dirtfarmer
Contributor
On Nov 2nd I arrived in Lembeh, diving with Two Fish for my second go round at Lembeh. It did not disappoint with all but one of the critters on my list showing up
for viewing and photos. My last trip in 2010 I was really hoping for Ornate Ghostpipe Fish, and there was none to be found then. This time there was 3 different sets!!
The Octopi were out in force with Blue Rings, Mimic, Coconut, and Hairy. Recently there has been an arrival of a Rhinopias after a few year absence. There was a Rhinopia on my first trip in 2010, and it was still there for my time in Lembeh. There was of course the wonderful Seahorses, with Pygmy, Pontohi, Thorny, and Lembeh Seadragons.
The Nudi population was down a bit from my first trip in 2010 but there was still some good photos opportunities, including a nudi with Emperor Shrimp on it which
I was really hankering to see. I got some pretty good photos and video of the Nudi w/Emperor but had to cut my visit short as I was coming close to going into deco... which isn't allowed.
There were a few frogfish around with Hairy being on the top of my list, but I was hoping for more. The Moray eel population was very low, as I saw only one in my 5 dive days. Don't know if they are on holiday themselves or been gathered up for the aquarium trade.
The only critter I was hoping for was Harlequin Shrimp but they couldn't be found, my guide tried and tried but struck out and it nearly broke his heart. Don't worry he still got a fat tip.
The diving in Lembeh was again great for the second time, my guide at Two fish was Rein and I had him with one or two other divers and he was a great spotter and guide.
He'd find something, I'd come over then he'd go find the next critter. What I especially liked about him in the low vis conditions he would stay within sight so I didn't have to wonder where the hell he went. ( I have abandonment issues..left behind to many times in public places by my family while I was gazing at the scenery)
I was staying in the budget rooms at Two Fish which were just as they were the last trip... just fine for the $. They did have hot water in the shared bathrooms which was really nice, as I tend to get a bit chilled after 70 min dives in a 3mm shorty. The food was a bit better this time with less fried food than the last trip. The whole staff
at Two Fish was just great from top on down, I really found the local Indo crew to be top notch, very friendly and helpful.
My time in Lembeh was great and I would probably go back as who can resist critter heaven. But then it was time for me to head of a prepare for the Komodo leg of my journey.
I used my layover time in Manado time well, with a quick trip to buy a another SD card and Memory stick as I found to my surprise my laptop almost out of space to store
my Komodo photos.
For Komodo I boarded the Mermaid 2 for what would turn out to be a fantastic trip. We were a bit late leaving the harbor at Benoa as two guests were late in arriving.
Please do the other divers on a liveaboard the favor of arriving one day early and not trying to jet in and jump on the boat. If you don't get left behind, the other divers can suffer as we missed one dive the next day from the delay.
Our first two dives off Moyo and Santanda island were just fine, nothing spectacular but checkout dives for you and your guides. Our second day brought us to "Castle Rock" "Lighthouse Reef" and "Crystal Rock". Castle and Crystal were seamounts with negative entrys and some pretty good current. There was some decent pelagic action, but only a few sharks two whitetips and a grey reef that took off immediately. We hooked in to watch the show then rehooked going up the reef to keep from going into deco. Then at the end off the dive we went thru the washing machine which was more fun the second time we did it.
Our third day brought us to the Rinca area with our first two dives of the day at "Manta Alley". I was looking forward to these dives as it's been a few years since I've had some Manta action and was craving it bad. I was not disappointed with our first dive at the cleaning station, there were about 6 that came round and round. Our second dive was better than the first. There was about 6 Mantas again at the cleaning station ( hard to get a total count as the vis was about 8-10 meters ) then when it was close to deco time we drifted down into the alley where we found ourselves surrounded by at least 10 Mantas just hovering in the current feeding. They stayed put as we hooked in or hovered in an eddy and it was absolutely epic!!!
ne of my top dives ever!!! They were all around coming as close to a meter away and I was able to shoot some great video, and maybe one of the first selfie manta videos ever
.
