Ironborn
Contributor
Below is a stand-alone account of my stay at NAD Lembeh. I have already posted an overview of my whole Indonesia trip and a separate account of my stay at Murex Bangka in this Indonesia sub-forum.
It was Lembeh that had originally sparked my interest in North Sulawesi, and at the end of the day Lembeh was for me the more fulfilling of the two destinations in North Sulawesi that I visited. My interest began with the Anilao leg of my trip to the Philippines earlier this year, when I head other divers talking about their muck diving experiences in Lembeh. I shared some of my Anilao images in macro photography circles online, where Lembeh is a common source of images, many of which caught my eye. My research to ID some of the critters that I shot in Anilao led me to NAD Lembeh's informative blog, and I filed that resort away in the back of my mind for future reference. When the time came to research Lembeh resorts, I considered the competition and found some others that seemed appealing, such as Black Sand Dive Retreat, but at the end of the day I decided to stick with NAD Lembeh. Its selling points included: its consistently positive reviews and reputation; its moderate pricing; its 2:1 diver:guide ratio; its strong photographic focus; their willingness to do night dives for even just one diver (with a reasonable “single supplement” add-on fee); and my general sense from their website and social media presence that I would like their culture and atmosphere (which I did).
NAD Lembeh runs a quality dive operation. Tank fills were always complete and often had a bit extra. They allow generous bottom times of up to 75 minutes, except for some deeper reef dives and for night dives, in which case they limited bottom times to 60 minutes. One can spend almost five hours a day underwater in only four dives: their two-tank trip in the morning, their afternoon dive, and a night dive. Beyond their conventional night dives, they also offer blackwater/bonfire night dives and mandarinfish mating dives, both of which I was eager to try in order to expand my special interest in night dives. (Unlike my mandarinfish mating dive on Bangka Island, this dive actually yielded mandarinfish, and they actually mated in front of us, but ironically, the site was better for nudibranchs). My only significant gripe was that the Nitrox mixes were often inaccurate, sometimes significantly (e.g. 28% instead of 32%), to the point that they constrained bottom times for one or two of the deeper dives.
Their four boats provided a reasonable degree of comfort, complete with a head, and their pier provided easy access to those boats. Perhaps they could have distributed those divers more evenly across their fleet, as there were occasionally more divers on the boat than I would have preferred. They nonetheless adhered strictly to their guaranteed 2:1 diver:guide ratio underwater, which had been a strong selling point for me and contributed significantly to the quality of my underwater experience. There was not any of the “lining up” for photographic subjects for which places like Lembeh and Anilao are known, and the guides tended to keep a good distance between the separate groups – but still close enough to signal to each other when they had found something of great interest, e.g. a blue-ringed octopus. As I had found on Bangka Island and in the Philippines, the guides demonstrated incredibly sharp wildlife spotting skills, which I found all the more remarkable in light of the small size and/or strong camouflage of some of these creatures, such as the hairy shrimp (I saw two of them) and a “Shaun the Sheep” nudibranch (no presentable images of those, which were beyond my skills and equipment).
NAD Lembeh advertises itself as a photography-centric resort, which is definitely true. Their camera room is the size of a small house and should be more than adequate for any guest's needs. There were guests from the BBC there during my stay; the rumor was that they were shooting footage for something along the lines of “Blue Planet.” The guides were clearly familiar with camera equipment and photographic techniques and issues. The manager, Sonja, is a photographer and was a useful resource for any photographic issues than one might encounter. She was almost always present at meals and clearly went out of her way to engage guests. She also occasionally joined us for dives. I also found the demographic of guests at NAD Lembeh, with a diverse mix from Europe, North America, and East Asia, more congenial than the overwhelmingly German crowd on Bangka Island.
The resort was comfortable and enjoyable in other respects as well and was definitely an improvement over the more primitive facilities on Bangka Island. I liked the architecture and general décor, and the humidity and mosquitoes were not as bad as they were on Bangka. The food was of good quality for buffet service and was not too spicy, as Indonesian cuisine may be for some Westerners. The rooms were of good quality, but my only gripe was that the original mattress in my room was way too soft for me. It turned out that they had mattresses with different degrees of firmness available upon request.
