My husband and I just returned from our North Sulawesi dive sampler trip. We were in North Sulawesi from September 1 13 (couldnt stay longer because of my limited vacation days), spending the first 4 nights at Gangga Island Resort, the next 4 nights at Lembeh Resort and finally finishing up with 4 nights at Lumbalumba Diving in Bunaken. It was, without a doubt, one of our best dive trips.
Heres the short version:
My husband and I absolutely loved the diving at Lembeh Straits its a special place and makes many other places pale by comparison. The diving around Gangga (mainland and especially Bangka) was better than we expected, and for us, was a really good combination with Lembeh. Bunakens wall diving was just OK, and not nearly as special as our other two stops. It was hard for us not to compare Bunaken to other places where we liked the wall better (like Little Cayman). Wed love to return to North Sulawesi for a longer vacation, and would stay again at Gangga Island Resort and Lembeh Resort without hesitation. Next time, we would spend 1/3 of our time at Gangga and 2/3 of our time at Lembeh. Hmmm, or maybe a trip to Komodo/Lembeh, not really sure yet
And heres the longer version (its pretty long, so I broke it up into 5 parts):
Part 1 Trip arrangements and getting there
Trip Arrangements:
We booked our flights through Bunnie at Indonesia Promo she had been previously recommended by a scubaboarder. She was easy to work with and had the best airfare, and we wouldnt hesitate to use her services again. Fyi, because of the special airfare, we couldnt accrue KrisFlyer miles on Singapore Airlines, or later upgrade our coach seats to business class. We made our own reservations directly with the resorts. Before we left, we also reserved a room at the Ambassador Transit Hotel at the Singapore airport for a 6 hour block of time because we had a longish layover in Singapore airport on our return. Ambassador Transit Hotels are located in the Singapore airport in Terminal 2 and 3.
Flights:
We flew on United/Delta between our home in Virginia and JFK, then on Singapore Airlines from JFK through Frankfurt (about 6 hours flying) to Singapore (another 12 hours flying), and finally on Silk Air to Manado (about 3 hours flying). It was a long haul, and if I had more vacation time, we would have routed through LAX with an overnight stay in Los Angeles, or at least stayed overnight in Singapore if we did the same routing. For both our departure and return flights, we were able to check our luggage through to the final destination. However, on the departure, United was unable to provide us with a boarding pass for Singapore Airlines, even though they are a signature airlines partner. I called Singapore Airlines before we left, and they confirmed that once in JFK, we would have to get a boarding pass issued by Singapore Airlines. This meant that when we arrived at Terminal 7 in JFK, we had to: go out of security (there was no choice); follow signs to the Airtrain (free transit between terminals and to a parking area); take the Airtrain (the one that circles around the airport) to Terminal 4 to the Singapore Airlines ticketing counter; wait in line to get our boarding pass, and then go back through security to the departure gate. Even though we had a 3 hour layover between flights at JFK, because of our United flight delays due to JFK traffic, we were rushing to make the Singapore Airlines flight. That part of the trip was not fun. If you do this same type of itinerary, be sure to build in plenty of time for your layover in JFK. We were sure that none of our checked bags would make the SA flight, but surprisingly found out later that 2 of our 3 checked bags made it. Also, because our originating flight was not a Singapore Airlines flight, we were unable to finalize our seat assignments on their website within 48 hours of the flight. We had previously requested through Bunnie a window and an aisle seat on SA, and were happy to find that when we checked in at JFK, those are the seats that we had been assigned. We made it to Singapore without any problems and easily made the connection to the Silk Air flight to Manado.
By the way, we really liked the level of service that Singapore Airlines provided from our experience its the best weve had so far on an airline. As information, it didnt appear that Singapore Airlines or Silk Air really adhered to their carry-on limits (7 kg or about 15 pounds) as there were a number of people in coach with carry-on bags that clearly exceeded the limits.
When we arrived at Manado International Airport, we went downstairs and waited in line at the first counter (Bank Negara Indonesia) to get our Visa on Arrival (25 USD per person be sure to use new, crisp, clean bills). We also changed some USD into Rupiah, and put aside two 100,000 Rupiah bills for the departure tax. It was probably not the best exchange rate (around 8900 Rp per USD), but better than the rate at Singapore Airport. At the second counter, they processed our Visa on Arrival, and put a Visa sticker in our passport. We then went through immigration and claimed 2 of our 3 checked bags. If your luggage doesnt show up in Manado Airport, dont leave the luggage area until you get some help processing a lost luggage claim. Its not immediately obvious what you should do if a bag doesnt show up (there are no signs). We were eventually pointed to a Silk air rep who: took our luggage info & filled out some paperwork; assured us that the luggage would show up on the next Silk Air flight two days later; and provided us with 60 USD to buy necessary items. My advice is to pack wisely. There really is nothing available to buy in the small shop at Gangga Island Resort except perhaps a T-shirt! Silk Air also said that they would cover the cost of any rental gear. The bag did show up at the resort two days later, and the resort billed Silk Air directly for the BC that I had to rent, so we were happy.
