Just back from almost a month in Indonesia / Singapore and there will be no doubt several posts to cover the various destinations (Bangka and Lembeh as well as Tulumben in Bali after the N. Sulawesi section.
Back in January 2022 Indonesia was starting to open up and it looked like Bali was going to be ahead of elsewhere so some plans started to evolve with some of my friends in the US and Australia to meet up in Bali and dive at Tulumben.
However, as always, things always get in the way of plans, and some things get complicated.
@outofofficebrb had booked trips in 2020 to NAD in Lembeh as well as for a land based dive resort at Rajah Ampat and that meant changing plans with an arrival into Manado, Sulawesi instead of Denpasar, Bali.
There was still no visa on arrival (VOA) and Emirates Airlines was still not flying directly to Bali but via Singapore using Garuda to Denpasar, which may or may not involve a stop via Jakarta (no thanks).
My best route appeared to be with Singapore Airlines (SIA) partnering with Scoot to Manado on one ticket, and was very economical. However this also had some logistical issues, Scoot only operate twice a week to Manado (Wednesday and Friday) and the connection from Dubai only had a one hour and 55 minute layover in Singapore, more about that later in the Lembeh part.
I opted to have a 24 hour layover in Singapore, and visit a friend Andrew, who runs the Sea&Sea shop there. @outofofficebrb had a three our layover and therefore not so risky as far as baggage transfers are concerned.
The next point to take care of was the Indonesian visa B211A, which was done through an agent in Bali and cost approximately USD200. At this point VOA was nowhere on the horizon.
Bangka Island dive resort run by Murex Divers was declared a quarantine zone as well as Siladen near Bunaken. Given that Bangka has a decent house reef, five days quarantine there was not going to be a hardship compared to my 10 day quarantine at London Heathrow last June.
Bangka House Reef
scubaboard.com
As my final travel dates approached I managed to have my fifth vaccine (third Pfizer) and then a few days later my first of two PCR tests allowing me to travel to Singapore and subsequently Manado, Indonesia. With the 24 hour stop in Singapore I needed that second PCR test to allow me to fly again as I had a break in my schedule and not on a continuous travel plan to Manado.
Another requirement was to download an App for travel to and within Indonesia called “PeduliLindungi” bit of a mouthful, and to be honest completely useless at the end of the day. With my vaccinations uploaded I was still receiving information that I was not vaccinated and unable to travel. Fortunately I had printed off several copies of my vaccine certificate from the Al Hosn App (UAE). This may be the electronic age, but you still can’t beat paper copies!
The overnight flight to Singapore was quite painless with relatively little turbulence until about an hour before landing. It was also my first time to use the new and greatly improved departure area from Terminal 1 at Dubai, as I normally fly Emirates from T3.
On arrival in Singapore I even managed to get my room at the Holiday Inn when I checked in directly from my arrival time and get some additional rest without waiting until the usual check in time after 12 midday. Oh and to add that Singapore now use an electronic landing card, which needs to be completed before immigration.
The following morning I was up at 05:00 and off to the airport. The Scoot flight operated by SIA was departing from T1 Changi. @outofofficebrb was already in a lounge in T3, Scoot leaves from T1
Our flight to MDC was fairly good as the plane was not full, and we managed to find seats together after the plane was airborne. The meal on the flight was rather poor, a point here is to eat well before the flight and bring your own snacks.
On arrival at MDC we had to go through a medical control, which took some time, and nobody was asked to show anything on the PeduliLindungi App, all they wanted to see were paper copies of PCR and vaccine certificates! A point here was that my Al Hosn App from UAE was perfectly acceptable as I didn’t have time to print my last PCR test.
The minivan from Murex was also waiting for us. A week prior the Quarantine period had been reduced from five days to two days and a few days earlier removed all together.
The drive to where we had to take the boat to Bangka took around two hours and it rained a lot. The crossing also took about 30-40 minutes due to the weather conditions and the boat was carrying six large bottles of O2 as well as fresh crates of vegetables for the dive resort. I was concerned about the large O2 cylinders rolling around, but that did not happen.
Local kids were playing around the boat using it as a platform to jump into the sea.
scubaboard.com
The crossing was rough though, but our luggage was covered by a tarpaulin to protect it from waves and spray. Eventually we reached Bangka and were assigned our accommodation up the hill from the standard accommodation that my daughter had used back in 2015 when we did the Murex “Passport to Paradise” trip.
scubaboard.com
"Get off my lawn"
The new bungalows are very much an improvement with sufficient space for dealing with photographic gear, as well as spacious toilet facilities, sometimes with local guests. Unfortunately the WiFi doesn’t extend beyond the dining area though, and it’s worth trying to get a local sim card for data, which I tried but it did not work in my phone, plus it has to be registered with an Indonesian ID!
