Eight days after we arrived in Indonesia, we transferred to NAD at Lembeh (boat/van/boat).
Ramly, our guide for the past week, came over with us and our bags transferred to a small van for the two hour drive to Bitung, not to be confused with Bintang
However, the driver of the small van had some difficulties locating the drop off point at Bitung for the boat to NAD. I did recall it was at some wet market place when I went to Lembeh Resort seven years ago, and I was correct. However the confusion added another 30 minutes to the journey, but hey we were on holiday and there was no rush.
During the journey I realised Iād left my glasses back in Bangka. Jen messaged Ramly and he arranged for them to be sent to Lembeh resort on the next boat. I basically only use them for driving and long distance seeing, but hadn't used them since we had arrived at Bangka and had left them on the bedside table.
Jen was keen to get back into the water asap after lunch, but I was still playing it cautious with my ear, and did a long house reef dive from the jetty. This was the only house reef dive from NAD that I did, and it doesnāt compare to any other house reef dives Iāve done in N. Sulawesi or even the one round the corner at Lembeh Resort.
However they are sinking another one of their old dive boats, so perhaps that will improve the fauna there and add to some of the junk thatās already off the jetty. My dive time for that dive was 113 minutes and went no deeper than 12m, plus my ears felt fine
NAD had basically just opened up and had two other divers Krug and Mary Ellen, a couple from the US, who had just arrived from a LOB and were being reunited with their luggage that didnāt make the transfer from their US flight to Singapore through to Manado!
Lunch with our new friends
This was a scenario that I had feared and my main reason why I stayed overnight in Singapore.
Although the next flight to Manado was two days later, they were now on a LOB and no way to get their dive gear etc., to them before the boat sailed. Therefore they had basically to buy some clothes and swim gear and rent all of their dive gear for their LOB. Fortunately their dive insurance should cover that, but I'd certainly feel more comfortable with my own regulators and wing etc.
As I mentioned, NAD had just opened up and some renovations going on on the lower level and we had accommodation in the upper level.
The NAD staff that we interacted with are excellent (Manager: Rustam, as well as Opit who took care of any issues, served the food along with Missy)
They had a three hour laundry service (I was running out of clean t-shirts), which was probably because of lack of anything else to do due to few guests. I asked for green tea as there was none, and the next day they not only had some next to the coffee machine but on the boat too, now that's service.
I was also looking for a SIM card for data, as their internet did not reach behind the dining area (not even to the bar). Rustam purchased two new cards but unfortunately I was unable to get them to work on either of my iPhones, which was odd. The local cards also have to be registered to an Indonesian citizen, which may have been part of the problem.
View from the dining area
Like Bangka, mosquitos were an issue here and the ones at Bangka are huge.
Fortunately @outofofficebrb carries a small machine that kills them and the staff at NAD always made sure there were sufficient coils burning under the tables etc., to deal with this problem.
Ramly, our guide for the past week, came over with us and our bags transferred to a small van for the two hour drive to Bitung, not to be confused with Bintang
However, the driver of the small van had some difficulties locating the drop off point at Bitung for the boat to NAD. I did recall it was at some wet market place when I went to Lembeh Resort seven years ago, and I was correct. However the confusion added another 30 minutes to the journey, but hey we were on holiday and there was no rush.
During the journey I realised Iād left my glasses back in Bangka. Jen messaged Ramly and he arranged for them to be sent to Lembeh resort on the next boat. I basically only use them for driving and long distance seeing, but hadn't used them since we had arrived at Bangka and had left them on the bedside table.
Jen was keen to get back into the water asap after lunch, but I was still playing it cautious with my ear, and did a long house reef dive from the jetty. This was the only house reef dive from NAD that I did, and it doesnāt compare to any other house reef dives Iāve done in N. Sulawesi or even the one round the corner at Lembeh Resort.
However they are sinking another one of their old dive boats, so perhaps that will improve the fauna there and add to some of the junk thatās already off the jetty. My dive time for that dive was 113 minutes and went no deeper than 12m, plus my ears felt fine
NAD had basically just opened up and had two other divers Krug and Mary Ellen, a couple from the US, who had just arrived from a LOB and were being reunited with their luggage that didnāt make the transfer from their US flight to Singapore through to Manado!
Lunch with our new friends
This was a scenario that I had feared and my main reason why I stayed overnight in Singapore.
Although the next flight to Manado was two days later, they were now on a LOB and no way to get their dive gear etc., to them before the boat sailed. Therefore they had basically to buy some clothes and swim gear and rent all of their dive gear for their LOB. Fortunately their dive insurance should cover that, but I'd certainly feel more comfortable with my own regulators and wing etc.
As I mentioned, NAD had just opened up and some renovations going on on the lower level and we had accommodation in the upper level.
The NAD staff that we interacted with are excellent (Manager: Rustam, as well as Opit who took care of any issues, served the food along with Missy)
They had a three hour laundry service (I was running out of clean t-shirts), which was probably because of lack of anything else to do due to few guests. I asked for green tea as there was none, and the next day they not only had some next to the coffee machine but on the boat too, now that's service.
I was also looking for a SIM card for data, as their internet did not reach behind the dining area (not even to the bar). Rustam purchased two new cards but unfortunately I was unable to get them to work on either of my iPhones, which was odd. The local cards also have to be registered to an Indonesian citizen, which may have been part of the problem.
View from the dining area
Like Bangka, mosquitos were an issue here and the ones at Bangka are huge.
Fortunately @outofofficebrb carries a small machine that kills them and the staff at NAD always made sure there were sufficient coils burning under the tables etc., to deal with this problem.
