diving lembeh
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awall54308
Contributor
From my experience at KBR, the resort is great, the diving is great, the excursions can be fun, but the non divers should be prepared to be bored...uh, er, vert relaxed 
My wife is a diver and was pregnant while we were there so she couldn't dive. She did what was available and was otherwise bored out of her mind! In my opinion, you go there to dive. That's about it!
My wife is a diver and was pregnant while we were there so she couldn't dive. She did what was available and was otherwise bored out of her mind! In my opinion, you go there to dive. That's about it!
Yellowtail Damselfish
Registered
I'm just back from Lembeh Resort, which was outstanding and highly recommended. But there was practically nothing for non-divers to do. Bitung was interesting for its local market (but if you want to see it hopping you need to be there by about 5:30 or 6:00 a.m), for the friendly people eager to be photographed with a Westerner and to shake your hand, and for the Bandis (pony-pulled carts) that can take you wherever you want to go for a few rupiah. But don't expect to do any shopping there. Nothing at all in the way of tourist purchases such as sarongs or wood carvings.
The trip to see the Tarsius monkeys was a five- or six-hour, late afternoon affair since they sleep during the day and you want to be there as they're waking for the evening. A half-hour walk through hot, humid, mosquito-infested jungle was rewarded with a sighting of a family of about six monkeys in a single tree. Not all agreed it was worth the discomfort, especially since we'd had an up-close sighting of a Tarsius on the grounds of the resort.
The resort also offers treks to a volcano, a tour of the highlands, and cooking classes, but no one during the week I was there availed her/him/self of these offerings.
Friends reported that snorkeling at Bunaken was terrific; they often opted to snorkel, rather than dive, the night dive. The house reef at Lembeh resort didn't really lend itself to snorkeling, but it did make for a decent night dive.
The trip to see the Tarsius monkeys was a five- or six-hour, late afternoon affair since they sleep during the day and you want to be there as they're waking for the evening. A half-hour walk through hot, humid, mosquito-infested jungle was rewarded with a sighting of a family of about six monkeys in a single tree. Not all agreed it was worth the discomfort, especially since we'd had an up-close sighting of a Tarsius on the grounds of the resort.
The resort also offers treks to a volcano, a tour of the highlands, and cooking classes, but no one during the week I was there availed her/him/self of these offerings.
Friends reported that snorkeling at Bunaken was terrific; they often opted to snorkel, rather than dive, the night dive. The house reef at Lembeh resort didn't really lend itself to snorkeling, but it did make for a decent night dive.
opalobsidian
Contributor
Our trip to Tangkoko Nature Reserve proved to be more of a study of tourists than tarsiers!
The reserve is much closer to Bunaken than to Lembeh, only about an hour's boat ride. When we arrived my husband, the guide and I were the only ones apparently about. Then, around dusk, other groups began appearing until there were about 25 of us clustered around the tarsier tree, a huge, hollowed out tree in which the tarsiers snooze during the day. Everyone was speaking different languages, getting their cameras ready, and loudly shushing one another.
As it grew darker and no tarsiers appeared, dissent among the groups grew more animated, with different nationalities falling into stereotypical displays of disgust with one another and the situation in general. The increasingly nervous guides began employing different strategies, first catching katydids and pinning them temptingly near the openings in the tree, then tapping on the tree, then full on banging the tree with sticks.
Finally, a single wide eyed Yoda face emerged at the opening, inciting an erruption of cameras blazing with flash as tourists jockied for position, not unlike the paparazi sighting a tiny shaved headed Britney Spears. In the blink of an eye the tarsier gave a mighty leap from the hollow, snatched the katydid bait with it's alien fingers, and leapt back into the hollow again, dissapearing for the night. The whole tarsier appearance was about a minute and a half.
The guides quickly rounded up their groups, loudly declaring "OH NOW YOU HAVE MANY GOOD PHOTOS! SO LUCKY!" and herded us back to our respective boats.
Okay, this story is not exactly addressing the thread, so I'll add this bit of advice. If you have non divers in tow with you on your Northern Sulawesi adventure, there is much more to do if you base out of Menado than Lembeh. For example, the Santika hotel has a lovely pool, guided tours, and a shuttle which will take you to THE MALL! which by the way has a great muck diving site right in front of it. Our DM was always begging to take us into Menado to show us the sights, and even sweetened the pot by promising to take me to his village where I could get a TATTOO! I will have to take him up on that during my next visit.
The reserve is much closer to Bunaken than to Lembeh, only about an hour's boat ride. When we arrived my husband, the guide and I were the only ones apparently about. Then, around dusk, other groups began appearing until there were about 25 of us clustered around the tarsier tree, a huge, hollowed out tree in which the tarsiers snooze during the day. Everyone was speaking different languages, getting their cameras ready, and loudly shushing one another.
As it grew darker and no tarsiers appeared, dissent among the groups grew more animated, with different nationalities falling into stereotypical displays of disgust with one another and the situation in general. The increasingly nervous guides began employing different strategies, first catching katydids and pinning them temptingly near the openings in the tree, then tapping on the tree, then full on banging the tree with sticks.
Finally, a single wide eyed Yoda face emerged at the opening, inciting an erruption of cameras blazing with flash as tourists jockied for position, not unlike the paparazi sighting a tiny shaved headed Britney Spears. In the blink of an eye the tarsier gave a mighty leap from the hollow, snatched the katydid bait with it's alien fingers, and leapt back into the hollow again, dissapearing for the night. The whole tarsier appearance was about a minute and a half.
The guides quickly rounded up their groups, loudly declaring "OH NOW YOU HAVE MANY GOOD PHOTOS! SO LUCKY!" and herded us back to our respective boats.
Okay, this story is not exactly addressing the thread, so I'll add this bit of advice. If you have non divers in tow with you on your Northern Sulawesi adventure, there is much more to do if you base out of Menado than Lembeh. For example, the Santika hotel has a lovely pool, guided tours, and a shuttle which will take you to THE MALL! which by the way has a great muck diving site right in front of it. Our DM was always begging to take us into Menado to show us the sights, and even sweetened the pot by promising to take me to his village where I could get a TATTOO! I will have to take him up on that during my next visit.
DontLieToMe
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A good operation - but not in Lembeh - for non-divers is Gangga Island Resort (GIR). GIR conducts great diving in all three major Northern Sulawesi areas - Bunaken, Bangka, and Lembeh. They have some fast boats that are comfortable and get to either Bunaken or Lembeh in one hour. They do these trips on request with lots of other great diving in the area of Bangka Island and the Northern Sulawesi coastline.
GIR is the only resort that I know of that has a white sand beach with individual shaded loungers on the beach for each bungalow. The bungalows have A/C, hot water, satellite television, and a mini-fridge. The food is very good. There is also a good spa and a very nice swimming pool. Given the limited land excursion opportunities in the Lembeh area it is worth considering especially if you have a non-diver.
GIR is the only resort that I know of that has a white sand beach with individual shaded loungers on the beach for each bungalow. The bungalows have A/C, hot water, satellite television, and a mini-fridge. The food is very good. There is also a good spa and a very nice swimming pool. Given the limited land excursion opportunities in the Lembeh area it is worth considering especially if you have a non-diver.
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