Lembeh and Siladen Island

[Jay_Fish]

Has anyone made a combo trip to both places? How did you travel from Lembeh to Siladen or vice versa?
I have been to Lembeh resort and would like to try either Siladen or Bunaken. I am planning to do this next August.
There is not Air Asia flying from either Jakarta or Bali. It looks like only Garuda Airline or Lion Air or Batik Air serves the segment between Jakarta and Manado.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi there

I haven't been to Siladen , but have been to Lembeh , which was awesome. All of the resorts in the area arrange transfers to other areas and islands. Many many people do two centre trips to Northern sulawesi. Last year I went to Bali for a few days first and then caught a Garuda direct flight to manado. This arrived quite late , but on time, but meant I could dive al day before. Garuda are a great airline. This February I am going back and was super organized and booked LHR to Manado via Singapore return. However SQ cancelled the Singaopre to manado flight , a real PITA. So in future I will go either Denpasar , or Jakarta. The more options you have to get from A to B in Indonesia the better in arcade things so wrong.

Betst fishes

 

[WetPup]

Been to all 3. Resorts can arrange transfers. You generally set out in the morning with all your personal belongings packed and stored on the dive boat, do 3 dives along the way, and end up at the other end late afternoon. Not uncommon, so they are used to such requests. Generally does need to be arranged in advance though so they can ensure a boat is available.

 

[highdesert]

Is there any reason you haven't considered Bangka? Closer than the other two, and easily as good or better for an alternative to Lembeh muck.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I wanted to add in my thoughts for your air options.

I have flown Sriwijaya, Garuda, and Batik but flew Business on Batik because it was $185 vs 150 for Jakarta to Sorong one way. Why not for $35 more? It was one of the best flight experiences I’ve ever had. It was incredible. From check in to boarding to in flight to baggage claim. Service was extremely personal. I’m quite well traveled internationally. While most of my travel is in economy, I have had the luck and pleasure of flying transpacific business many times before on top airlines so I do have a reference point.

I was also unimpressed by the service, seats, and condition of the planes for Garuda when we flew them between Manado and Jakarta as well as Sorong to Manado. The planes were older and the service was reminiscent of Sriwijaya but we arrived on time and bags came out as expected. Uneventful, but a bit surprising given this was their flag carrier. We flew Sriwijaya to Labuan Bajo last year and they were using old Continental planes. We only took it because flying Garuda was $300 a person vs $135 round trip from Bali at the time.

In short, don’t write Batik off especially because they’re not a flag carrier.

 

[matts1w]

Batik is great until things go south, and then you will quickly remember they are just a rebranded Lion Air. Batik is backed by the same craptastic ground staff that ensures Lyin' Air be the nightmare it is. Garuda may not knock it out of the park every single time, but when flights are canceled or luggage is lost, you will quickly see why they are worth the extra money.

That being said, I fly Lion and Batik all the time. A business class seat on the Batik 1 AM flight from Jakarta to Ambon is a great value. Just be sure to remember the old analogy about lipstick on pigs.

 

[Jay_Fish]

Is there any reason you haven't considered Bangka? Closer than the other two, and easily as good or better for an alternative to Lembeh muck.

Actually I did Bangka last time. The dive sites were nice but the resort kind of too rustic to me especially after staying at Lembeh resort priot to that. The room was just tiny.

 

[Jay_Fish]

Batik is great until things go south, and then you will quickly remember they are just a rebranded Lion Air. Batik is backed by the same craptastic ground staff that ensures Lyin' Air be the nightmare it is. Garuda may not knock it out of the park every single time, but when flights are canceled or luggage is lost, you will quickly see why they are worth the extra money.

That being said, I fly Lion and Batik all the time. A business class seat on the Batik 1 AM flight from Jakarta to Ambon is a great value. Just be sure to remember the old analogy about lipstick on pigs.

LOL on the craptastic ground staff and Lipstick on pigs. Thanks for the info though.

 

[Jay_Fish]

Been to all 3. Resorts can arrange transfers. You generally set out in the morning with all your personal belongings packed and stored on the dive boat, do 3 dives along the way, and end up at the other end late afternoon. Not uncommon, so they are used to such requests. Generally does need to be arranged in advance though so they can ensure a boat is available.

Thank you for the info. That's a great idea to do some dives while traveling from one point to another.

 

[Wingy]

I've also done all three in combinations of purely boat transport or combo of boat and car transfer organised by dive ops. I also refer to Lion air as Lying air lol.