I was a bit taken aback that some of the staff actually recognised me as the guides for Murex work at all three of the resorts including Lembeh. I hadn't been there since 2015!
scubaboard.com
The food and accommodation was great during our stay, plus they have decent coffee too. My favourite though was the Gado Gado, which I ate almost every day.
scubaboard.com
Sometimes I had company in the shower
scubaboard.com
Back in January 2022 Indonesia was starting to open up and it looked like Bali was going to be ahead of elsewhere so some plans started to evolve with some of my friends in the US and Australia to meet up in Bali and dive at Tulumben.
However, as always, things always get in the way of plans, and some things get complicated.
@outofofficebrb had booked trips in 2020 to NAD in Lembeh as well as for a land based dive resort at Rajah Ampat and that meant changing plans with an arrival into Manado, Sulawesi instead of Denpasar, Bali.
There was still no visa on arrival (VOA) and Emirates Airlines was still not flying directly to Bali but via Singapore using Garuda to Denpasar, which may or may not involve a stop via Jakarta (no thanks).
My best route appeared to be with Singapore Airlines (SIA) partnering with Scoot to Manado on one ticket, and was very economical. However this also had some logistical issues, Scoot only operate twice a week to Manado (Wednesday and Friday) and the connection from Dubai only had a one hour and 55 minute layover in Singapore, more about that later in the Lembeh part.
I opted to have a 24 hour layover in Singapore, and visit a friend Andrew, who runs the Sea&Sea shop there. @outofofficebrb had a three our layover and therefore not so risky as far as baggage transfers are concerned.
The next point to take care of was the Indonesian visa B211A, which was done through an agent in Bali and cost approximately USD200. At this point VOA was nowhere on the horizon.
Bangka Island dive resort run by Murex Divers was declared a quarantine zone as well as Siladen near Bunaken. Given that Bangka has a decent house reef, five days quarantine there was not going to be a hardship compared to my 10 day quarantine at London Heathrow last June.
Bangka House Reef
Bangka House Reef.jpg
As my final travel dates approached I managed to have my fifth vaccine (third Pfizer) and then a few days later my first of two PCR tests allowing me to travel to Singapore and subsequently Manado, Indonesia. With the 24 hour stop in Singapore I needed that second PCR test to allow me to fly again as I had a break in my schedule and not on a continuous travel plan to Manado.
Another requirement was to download an App for travel to and within Indonesia called “PeduliLindungi” bit of a mouthful, and to be honest completely useless at the end of the day. With my vaccinations uploaded I was still receiving information that I was not vaccinated and unable to travel. Fortunately I had printed off several copies of my vaccine certificate from the Al Hosn App (UAE). This may be the electronic age, but you still can’t beat paper copies!
The overnight flight to Singapore was quite painless with relatively little turbulence until about an hour before landing. It was also my first time to use the new and greatly improved departure area from Terminal 1 at Dubai, as I normally fly Emirates from T3.
On arrival in Singapore I even managed to get my room at the Holiday Inn when I checked in directly from my arrival time and get some additional rest without waiting until the usual check in time after 12 midday. Oh and to add that Singapore now use an electronic landing card, which needs to be completed before immigration.
The following morning I was up at 05:00 and off to the airport. The Scoot flight operated by SIA was departing from T1 Changi. @outofofficebrb was already in a lounge in T3, Scoot leaves from T1
Our flight to MDC was fairly good as the plane was not full, and we managed to find seats together after the plane was airborne. The meal on the flight was rather poor, a point here is to eat well before the flight and bring your own snacks.
On arrival at MDC we had to go through a medical control, which took some time, and nobody was asked to show anything on the PeduliLindungi App, all they wanted to see were paper copies of PCR and vaccine certificates! A point here was that my Al Hosn App from UAE was perfectly acceptable as I didn’t have time to print my last PCR test.
The minivan from Murex was also waiting for us. A week prior the Quarantine period had been reduced from five days to two days and a few days earlier removed all together.
The drive to where we had to take the boat to Bangka took around two hours and it rained a lot. The crossing also took about 30-40 minutes due to the weather conditions and the boat was carrying six large bottles of O2 as well as fresh crates of vegetables for the dive resort. I was concerned about the large O2 cylinders rolling around, but that did not happen.
Local kids were playing around the boat using it as a platform to jump into the sea.
Kids.jpg
The crossing was rough though, but our luggage was covered by a tarpaulin to protect it from waves and spray. Eventually we reached Bangka and were assigned our accommodation up the hill from the standard accommodation that my daughter had used back in 2015 when we did the Murex “Passport to Paradise” trip.
Get off my lawn.jpg
"Get off my lawn"
The new bungalows are very much an improvement with sufficient space for dealing with photographic gear, as well as spacious toilet facilities, sometimes with local guests. Unfortunately the WiFi doesn’t extend beyond the dining area though, and it’s worth trying to get a local sim card for data, which I tried but it did not work in my phone, plus it has to be registered with an Indonesian ID!
I was a bit taken aback that some of the staff actually recognised me as the guides for Murex work at all three of the resorts including Lembeh. I hadn't been there since 2015!
Decent Coffee.jpg
The food and accommodation was great during our stay, plus they have decent coffee too. My favourite though was the Gado Gado, which I ate almost every day.
Gado Gado.jpg
Sometimes I had company in the shower