Our next two dives were in Horseshoe bay at "Canibal Rock" and a night dive at "Torpedo Alley". The vis in the bay wasn't very high but I was very impressed with Canibal Rock. Lot's of small stuff, great color, and amazing diversity. I'd love to go back when the vis tends to be better in Dec/Jan as I could shoot wide angle there for days, but limited myself to macro as the vis was so low. Torpedo Alley is a muck/macro dive and did not disappoint. My guide Ketut, is a madman once he gets on the hunt. He'd find a critter, I'd go over, and I'd watch his light as it scanned for more critters. How he spots stuff so fast I don't know, but seeing how fast he does it at night really gives you a clue to how amazing he was. He was in high spotting gear the whole time and I hardly had any time to look for critters myself. After 80 min it was time to go and finish the day with dinner and beers.
There were the resident Komodo dragons on the beach in horseshoe bay, and they came out in force when we brought the dive tenders close in for a look. The next morning we went for a hike in the park and up to the lookout. The Ranger was quite informative and put up with my funny comments without feeding me to the dragons.
Then we started crusing back north again for more dives at Tertawa Besar, Castle Rock, and Crystal Rock. A little better shark action this time as a whitetip chose me to cruise to and fro in front of. And the washing machine at the top was funner than the first time as I knew what to expect.
Then the next day we had some proper muck dives in Bima Bay at a site called "Better Than Lembeh". Was it? well the critter list ended up really long and a few of my favorites were a pair of Tiger Shrimp and a Bumblebee Shrimp. There was a blue ring that was killed by a moray which I missed, but arrived to see the blue ring lying on the bottom in it's death throes. Ketut was again in top spotting form and after two 90 min dives I was really impressed with the site.
Was it "Better Than Lembeh", well in one site there was a critter count that one might find in three sites in Lembeh so you might say it lives up to it's name.
Then another night of cruising brought us back to Moyo Island for a couple of nice high vis aquarium dives.
Komodo lived up to it's reputation with some wicked currents, spectacular dives, beautiful topside, and Manta Madness. The Mermaid 2 was a comfortable boat with a great crew. The food was good and plentiful, ( I once earned applause from our Russian contingent for finishing a huge plate of food and then going back for more.) The crew is helpful and friendly, the diving was great, and I'd love to go back again.
for viewing and photos. My last trip in 2010 I was really hoping for Ornate Ghostpipe Fish, and there was none to be found then. This time there was 3 different sets!!
The Octopi were out in force with Blue Rings, Mimic, Coconut, and Hairy. Recently there has been an arrival of a Rhinopias after a few year absence. There was a Rhinopia on my first trip in 2010, and it was still there for my time in Lembeh. There was of course the wonderful Seahorses, with Pygmy, Pontohi, Thorny, and Lembeh Seadragons.
The Nudi population was down a bit from my first trip in 2010 but there was still some good photos opportunities, including a nudi with Emperor Shrimp on it which
I was really hankering to see. I got some pretty good photos and video of the Nudi w/Emperor but had to cut my visit short as I was coming close to going into deco... which isn't allowed.
There were a few frogfish around with Hairy being on the top of my list, but I was hoping for more. The Moray eel population was very low, as I saw only one in my 5 dive days. Don't know if they are on holiday themselves or been gathered up for the aquarium trade.
The only critter I was hoping for was Harlequin Shrimp but they couldn't be found, my guide tried and tried but struck out and it nearly broke his heart. Don't worry he still got a fat tip.
The diving in Lembeh was again great for the second time, my guide at Two fish was Rein and I had him with one or two other divers and he was a great spotter and guide.
He'd find something, I'd come over then he'd go find the next critter. What I especially liked about him in the low vis conditions he would stay within sight so I didn't have to wonder where the hell he went. ( I have abandonment issues..left behind to many times in public places by my family while I was gazing at the scenery)
I was staying in the budget rooms at Two Fish which were just as they were the last trip... just fine for the $. They did have hot water in the shared bathrooms which was really nice, as I tend to get a bit chilled after 70 min dives in a 3mm shorty. The food was a bit better this time with less fried food than the last trip. The whole staff
at Two Fish was just great from top on down, I really found the local Indo crew to be top notch, very friendly and helpful.
