Bunaken, Manado, Lembeh, Bangka help pls?

[chillyinCanada]

I very much enjoyed my time at Black Sands and it would probably be great for kids. I'm not so sure about the beach though. When I was there (it was February) and the sand was always wet. There are stairs from the resort down to the beach area. Pool is so cute as it is shaped a footprint. Lots of grassy area and beautiful flowering bushes etc. The view from my room was divine. I thought the food was very good and definitely catered to my western taste buds.

 

[AlMitch]

Rob
Last time we were on Bangka it was middle of July and the longer we stayed the windier it got. Mornings were ok, but then I dont remember going on many afternoon dives as it was just too windy.

If I can remember correctly the prevailing wind was SW, (someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong), so if you stayed at Sea Souls, which is on the North coast, they actually may be out of the prevailing wind....but I could be wrong.
We were at Mimpi Indah and in the afternoons you couldn't really walk on the "beach" as it was quite cold actually and very blustery. But with the weather the way it is... one never knows.

Thanks for the Gilli Air video. It really does should how much poorer the diving is there compared with places such as Bangka!! Especially considering that was your highlights!
I'm really struggling to say yes to the Gilli's, the diving really does not excite me at all.
I'll probably PM you one day and get some more info.

 

[UFOrb]

Thanks for the Gilli Air video. It really does should how much poorer the diving is there compared with places such as Bangka!! Especially considering that was your highlights!
I'm really struggling to say yes to the Gilli's, the diving really does not excite me at all.
I'll probably PM you one day and get some more info.

Yeah, it’s telling that from 4 (of 5) dives around the Gili’s my highlights vid is around 5 mins, whereas from 6 (of 7) Bali dives my 3 highlights vids are over 20 mins in total, and that was with some additional editing to shorten them from the original edits. Btw, making dive videos and photos is new to me so I know I still have a lot to learn, particularly remembering to manually adjust white balance frequently!

I did enjoy the relaxed easy dives around the Gili’s and seeing plenty of turtles and reef sharks close up (plus I’m fairly easily pleased ), but I saw it as more of a ‘warm-up’ for Bali after a few months break from diving. The Gili Air part of the trip was a nice family beach holiday with some very convenient but so-so diving and snorkelling. The atmosphere on Air is very laid back and friendly that we all really enjoyed.
However for convenient (so-so) diving and better beaches there are other options that we’ve been to, eg Koh Lipe, Thailand or the Perhentians. I don’t think we’d particularly rush to go back to the Gili’s, unless it’s with my niece who wants to learn to dive and is desperate to see turtles - it’s definitely good for those things. We will go back to Bali sometime though, particularly given that we’ll be mainly restricted to late July/August for the next few years. And Bali has certainly further piqued my interest in Indo diving!

Yes do PM me if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[matts1w]

Gili Air is absolutely one of my most favorite places in Indonesia. That being said, if you are pretty hardcore and going to the Gilis just to dive you will be bummed out. If you are going to the Gili Air to dive bit (once a day or so) chill with friends, eat some good, party a little, get some good runs in/yoga, watch amazing sunsets, lay in the sun, swim, a fall asleep reading a book four or five times a day... You get the idea. To me the Gili islands are by far the best place in Indo to travel with non diving friends. There is enough for everyone.