bunaken/ lembeh/wakatobi

[pughio83]

Thinking of a dive trip next year to both spots. Any advice on good dive centres, places to stay, any good land based things in northern sulawesi. I have heard of fisheye divers - any comments about this dive centre? Also anyone dived wakatobi and if so how was it ie is it worth factoring in. I love both macro and big stuff but obviously i know we are talking macro here! Advice much appreciated.

 

[Izecson]

I just did some budget diving in Wakatobi last month.
I went to two islands there, Pulau Tomia and Pulau Hoga.

Tomia is where the Wakatobi resort is, but since they're out of my price range I didn't dive with them.
I dived with Tomia Dive Center instead.
AFAIK, TDC is the only dive centre in the area other than Wakatobi resort.

Tomia is an awesome place to dive.
The sheer number of marine life there is amazing.
Barracudas, wrasse, moray, triggerfish, etc.
The sites I dived are mostly walls and some pinnacle / ridge.
There are macro sites too, but we didn't go there because the current is too strong.
For sites in Tomia, check out this link: Wakatobi Dive Resort - Dive Sites and Descriptions

Now the bad thing with TDC is that they only have 1 divemaster, and he was not in Tomia when I got there.
So I dived with his brother, which is a diver but certainly not a divemaster i.e he didn't have extensive knowledge of the dive sites and he definitely doesn't have "eagle eyes".
Most of the time, it was me who lead the dive and he was basically only there to help me in case something wrong happened.

TDC is really small operation and they don't have a resort or anything.
I slept at a spare room at their dive center, and the neighbouring villagers make dinner for us.
So accomodation wise, it was all pretty basic.

In total I spent 380 USD for 10 dives and 4 days in Tomia.

In Tomia, there's only electricity at night.
They have cellphone signal though, so you can have (slow) internet.

In Hoga, I dived with Tukang Besi Diving.
The dive sites are similar but slightly inferior than Tomia.
They do have better accomodation (still basic) and the food is great.
The divemaster is also better.
Another major plus is you get white sandy beach and a great place just to relax and do nothing.

In Hoga I spent 330 USD for 7 dives and 5 days.


IMO, You'll get a better overall experience in Bunaken, but from a purely diving prespective Tomia / Hoga win hands down.
If you don't mind roughing it a bit, I'd definitely recommend them.

Lembeh is different than Bunaken / Tomia / Hoga, it's such a unique place, especially if you love macro.
They don't cal call it the critter capital for nothing.


For TDC, contact Yudi +62 856 5656 1560.
You can try emailing them (contact_us@tomiadivecentre.com) but the internet connection there is bad, so it might take a week or two for them to reply.

Tukang Besi Diving is here (http://www.tukangbesidiving.com/) or talk to Geertje at +62 815 2466 5350

 

[Izecson]

I thought I'd add some info on how to get to Tomia and Hoga (Wakatobi)

From Jakarta/Bali/Manado/Singapore, you have to fly to Makassar in South Sulawesi.

From Makassar you have two options.

Option 1:
Take a flight to Wanci (the only public airfield in Wakatobi).
There's only one daily flight, leaving Makassar at 9 AM.
Airfare is around 60-80 USD.
Public boats from Wanci to Hoga (Kaledupa) and Tomia leaves in the morning, the latest one is 10 AM I think.
So if you want to take public boats, you must spend the night in Wanci.
Or you can also charter a boat.
I've been told it cost 80-100 USD to charter a boat to Hoga, but I've never tried it myself.

From Wanci, Hoga (Kaledupa) is 90 minutes away and Tomia is 3-4 hours away.

Option 2:
Take a flight to Bau-bau.
There are two daily flights from Makassar to Bau-Bau.
The morning flight is the same plane that's going to Wanci, and the second flight is in the afternoon (around 2 PM).
From Bau-bau take the overnight ferry to Wanci.
The boat cost 10-15 USD and it leaves Bau-bau at 9 PM and arrives in Wanci at 6 AM.
You'd have enough time to catch the boat to Hoga (Kaledupa) or Tomia.

