samsonjlee
New
I'm new to this forum, but have used it to get tips on where to go for diving and want to contribute my part. My wife and I spent 8 days/7 nights in Bunaken (5 nights) and Lembeh (2 nights). We've done 150 dives or so mostly in the Carribean and this was our first trip to Asia in general and Bunaken.
We took a flight from Seattle to Taipei then to Singapore on EVA air, compared to US airlines, this one was outstanding, good service, good food, actually nice flight attendants, lots of leg room in economy. If I could I would only fly them and never fly another US airline again. Stayed one day in Singapore out of necessity but also to look around, great city. Amazing food.
Then took Silk Air to Manado, make sure you have cash for the airport entrance visa. It's 25 bucks I think. Very smooth transfer to Siladen island, with no waiting for the van or transfer or other passengers. 25 minutes to the dock and 35 minutes to the island. Siladen resort is a small island east of Bunaken by about 10 minutes. I think it's the only resort on the island. The resort was awesome, dive staff great and friendly. Didn't have to touch our equipment, except to measure O2 concentration for nitrox. They washed, hung it to dry, had the right amount of weights, everything was done for you, it was awesome. Diving in Bunaken was great, it's mostly light to moderate current, wall diving with 80-100 ft visibility. Lots of small reef fishes, once basically there were thousands of triggerfishes surrounding us. Also macro although not as plentiful as Lembeh. Beautiful coral and wall diving. People make a big deal of the trash in prior forums I've read. There is trash and it is sad, but it's not like you can't see what you want to see because of trash, or you run into it because it's so much. Maybe I went at a time where there was less of it, but it wasn't that bad in my opinion, of course I wish there wasn't any. At the end of our trip did a dolphin cruise and saw literally 100 dolphins. I have nothing bad to say about Siladen, it was great, with exquisite service, good food, and nice accommodations. It's probably overpriced for Bunaken, but for the level of service I got, it was worth it to me. I would definitely go to Siladen resort again and also dive Bunaken again. We also did some semi"muck" diving closer to Manado, but again it's nothing like Lmebeh.
Transfer then to Lembeh which took about 3 hours, was very smooth, the resorts talk to each resort. We stayed at Lembeh resort. Again a great resort, great atmosphere, good food. I wish I had more time then 2 days, but it was a good 2 days. Saw all manners of small critters, frog fish, scorpion fish, seahorses, shrimps, cuttlefish, octopus, etc. I had never done muck diving, but was surprised at the lack of visibility, I would say 30 foot on the one day, and then maybe 50 foot the other day. No coral where we went until the surface, but you're not there for coral, and I've been told they have sites with more coral toward the entrance to the bay. Very cool diving, but for me personally I wouldn't want to spend an entire week diving in low visibility looking for tiny things. I like taking pictures, but don't want to do it for a whole week. I'm glad I went there, but would split the time between Bunaken and Lembeh, with such smooth transfers you can still do 2-3 dives that day you transfer.
So all in all a great trip, I definitely think the diving was the best I had done, although I still like Cayman and Cozumel a lot. I definitely plan to go back someday, but will try other places first, like Wakatobi, Raja Ampat, etc. When I do go back I'll split the time between the two, its worth the minimal hassle. I hope this helps someone.
We took a flight from Seattle to Taipei then to Singapore on EVA air, compared to US airlines, this one was outstanding, good service, good food, actually nice flight attendants, lots of leg room in economy. If I could I would only fly them and never fly another US airline again. Stayed one day in Singapore out of necessity but also to look around, great city. Amazing food.
Then took Silk Air to Manado, make sure you have cash for the airport entrance visa. It's 25 bucks I think. Very smooth transfer to Siladen island, with no waiting for the van or transfer or other passengers. 25 minutes to the dock and 35 minutes to the island. Siladen resort is a small island east of Bunaken by about 10 minutes. I think it's the only resort on the island. The resort was awesome, dive staff great and friendly. Didn't have to touch our equipment, except to measure O2 concentration for nitrox. They washed, hung it to dry, had the right amount of weights, everything was done for you, it was awesome. Diving in Bunaken was great, it's mostly light to moderate current, wall diving with 80-100 ft visibility. Lots of small reef fishes, once basically there were thousands of triggerfishes surrounding us. Also macro although not as plentiful as Lembeh. Beautiful coral and wall diving. People make a big deal of the trash in prior forums I've read. There is trash and it is sad, but it's not like you can't see what you want to see because of trash, or you run into it because it's so much. Maybe I went at a time where there was less of it, but it wasn't that bad in my opinion, of course I wish there wasn't any. At the end of our trip did a dolphin cruise and saw literally 100 dolphins. I have nothing bad to say about Siladen, it was great, with exquisite service, good food, and nice accommodations. It's probably overpriced for Bunaken, but for the level of service I got, it was worth it to me. I would definitely go to Siladen resort again and also dive Bunaken again. We also did some semi"muck" diving closer to Manado, but again it's nothing like Lmebeh.
Transfer then to Lembeh which took about 3 hours, was very smooth, the resorts talk to each resort. We stayed at Lembeh resort. Again a great resort, great atmosphere, good food. I wish I had more time then 2 days, but it was a good 2 days. Saw all manners of small critters, frog fish, scorpion fish, seahorses, shrimps, cuttlefish, octopus, etc. I had never done muck diving, but was surprised at the lack of visibility, I would say 30 foot on the one day, and then maybe 50 foot the other day. No coral where we went until the surface, but you're not there for coral, and I've been told they have sites with more coral toward the entrance to the bay. Very cool diving, but for me personally I wouldn't want to spend an entire week diving in low visibility looking for tiny things. I like taking pictures, but don't want to do it for a whole week. I'm glad I went there, but would split the time between Bunaken and Lembeh, with such smooth transfers you can still do 2-3 dives that day you transfer.
So all in all a great trip, I definitely think the diving was the best I had done, although I still like Cayman and Cozumel a lot. I definitely plan to go back someday, but will try other places first, like Wakatobi, Raja Ampat, etc. When I do go back I'll split the time between the two, its worth the minimal hassle. I hope this helps someone.
