from IDR 900.000 per person per night.
If you would dive alone at our excellent house-reef with one of our guides the price per dive would be IDR 200.000/EUR 12,75 per dive. If one of our other guests would join you instead of one of our guides the price is only IDR 100.000 per dive.
A day-dive by boat, including guide, tank and weight costs IDR 550.000 per dive. All our current rates you will find at: Prices and Booking - Divers Lodge Lembeh - Lembeh Strait
We do not offer standard packages but you just pay for what you really did at the end of your stay. A copy of your flight-ticket is enough to confirm your reservation, we do not ask for a further deposit.
 
Happy memories of watching the reef at Divers Lodge "wake up" with a dawn dive. It's subtle, no explosions of fish, but a wonderful chance to just hover and watch. You arrive in plain water, you leave in fish soup.
 
Hi Chiggins.

As we (BSDR) have been mentioned a few times in this thread by previous guests, I'd like to join in and add a few bits of info.

Just outside the airport grounds are a bunch of hotels, including Amaris, that are fine for overnight stays without having to enter Jakarta and the horrible traffic there. Have a look on Google Maps for the options - they are all lined up next to each other, offering a variety of options and most should give transfers (5 - 15 minutes back to the airport).

The local government recently passed a law against solo diving in Lembeh. We have never had a problem on our House Reef since it is calm and current-free (and last month listed as one of the 40 Best House Reefs in the World by Tauchen magazine in Germany), but guests now need a buddy or a guide to go in off the beach. With two boat days dives, a House Reef dive is free. If with a guide, the charge is minimal.

February is considered Low Season, but a year ago, February was some of the best diving of the year! The weather and visibility will be mixed, but Lembeh is sheltered, whereas Bangka and Bunaken can be affected by storms / waves. It may be calm or it may be lumpy outside of the strait.

We have a maximum of four divers per speedboat (often two or three only though), with one or two guides along, depending on how busy we are. Each dive is out and back, so you're not committed to spending all morning or all day on a boat.

Most importantly. Lembeh is more than "muck". There's verdant coral and sponge gardens, with a wide variety of topography. Most sites are mixed.

Hope this helps.
 
Solo diving and travelling - I have done both in these areas and never missed a beat. Food - I love the local Minnehasan food - spicy - just let them know, they will be thrilled (otherwise they will assume that you can only manage very bland "American" food and try to make you welcome in that way). When I said I liked the local food they even tried out special little dishes on me at NAD, and then ramped it up when they saw how the other guests were diving into my dishes.
Minahasan food
Manado cuisine - Wikipedia
Two of us went out for a day tour on our last day before heading back home. The female guide took us to a small restaurant up in the mountain. Various dishes were laid out on the table. So I asked the guide to explain what they were. Two dishes really stood out: bat and dog. We gave them a miss and enjoyed the rest of the meal.
 
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