Transfer to Gangga Island Resort:
We were met at the airport by a Gangga representative. The drive to the boat pier was about 1 hour over paved then dirt road. The boat ride to Gangga Island was about 20 minutes.
Heres the short version:
My husband and I absolutely loved the diving at Lembeh Straits its a special place and makes many other places pale by comparison. The diving around Gangga (mainland and especially Bangka) was better than we expected, and for us, was a really good combination with Lembeh. Bunakens wall diving was just OK, and not nearly as special as our other two stops. It was hard for us not to compare Bunaken to other places where we liked the wall better (like Little Cayman). Wed love to return to North Sulawesi for a longer vacation, and would stay again at Gangga Island Resort and Lembeh Resort without hesitation. Next time, we would spend 1/3 of our time at Gangga and 2/3 of our time at Lembeh. Hmmm, or maybe a trip to Komodo/Lembeh, not really sure yet
And heres the longer version (its pretty long, so I broke it up into 5 parts):
Part 1 Trip arrangements and getting there
Trip Arrangements:
We booked our flights through Bunnie at Indonesia Promo she had been previously recommended by a scubaboarder. She was easy to work with and had the best airfare, and we wouldnt hesitate to use her services again. Fyi, because of the special airfare, we couldnt accrue KrisFlyer miles on Singapore Airlines, or later upgrade our coach seats to business class. We made our own reservations directly with the resorts. Before we left, we also reserved a room at the Ambassador Transit Hotel at the Singapore airport for a 6 hour block of time because we had a longish layover in Singapore airport on our return. Ambassador Transit Hotels are located in the Singapore airport in Terminal 2 and 3.
Flights:
We flew on United/Delta between our home in Virginia and JFK, then on Singapore Airlines from JFK through Frankfurt (about 6 hours flying) to Singapore (another 12 hours flying), and finally on Silk Air to Manado (about 3 hours flying). It was a long haul, and if I had more vacation time, we would have routed through LAX with an overnight stay in Los Angeles, or at least stayed overnight in Singapore if we did the same routing. For both our departure and return flights, we were able to check our luggage through to the final destination. However, on the departure, United was unable to provide us with a boarding pass for Singapore Airlines, even though they are a signature airlines partner. I called Singapore Airlines before we left, and they confirmed that once in JFK, we would have to get a boarding pass issued by Singapore Airlines. This meant that when we arrived at Terminal 7 in JFK, we had to: go out of security (there was no choice); follow signs to the Airtrain (free transit between terminals and to a parking area); take the Airtrain (the one that circles around the airport) to Terminal 4 to the Singapore Airlines ticketing counter; wait in line to get our boarding pass, and then go back through security to the departure gate. Even though we had a 3 hour layover between flights at JFK, because of our United flight delays due to JFK traffic, we were rushing to make the Singapore Airlines flight. That part of the trip was not fun. If you do this same type of itinerary, be sure to build in plenty of time for your layover in JFK. We were sure that none of our checked bags would make the SA flight, but surprisingly found out later that 2 of our 3 checked bags made it. Also, because our originating flight was not a Singapore Airlines flight, we were unable to finalize our seat assignments on their website within 48 hours of the flight. We had previously requested through Bunnie a window and an aisle seat on SA, and were happy to find that when we checked in at JFK, those are the seats that we had been assigned. We made it to Singapore without any problems and easily made the connection to the Silk Air flight to Manado.
By the way, we really liked the level of service that Singapore Airlines provided from our experience its the best weve had so far on an airline. As information, it didnt appear that Singapore Airlines or Silk Air really adhered to their carry-on limits (7 kg or about 15 pounds) as there were a number of people in coach with carry-on bags that clearly exceeded the limits.
When we arrived at Manado International Airport, we went downstairs and waited in line at the first counter (Bank Negara Indonesia) to get our Visa on Arrival (25 USD per person be sure to use new, crisp, clean bills). We also changed some USD into Rupiah, and put aside two 100,000 Rupiah bills for the departure tax. It was probably not the best exchange rate (around 8900 Rp per USD), but better than the rate at Singapore Airport. At the second counter, they processed our Visa on Arrival, and put a Visa sticker in our passport. We then went through immigration and claimed 2 of our 3 checked bags. If your luggage doesnt show up in Manado Airport, dont leave the luggage area until you get some help processing a lost luggage claim. Its not immediately obvious what you should do if a bag doesnt show up (there are no signs). We were eventually pointed to a Silk air rep who: took our luggage info & filled out some paperwork; assured us that the luggage would show up on the next Silk Air flight two days later; and provided us with 60 USD to buy necessary items. My advice is to pack wisely. There really is nothing available to buy in the small shop at Gangga Island Resort except perhaps a T-shirt! Silk Air also said that they would cover the cost of any rental gear. The bag did show up at the resort two days later, and the resort billed Silk Air directly for the BC that I had to rent, so we were happy.
Transfer to Gangga Island Resort:
We were met at the airport by a Gangga representative. The drive to the boat pier was about 1 hour over paved then dirt road. The boat ride to Gangga Island was about 20 minutes.