My time in Lembeh was great and I would probably go back as who can resist critter heaven. But then it was time for me to head of a prepare for the Komodo leg of my journey.
I used my layover time in Manado time well, with a quick trip to buy a another SD card and Memory stick as I found to my surprise my laptop almost out of space to store
my Komodo photos.
For Komodo I boarded the Mermaid 2 for what would turn out to be a fantastic trip. We were a bit late leaving the harbor at Benoa as two guests were late in arriving.
Please do the other divers on a liveaboard the favor of arriving one day early and not trying to jet in and jump on the boat. If you don't get left behind, the other divers can suffer as we missed one dive the next day from the delay.
Our first two dives off Moyo and Santanda island were just fine, nothing spectacular but checkout dives for you and your guides. Our second day brought us to "Castle Rock" "Lighthouse Reef" and "Crystal Rock". Castle and Crystal were seamounts with negative entrys and some pretty good current. There was some decent pelagic action, but only a few sharks two whitetips and a grey reef that took off immediately. We hooked in to watch the show then rehooked going up the reef to keep from going into deco. Then at the end off the dive we went thru the washing machine which was more fun the second time we did it.
Our third day brought us to the Rinca area with our first two dives of the day at "Manta Alley". I was looking forward to these dives as it's been a few years since I've had some Manta action and was craving it bad. I was not disappointed with our first dive at the cleaning station, there were about 6 that came round and round. Our second dive was better than the first. There was about 6 Mantas again at the cleaning station ( hard to get a total count as the vis was about 8-10 meters ) then when it was close to deco time we drifted down into the alley where we found ourselves surrounded by at least 10 Mantas just hovering in the current feeding. They stayed put as we hooked in or hovered in an eddy and it was absolutely epic!!!
Our next two dives were in Horseshoe bay at "Canibal Rock" and a night dive at "Torpedo Alley". The vis in the bay wasn't very high but I was very impressed with Canibal Rock. Lot's of small stuff, great color, and amazing diversity. I'd love to go back when the vis tends to be better in Dec/Jan as I could shoot wide angle there for days, but limited myself to macro as the vis was so low. Torpedo Alley is a muck/macro dive and did not disappoint. My guide Ketut, is a madman once he gets on the hunt. He'd find a critter, I'd go over, and I'd watch his light as it scanned for more critters. How he spots stuff so fast I don't know, but seeing how fast he does it at night really gives you a clue to how amazing he was. He was in high spotting gear the whole time and I hardly had any time to look for critters myself. After 80 min it was time to go and finish the day with dinner and beers.
There were the resident Komodo dragons on the beach in horseshoe bay, and they came out in force when we brought the dive tenders close in for a look. The next morning we went for a hike in the park and up to the lookout. The Ranger was quite informative and put up with my funny comments without feeding me to the dragons.
Then we started crusing back north again for more dives at Tertawa Besar, Castle Rock, and Crystal Rock. A little better shark action this time as a whitetip chose me to cruise to and fro in front of. And the washing machine at the top was funner than the first time as I knew what to expect.
Then the next day we had some proper muck dives in Bima Bay at a site called "Better Than Lembeh". Was it? well the critter list ended up really long and a few of my favorites were a pair of Tiger Shrimp and a Bumblebee Shrimp. There was a blue ring that was killed by a moray which I missed, but arrived to see the blue ring lying on the bottom in it's death throes. Ketut was again in top spotting form and after two 90 min dives I was really impressed with the site.
Was it "Better Than Lembeh", well in one site there was a critter count that one might find in three sites in Lembeh so you might say it lives up to it's name.
Then another night of cruising brought us back to Moyo Island for a couple of nice high vis aquarium dives.
Komodo lived up to it's reputation with some wicked currents, spectacular dives, beautiful topside, and Manta Madness. The Mermaid 2 was a comfortable boat with a great crew. The food was good and plentiful, ( I once earned applause from our Russian contingent for finishing a huge plate of food and then going back for more.) The crew is helpful and friendly, the diving was great, and I'd love to go back again.
