Lembeh east side

pughio83 · Jan 31, 2013

Has anyone dived the sites on the east side of lembeh ie not in the strait itself, and if so, is it worth the trip? Got 2 weeks in lembeh in may and want to try go to bangka for a day and maybe eastern lembeh for a day if there is a reason to go.

Cheers

AlMitch · Jan 31, 2013

Definitely. When we stayed at Divers Lodge Lembeh (they are right on the Southern tip of Lembeh Island) we spent a day up the East coast and the viz was brilliant and there was some pretty good reef diving. The dive sight at Palau Dua (a small island just off the the south east coast of Lembeh) was particularly good, we saw a small shark and a turtle and the fish and coral life was surprisingly good. There is also a cool little beach that you can park off on and have your lunch.
Bangka is a must! In fact if I were you I'd give up a few days on Lembeh and stay on Bangka for 3-4 days. During two weeks you will defitely want to get some variety in the diving mix and get out of the muck a little. I'd also recommend going to the Mauro wreck (not sure on spelling) in the straight.
I'm jealous! Two weeks in Lembeh.... you wont want to leave!

instructorinasia · Jan 31, 2013

The Mawali Wreck in the Strait is an awesome dive and should be visited if you are spending a couple of weeks in Lembeh!! I would also recommend a trip to Bangka/East or South of Lembeh as well to give you a nice mix of diving

Luko · Feb 1, 2013

Same as AlMitch above...
You should mix up Bangka 5 days and the rest of the time in Lembeh.
Bangka is much more worth than 1 day trip, they've got more then 25 dive sites around.
I've already been 4 times in Bangka and will certainly go back. This area is so varied!

frogfish · Feb 1, 2013

As said above, Bangka is really worth a few days- The East side of Lembeh is nice as well, but not on par with Bangka with the diversity and beautiful coral gardens of Bangka. The ideal Manado trip in my opinion is a combination of Lembeh and Bangka.

instructorinasia · Feb 1, 2013

If doing the combo I would look at a few days in Bangka first and then head to Lembeh second.... Save the awesome muck diving till last!

pughio83 · Feb 2, 2013

Thanks guys. Well I aim to hit bangka at least twice in the 2 weeks and will pay extra if have to to ensure we get to dive there. Plus try do one day on east coast and will defo want to dive all the wrecks I can In the area. Twofish are pretty accommodating and the weather should b ok. If I like bangka then it will prob b another trip to dive it more, as want to dive gangga as well.

I love macro and muck diving. Had my fair share of mantas and molas in bali recently so wanna do some photgraphy of the little stuff. And I have a huge list of critters to find! Bigger than last time!!

Let's hope my gf likes it as this will be her first critter hunt lol and need her to love it so I can visit Ambon, PNG etc in the future ;-)

Luko · Feb 2, 2013

Let's hope my gf likes it as this will be her first critter hunt lol and need her to love it so I can visit Ambon, PNG etc in the future ;-)

Then bring her to Bangka, it's a soft intro to muck, where you can alternate spots with lots of colors and real muck. (that's also why I prefer Bangka to Lembeh).
FYI Gangga and Bangka are the same dive destination, it's only 10-15 mn boat ride, Gangga is a smaller island off Bangka.

pughio83 · Feb 2, 2013

Thanks luko. Yeah I know Gangga was off bangka, I meant that I have always wanted to stay on Gangga island but is pricey hence prov do the two as a separate trip!! Well I am
Going to try explore as many different places as I can in the area, to mix it up a bit. But my critter list is hard to find so don't want to sacrifice too many dives on reef dives. Maybe I will be like u and fall in Love with bangka!!

Luko · Feb 2, 2013

But my critter list is hard to find so don't want to sacrifice too many dives on reef dives. Maybe I will be like u and fall in Love with bangka!!

What i'm trying to say is that Bangka is not only reef diving, it can be as critter packed as Lembeh. Depends on what you're looking for, but for instance there will be more pygmy seahorse in Bangka than Lembeh, I dived a spot where I've seen 2 severnsi and 2 pontohi on the same bommie. There's a lot of black sand muck diving in this area too.

Lembeh east side

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