I went to Lembeh because I wanted to build and improve upon my impressive muck diving experience in Anilao. In retrospect, I would say that Lembeh did provide a somewhat better muck diving experience in most ways, but not all. In general, I would say that a typical daytime muck dive at Lembeh yielded a greater number and wider variety of more interesting critters than Anilao. The difference was not huge, however, and this assessment may nonetheless vary according to one's specific interests, if any. For example, I would say that Lembeh was better for cephalopods and maybe frogfish, whereas Anilao was better for nudibranchs and maybe crustaceans. The other area in which Anilao still has an advantage is night dives, which remain some of the best dives (day or night) of my entire diving experience thus far. As much as I like muck diving, it is also good to take a break from it every now and then to see some coral, which is another area where Anilao has an advantage, in my view. Some of the Lembeh reefs were not that impressive, and if I could change anything about my Lembeh trip, I would have traded some of the reef dives for more muck dives. The other advantage of Anilao is that it is easier to reach than Lembeh, and I also prefer the terrestrial environment of the Philippines.
I had heard many negative comments about the amount of garbage and other noticeable human defilement in the waters of Lembeh. I cannot dispute the accuracy of such comments but would note that it did not bother me personally; as a native New Yorker, such filth is a normal part of my environment. In fact, the muck dive sites with the most garbage, such as those near villages, often had the most animals. I could not help but wonder if the garbage actually attracted animals by providing them with shelter, structure for growth, or building materials, perhaps in a smaller-scale version of the “artificial reef” effect that shipwrecks have. If nothing else, it was at least reassuring to see that the animal population remained large and diverse in the face of such heavy human impact on the environment, and that at least some animals seemed to be making the best of a bad situation. Whenever you see a piece of garbage in the muck, take a closer look at it or in it, and you have a good chance of finding an animal in it or on it. The octopuses, particularly the coconut octopuses, seemed to be the most frequent users of garbage for shelter, presumably because the coconut octopuses evolved to use objects for protection – but we also found a blue-ringed octopus inside a woman's shoe. Bottles seemed to be popular with octopuses and blennies. We saw one decorator crab that had decorated itself with half of a can and dubbed this new species a “Bintang crab,” in reference to the Indonesian beer brand.
Paul on Instagram: “A blue-ringed octopus on a woman’s shoe, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living inside a pipe and a shell, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in a plastic bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in broken glass, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A blenny in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #photography…”
Paul on Instagram: “A blenny in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #photography…”
Paul on Instagram: “Decorator crab with a can on its back, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A porcupinefish in a can, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #paditv…”
(to be continued)
It was Lembeh that had originally sparked my interest in North Sulawesi, and at the end of the day Lembeh was for me the more fulfilling of the two destinations in North Sulawesi that I visited. My interest began with the Anilao leg of my trip to the Philippines earlier this year, when I head other divers talking about their muck diving experiences in Lembeh. I shared some of my Anilao images in macro photography circles online, where Lembeh is a common source of images, many of which caught my eye. My research to ID some of the critters that I shot in Anilao led me to NAD Lembeh's informative blog, and I filed that resort away in the back of my mind for future reference. When the time came to research Lembeh resorts, I considered the competition and found some others that seemed appealing, such as Black Sand Dive Retreat, but at the end of the day I decided to stick with NAD Lembeh. Its selling points included: its consistently positive reviews and reputation; its moderate pricing; its 2:1 diver:guide ratio; its strong photographic focus; their willingness to do night dives for even just one diver (with a reasonable “single supplement” add-on fee); and my general sense from their website and social media presence that I would like their culture and atmosphere (which I did).
NAD Lembeh runs a quality dive operation. Tank fills were always complete and often had a bit extra. They allow generous bottom times of up to 75 minutes, except for some deeper reef dives and for night dives, in which case they limited bottom times to 60 minutes. One can spend almost five hours a day underwater in only four dives: their two-tank trip in the morning, their afternoon dive, and a night dive. Beyond their conventional night dives, they also offer blackwater/bonfire night dives and mandarinfish mating dives, both of which I was eager to try in order to expand my special interest in night dives. (Unlike my mandarinfish mating dive on Bangka Island, this dive actually yielded mandarinfish, and they actually mated in front of us, but ironically, the site was better for nudibranchs). My only significant gripe was that the Nitrox mixes were often inaccurate, sometimes significantly (e.g. 28% instead of 32%), to the point that they constrained bottom times for one or two of the deeper dives.