I have to say the boat ride from Bau-bau to Wanci was not the most comfortable one I ever take.
In fact there are times when it was rather scary :shocked2:

Best time to visit Wakatobi is late September to November and March-May.
That's when the sea is at its calmest.

Jan-Feb and Jun-July is when the sea is at its roughest.

 

[Quero]

I've been to all of those places but never heard of Fisheye Divers...

Wakatobi Dive Resort is pricey but a great experience. As Izecson mentioned, the dive sites are mainly walls and ridges. The house reef of WDR is in fact a wall. Right in front of the resort is a shallow sandy bottom with sea grass, and this is good diving as well, though a bit of a challenge a the end of a long dive on the wall when the tank is getting light since it's only about 2 m deep, as I recall. Because Wakatobi Dive Resort has fixed in and out schedules, it's sort of like being on a land-based liveaboard. Everybody at the resort comes and goes on the same days.

Bunaken is similar to Wakatobi in that there are lots of walls and many of the same animals. Between the walls at Bunaken and the walls at Wakatobi, I prefer Wakatobi, but Bunaken certainly offers a broader option of dive centers and accommodations. If you like to rough it with hard-core divers, try Two Fish. For more upscale accommodations take a look at Siladen. For something in between, there's Living Colors. Or you could stay on the main island north of Manado at a place called Minahasa Lagoon Resort.

At Lembeh, my favorite lately is Black Sand Resort because there's shore diving, which is a nice bonus. Another good, smaller place is Diver's Lodge. But next time I go there, I may check out NAD.

 

[pughio83]

Thanks to both quero and izecson, great info and will certainly be looking into it all. Re fish eye divers I meant to write two fish divers lol, fisheye in my head from the Philippines. Lembeh is where I really want to go so figured bunakan being close would be cool as well. Will check those lembeh accommodations out too.I have heard wakatobi can be expensive but sounds like it can be done cheaply if you know what ur doing( tnx for contact info izecson). Great stuff much appreciated guys.

 

[Travelnsj]

I've been to Wakatobi, Bangka, Lembeh, East Timor, Bali and Raja Ampat...Pass on Wakatobi...have a trip report posted a couple of years ago...Bali is underrated diving and very good diving everywhere else I've been to is excellent.

 

[AlanWald]

Two Fish Divers has resorts at both Lembeh Island and Bunaken Island and you can easily arrange to go from one to the other.

Be sure to do as many night dive as you can in Lembeh. It is great fun.

We saw crab spawning one night.

Don't forget to save Indonesia cash for your air port tax. It is a different amount for every airport so ask when you get there.

 

[FarkasGabor]

We were in november at bunaken&lembeh with twofish. budget, but for diving a very good
place, 2-3 divers/guide, and the guides did everything to show us anything. Fly to jakarta in indonesia, then with lion air to manado, where they will pick you up. With european cards you can't buy tickets directly on the lionair website, ask gizmo at twofish, he can arrange it.
do a lot of nightdives, they are the best there. was a wonderful 2weeks!

 

[graypippa]

I can highly recommend Living Colours in Bunaken and Black Sand Dive Retreat in Lembeh. We have stayed at both resorts for our holiday over the past two years. They are both extremely well run with great diving. It is also possible to visit Banka from Bunaken for a day trip which we really enjoyed. Our experience was so good we are returning this year! I suggest you look at the reviews on Trip advisor for both locations. If you want anymore information do message me.

 

[Calmday]

We just got back from Wakatobi and I honestly didn’t think that the diving was that much better than Bunaken. The resort and service were awesome, food was amazing, rooms have AC and the child care (main reason that we went) was exceptional but I’m not sure it was worth the money. A week at Two Fish (also with great child care) costs about 1/4th as much and it’s a lot easier for us to get to.
It’s very easy to split a trip between Bunaken and lembeh.