Erwin Poliakoff
Contributor
My wife and I just completed a trip to Indonesia. The main purpose of the trip was to go to Raja Ampat on the Gaia liveaboard (I already submitted a trip report on that part of the journey). But we figured that as long as we were going all the way to Indonesia, we would also fit in a side trip to Lembeh. So we started out the trip with 4 days diving at the NAD Lembeh resort, which was a really good idea. The diving was excellent, and the resort was very nice. The dives are all muck dives, although there were some very nice reef-y sections of several of the dives. The main point of the diving at Lembeh is the selection of critters, and there was an incredible assortment, including octopus, shrimp. nudis, unusual fish. While I have a slight preference for the muck diving in Ambon, I enjoyed going to Lembeh for a change of pace. Our dive guide was Paulus, and he was amazing. In fact, all of the guides got rave reviews from the divers. The camera facilities were well set up and convenient to use. I noticed that the off-duty dive guides were editing their photos, and I learned that the owners are training many of the guides to do photography. I think that this is a great idea, as they really know how to advise you on how to set up the shots. The food at the resort was quite good; about the only (minor) complaint that I have is that the breakfasts tended by be pretty monotonous. With that said, the quality was still very good. The dive boats are also very nicely laid out and comfortable. I understand that they are building some new dive boats, too. The guest room we stayed in was comfortable and close to the restaurant, dive dock, and bar.
Here are some examples of the critters that we saw.
Jawfish with eggs
01_DSC_1077 jawfish with eggs by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Blue ring octopus
02_DSC_0913 blue ring octopus by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Cardinalfish
04_DSC_0886 cardinal fish by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Tiger shrimp
05_DSC_1221 tiger shrimp by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Whip coral goby
11_DSC_0782 whip coral goby by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Sharpnose puffer
14_DSC_1268 sharpnose puffer by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
Leafy filefish
21_DSC_0689 leafy filefish by Erwin Poliakoff, on Flickr
The whole set of photos from the Lembeh leg of the trip can be found here: Lembeh photo album
-Erwin
Here are some examples of the critters that we saw.
Jawfish with eggs
Blue ring octopus
Cardinalfish
Tiger shrimp
Whip coral goby
Sharpnose puffer
Leafy filefish
The whole set of photos from the Lembeh leg of the trip can be found here: Lembeh photo album
-Erwin