Their four boats provided a reasonable degree of comfort, complete with a head, and their pier provided easy access to those boats. Perhaps they could have distributed those divers more evenly across their fleet, as there were occasionally more divers on the boat than I would have preferred. They nonetheless adhered strictly to their guaranteed 2:1 diver:guide ratio underwater, which had been a strong selling point for me and contributed significantly to the quality of my underwater experience. There was not any of the “lining up” for photographic subjects for which places like Lembeh and Anilao are known, and the guides tended to keep a good distance between the separate groups – but still close enough to signal to each other when they had found something of great interest, e.g. a blue-ringed octopus. As I had found on Bangka Island and in the Philippines, the guides demonstrated incredibly sharp wildlife spotting skills, which I found all the more remarkable in light of the small size and/or strong camouflage of some of these creatures, such as the hairy shrimp (I saw two of them) and a “Shaun the Sheep” nudibranch (no presentable images of those, which were beyond my skills and equipment).
NAD Lembeh advertises itself as a photography-centric resort, which is definitely true. Their camera room is the size of a small house and should be more than adequate for any guest's needs. There were guests from the BBC there during my stay; the rumor was that they were shooting footage for something along the lines of “Blue Planet.” The guides were clearly familiar with camera equipment and photographic techniques and issues. The manager, Sonja, is a photographer and was a useful resource for any photographic issues than one might encounter. She was almost always present at meals and clearly went out of her way to engage guests. She also occasionally joined us for dives. I also found the demographic of guests at NAD Lembeh, with a diverse mix from Europe, North America, and East Asia, more congenial than the overwhelmingly German crowd on Bangka Island.
The resort was comfortable and enjoyable in other respects as well and was definitely an improvement over the more primitive facilities on Bangka Island. I liked the architecture and general décor, and the humidity and mosquitoes were not as bad as they were on Bangka. The food was of good quality for buffet service and was not too spicy, as Indonesian cuisine may be for some Westerners. The rooms were of good quality, but my only gripe was that the original mattress in my room was way too soft for me. It turned out that they had mattresses with different degrees of firmness available upon request.
I went to Lembeh because I wanted to build and improve upon my impressive muck diving experience in Anilao. In retrospect, I would say that Lembeh did provide a somewhat better muck diving experience in most ways, but not all. In general, I would say that a typical daytime muck dive at Lembeh yielded a greater number and wider variety of more interesting critters than Anilao. The difference was not huge, however, and this assessment may nonetheless vary according to one's specific interests, if any. For example, I would say that Lembeh was better for cephalopods and maybe frogfish, whereas Anilao was better for nudibranchs and maybe crustaceans. The other area in which Anilao still has an advantage is night dives, which remain some of the best dives (day or night) of my entire diving experience thus far. As much as I like muck diving, it is also good to take a break from it every now and then to see some coral, which is another area where Anilao has an advantage, in my view. Some of the Lembeh reefs were not that impressive, and if I could change anything about my Lembeh trip, I would have traded some of the reef dives for more muck dives. The other advantage of Anilao is that it is easier to reach than Lembeh, and I also prefer the terrestrial environment of the Philippines.
I had heard many negative comments about the amount of garbage and other noticeable human defilement in the waters of Lembeh. I cannot dispute the accuracy of such comments but would note that it did not bother me personally; as a native New Yorker, such filth is a normal part of my environment. In fact, the muck dive sites with the most garbage, such as those near villages, often had the most animals. I could not help but wonder if the garbage actually attracted animals by providing them with shelter, structure for growth, or building materials, perhaps in a smaller-scale version of the “artificial reef” effect that shipwrecks have. If nothing else, it was at least reassuring to see that the animal population remained large and diverse in the face of such heavy human impact on the environment, and that at least some animals seemed to be making the best of a bad situation. Whenever you see a piece of garbage in the muck, take a closer look at it or in it, and you have a good chance of finding an animal in it or on it. The octopuses, particularly the coconut octopuses, seemed to be the most frequent users of garbage for shelter, presumably because the coconut octopuses evolved to use objects for protection – but we also found a blue-ringed octopus inside a woman's shoe. Bottles seemed to be popular with octopuses and blennies. We saw one decorator crab that had decorated itself with half of a can and dubbed this new species a “Bintang crab,” in reference to the Indonesian beer brand.
Paul on Instagram: “A blue-ringed octopus on a woman’s shoe, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living inside a pipe and a shell, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in a plastic bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A coconut octopus living in broken glass, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A blenny in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #photography…”
Paul on Instagram: “A blenny in a bottle, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #photography…”
Paul on Instagram: “Decorator crab with a can on its back, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving…”
Paul on Instagram: “A porcupinefish in a can, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From a dive with @nadlembeh. #scuba #diving #scubadiving #paditv…”
(to be continued)
