Lembeh Straits

Hi guys,

I'd be grateful if anyone could give some advice.

I want to go to the above diving, I have previously been to Bunaken but feel the photography opportunities will be better in Lembeh.

1. My wife isn't a diver but snorkels. What is snorkelling like in the straits ? My feeling is that it won't be great as vis isn't great there and there isn't much of a reef, if any. However I'd love to hear from anyone who has been there.

2. I was thinking of going Feb / March. Has anyone been then and what was the weather like ?

Thanks a lot,

Richard

Hi Richard

Lembeh is fabulous! for divers. For snorklers, Bunaken or Bangka is much better. I've been there last August. Just had a short look by snorkling but.... usually all the weird things are too small to see as a snorkler. You see much more on the other 2 sites.

At the same time as me, there was a couple. She only snorkeled and told me, she was fine with 4 days there but more would have been boring for her.

May be it's another story at KBR because there you have a housereef. Can't say anything about it (stayed with 2Fish).

cheers

Petra

Forget snorkeling in Lembeh. Bangka is probably best in that regard. February can still have rain but you never know. Weather better as you get into mid and late March.

My trip report was posted last month in this forum. Lembeh Resort has a house reef that certain times of the day (due to dive boat traffic) has excellent snorkeling...from what I have heard. You cannot go wrong with the Lembeh Straits area!

Richard H:

1. My wife isn't a diver but snorkels. What is snorkelling like in the straits ?

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I went in Aug/Sept 2008 with my non-diving girlfriend. We stayed at KBR. She absolutely enjoyed snorkeling in Lembeh. In fact she enjoyed Lembeh more than Bunaken. KBR has a nice house reef. They do not let other resorts dive their house reef and it is protected from any boat traffic. We would snorkel the reef after diving. Steven, the dive manager would let her go out on the boat with us so she could snorkel different areas (as long as he thought it was a good place to snorkel). She had a great time and saw some big cuttlefish that were shallow, and of course we didn't see them while we were diving.

In my opinion, we snorkeled at Bunaken and there was not as much to see. We stayed at Bunaken Cha Cha (on the island) and their reef was nothing exciting. Not much to see. When she went on the boat with us, she said the same thing for other parts of the island.

I think your wife will enjoy Lembeh, and so will you.

Thanks so much for your help,

Richard

Hello Snappy the Diver,

did you really visit Lembeh? As some others said as well Lembeh offers very nice snorkeling. Indeed not at the maybe more known typical black sand (muck) sites. But try: Nudi retreat, Magic Coral, Pulau Putus, Pantai Pairigi. From November - April wonderful snorkeling along the ocean side of Lembeh Island.
About the weather in Lembeh:
in most of the guide books you will read that the rainy season on North Sulawesi is somewhere between November and April.
Monsoen often has been translated by rain. Although it means season or wind. In general we are having the North West monsoen from October until April and the South East monsoen from April until October. This so called dry season July brought more rain than the complete so called rainy season. Same happened in 2007. The wind from the south in July and August can be strong but causes less problems than the big swell that can come in from the North in Jan. Feb. Seas around Bangka and Gangga are not so nice then.
Further: the Kema/Bitung/Lembeh coast of North Sulawesi is getting 60% less rain than Manado.
Diving within Lembeh Strait is excellent all year through!

Indah,

I visit Lembeh three times a year - every year. This year, 2008, I was there in March, June, October, and November. All total I spend five to six weeks in the Lembeh Straits. I am very familiar with all of the sites. I find the diving at Lembeh to be very good. I also find that the creatures have declined dramatically in certain areas especially in the last two years. Shallow areas such as the bays are literally raked clean by returning tuna boats cleaning their nets. There are places in the world with very good corals and fish - for snorkeling. Lembeh is not one of them. Can you snorkel - yes. Depending upon your base of experience then you might enjoy snorkeling in Lembeh but in my opinion that is not the area's strength. As everywhere, the weather is unpredictable. For example, this year saw a lot of rain in October.