If you need a recommendation, I cannot stress highly enough - Do it - This was the absolute best diving I have ever done. I have told people that when diving in the Caribbean, you might see one or two things that you talk about upon surfacing. On our first dive in Lembeh, we saw so much that you couldn't remember it all.
Finally getting around to going through the photos and reporting on the trip. Between the bad case of jet lag and the catching up from being away for 2 weeks, whew!
Day 1- 3(?) - shuttle to NY/JFK, then Singapore Airlines through Frankfurt/Singapore and on to Manado. All without a hitch. Though a lot of travel time, I looked at it as part of my vacation - sit back, read, sleep, watch movies, and enjoy the great service on Singapore Airlines. Time shift is exactly 12 hours and I had no problem getting adjusted.
1.5 hour trip from airport, KBR staff greeted us, taking our bags and basically doing everything for us, which was the theme through the whole stay. Great resort.
Once at KBR, they give you a mesh dive bag and tags for your gear that you put out front of your room on the first day of diving. From then on, other than donning your gear for dives, you don't do a thing. They set up your gear, rinse it after dives, etc.
On to the dives, the dive briefings were always on shore with a nice graphical depiction of the upcoming site and potential sea life. All were quick trips to dive sites, with small/speedy boats, and backroll entry (which my daughter Robin came to prefer)
The first few dives had me queasy in the last 5-10 minutes of the dives, surface gag and then full on spew at the safety stop almost taking in water. I switched regs because I think I may have been swallowing salt water, causing me to get to get nauseous. After that, I was fine for the rest of the week.
We did 15 dives over 6 days. Some highlights:
- manadarin fish dive - beautiful shallow long dive. Did not see them mating, though two horny couples were very close, just never sealed the deal.
- night dive - one error after another, We thought they were supplying lights and we went in without flashlights, had the crew grab my light from my bag which died after the first 10 minutes (backup was in the bag on the boat, duh!). The dive was near the shore line/reef, so frequent surge. Robin got stung by sea urchin near the end of the dive. Once on shore, the crew got her vinegar, but the med advice from dive crew was way off as we were corrected by some fellow divers (one of which was nurse) on the proper care. Still a good dive, especially the large cuttlefish that kept changing colors/patterns.
- The KBR reef was our last dive and it was great.
- Some standout marine life:
flamboyant cuttlefish
cuttlefish eggs in coconut shell
nudibranchs everywere
pigmy seahorses pink and yellow
clownfish
bangai cardinalfish
lionfish
mandarinfish
many different macro crabs and a few large ones - decorator, porcelin, etc.
crinoid shrimps
Mantis shrimp (one with eggs !!!)
many unique sea urchins
Just so much to see. You'lll see more on one dive that you can remember. I still don't know what a lot of things were.
The #1 phrase heard all week - What the hell was that!
KBR staff was great, friendly, polite, and very helpful. The Spa was a nice touch which we took advantage of a few times (ask for Okta, she was great and a sweetheart to boot)
We took a jungle tour to Tangkoko that was great - black macaque monkeys and tarsiers and a few cool birds (though very high in the trees)
I highly highly highly recommend Lembeh and KBR
Following our 7 nights at KBR, we headed to Bali for 3 nights for some dry activities. I had thought about trying to dive for Mola Molas, but since our time was limited with only 2 full days to sight-see, we decided to skip it. Bali was also great. Very cheap and the sights were fantastic. Dinner for two with drinks - $10-15, one hour massages for $5 !!!!!!!!! We stayed at the Parigata Resort and Spa in Sanur Beach, which was much nicer than I expected. Easy access to the main strip with restaurants, spas, shops, beach, spas. Yes, I mentioned spas twice, I liked em!
Travel home was very long, with an eight hour layover in the Singapore Airport. We just missed being able to take the free 2 hour city tour, so we just hung around the amazing airport. If you never have seen the airport in Singapore, wow! gardens, nice shops, gardens, buterfly garden, internet stations, TV listening areas, video game areas (even a soundproof room to play Rock Band), movie theaters, even a swimming pool.
Once in NYC, our shuttle was very late and kept giving us different stories why. After spending 38 hours of travel, I didn't appreciate that stress. Total travel time from leaving Bali to pulling in my driveway was 43 hours!!!! For the first time ever, I spent almost a full week with some serious jet lag.
Overall, this was the most amazing dive trip I have ever taken. I can't wait to go back. I second the comment above about Indonesian diving being addictive.
Pictures can be found here:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/...Log&emid=sharview&linkid=link4&cid=EMsharview
