outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
The beauty of muck diving is animals hide on specific other animals/features underwater...or they're randomly out in the open, and by now I've done 10 muck diving trips of a week each. I have a pretty darn good idea of where to look for almost anything I want to find.
It's true more pairs of eyes are better, but if you drop a guide into some site where he has no idea of a SPECIFIC place to look, his guess is as good as mine. His only value of experience to someone like me is remembering where he's seen something the day before, otherwise their odds of finding it are as good as mine.
EDIT: As a case and point to the above, every time I've asked for a pygmy seahorse or lembeh sea dragon, I magically get taken directly to them OR I'm told "sorry it was here yesterday must have moved". I have not seen a single guide consistently find exactly what I ask for with any high probability unless they already knew roughly where it should be.
The guide is there all the time and dives almost daily. That would lead me to believe they are familiar with those specific other animals/features underwater you speak of and where those are relative to a specific dive site. His guess would be better than yours if he knows where to find that feature and you do not. My thinking is that they know the area, the diving, and the critters way better than I do, or anyone who even visits many times a year. It is their job and their livelihood, and many are very passionate about it all. I suppose that my resistance is that you are presenting yourself as being more knowledgeable and just as knowledgeable as the local guide and I am very skeptical of this.
If someone didn't know that something exists on a particular other animal or feature, you wouldn't know to look for it there. Additionally, as you are photographing something, the guide is usually off over at the next feature trying to spot something so once you're done taking a photo or looking at the item you're looking at, you're ready for the next one to make the time underwater most efficient. We can agree to disagree on the value of a guide. I'm not insisting that one way or the other is right or wrong for someone else.
With regards to the group size, I think it is very relevant. When the guide finds something, he points it out. Everyone takes a turn to look at it and photograph it. With 2 more people in the group, that takes up more time on the dive for the guide to not only show the other 2 people and for them to photograph, but having to wait for those other 2 people to finish before moving on. Let's say we're all friendly divers and we point it out for other divers. You have 2 more people behind you waiting to photograph it and waiting next to you and you might feel more rushed on time to get a shot rather than just having your buddy waiting for a shot. If there is another feature nearby, it's less of an issue and you can still somewhat move on, but that game of leapfrog still affects how much time you have with a critter and how quickly you can move from one critter to the next whether yourself or with the group, especially if there is no nearby feature. That is also 2 more opportunities for the other divers to silt you out, scare the critter away, etc. When there are 2 more people on a muck dive, it introduces more variables into the mix. It might be fine for many people, including yourself, but I don't think it is ideal for many.
I'm going to Lembeh because the animals are all there in one place. As far as price goes, it's not really more expensive to go to Lembeh, unless you stay in overpriced upscale resorts. Cost per dive is about same in Bali or similar places.
I would disagree with the cost. Compared to other places in Indonesia, when you factor in your total costs (not including airfare) of average accommodations/food/diving in Lembeh and break down your costs on a per dive basis, it is on average more expensive than other land based muck diving options in Indonesia or Philippines, barring even "overpriced upscale resorts".