My Dilemma - Wakatobi/Bali or North Sulawesi??

[BellesMom]

Phillip - I would do Lembeh second - save best for last! And divide the time at least 60% in Lembeh. We saw Black Sands resort being built last May - it piqued my interest enough for me to watch their web site in case we decided upon that place next time - and it might....although Lembeh Resort was out of this world with their cliff villas - outdoor bathrooms and laying in bed in the mornings watching the world wake up over the channel through the huge sliding glass doors....oh my...and they have a pool...

Cheers and let us all know what you decide....photos are not on any public site...

Nikki

 

[pelan-pelan]

Phillip - On your own? From the UK. I would go to lumbalumbadiving.com. You won't feel on your own. Dutch run - they speak English better than I do. There have been previous posts here from solo travellers who have enjoyed the welcome there. They'll pick you up from the airport - no problem. Totally professional outfit, excellent guides who have worked for them for years. They'll organise transfer to Lembeh in liaison with your chosen resort and if you want to take a bit of time out and go up the volcano or tour the highland area inland - they can do all that too.

Roel keeps an eye on special offers on flights out from Europe and may be able to give some advice. Although long-haul, it is very straight-forward with Singapore Airlines to Singapore and SilkAir (their "sister") out to Manado. Possibility of stop-over in Singapore. There are also possible routes via Kuala Lumpur.

If the missus likes to lounge and read - she could stay in the beautiful cottages with the verandah and views and get a massage in Juud's spa room or she could come out on the boat and sunbathe on the roof, sleep in the cabin and snorkel, have lunch with you before your afternoon dive. lumbalumba seem to be popular with non-diving other-halves because it is friendly and relaxing. Food is excellent.

Cottages have hot water, fans and air-con (back up generator so this all works!), showers big enough for two, large beds - err hem . . . Oh well, if you're on your own you will just have to run around the cottage to make use of the space!

You will enjoy North Sulawesi.

 

[philip2711]

Phillip - On your own? From the UK. I would go to lumbalumbadiving.com. You won't feel on your own. Dutch run - they speak English better than I do. There have been previous posts here from solo travellers who have enjoyed the welcome there. They'll pick you up from the airport - no problem. Totally professional outfit, excellent guides who have worked for them for years. They'll organise transfer to Lembeh in liaison with your chosen resort and if you want to take a bit of time out and go up the volcano or tour the highland area inland - they can do all that too.

Roel keeps an eye on special offers on flights out from Europe and may be able to give some advice. Although long-haul, it is very straight-forward with Singapore Airlines to Singapore and SilkAir (their "sister") out to Manado. Possibility of stop-over in Singapore. There are also possible routes via Kuala Lumpur.

If the missus likes to lounge and read - she could stay in the beautiful cottages with the verandah and views and get a massage in Juud's spa room or she could come out on the boat and sunbathe on the roof, sleep in the cabin and snorkel, have lunch with you before your afternoon dive. lumbalumba seem to be popular with non-diving other-halves because it is friendly and relaxing. Food is excellent.

Cottages have hot water, fans and air-con (back up generator so this all works!), showers big enough for two, large beds - err hem . . . Oh well, if you're on your own you will just have to run around the cottage to make use of the space!

You will enjoy North Sulawesi.

Hi there,

Definitely travelling on ownsome although some previous dive buddy compadres have expressed an interest with possibility of joining in - sounds like I'm doing all the work and they'll come along for the ride if it suits!

Thanks for the tip about LumbaLumba - I had already looked at their site and had put it down as a 'maybe' - they only have 4 chalets so while that keeps diver numbers low, it means that options for socialising are more limited - not that I'm looking out for the big resorts at all - but a few more rooms / chalets. Not ruling it out though and will drop a line to get view on availability now that the voting seems to be Bunaken / Manado first week and Lembeh second.

I just now booked flight through Sing / Silk Air - very familiar with both as I lived a year in Singapore between '99 and '00 - though the only time I had for diving there was a quick week down to the GBR, Tioman for a weekend and finally Perhetian Islands to do my AOW.

One quick question in general about Manado / Bunaken is whether resort on Island is better bet than mainland? What do you think?

 

[Travelnsj]

Philip....You made a good decision to pass on Wakatobi. I was there in October (trip report posted) great operation but I thought the Diving was just so so. I just got back on Monday from Lembeh and Raja Ampat. I have never been fond of muck diving....I thought Lembeh was one of the finest dive spots I have ever been. Then the icing on the cake was Papua diving. I liked it so much.....booked a trip in October to go back to both spots!

 

[JenM]

Hi there,

One quick question in general about Manado / Bunaken is whether resort on Island is better bet than mainland? What do you think?

When we went, we chose to stay on the mainland because we felt that since Bunaken is a marine reserve, it was best not to stay on the island. The waste from the guesthouses and the villages on the island has got to go somewhere and we thought it was best not to add to it. The problem is that most of the mainland resorts are quite far from Bunaken (about an hour boat ride). Because they are so far away, when they go to Bunaken it's an all day trip and we just didn't want to spend that much time on the boat (even though I'm sure many of the boats are very comfortable). We found a great compromise at the Santika Resort/Thalassa Divers which is on the mainland north of Manado and only 15+ minutes from Bunaken. They are definitely a "resort" with a/c, nice rooms, grounds, pool, etc. but their rates are pretty reasonable for all that. You can get much cheaper accomodation on the island but it is pretty basic - there's no a/c and sometimes no hot water. Thalassa is a great dive op, and should have no trouble accomodating you as a single diver.

Also, if you love muck, plan to spend more time in Lembeh. We did 6 days in Manado, 4 in Bangkka, and 7 in Lembeh on the last trip, but when we go back we are going to spend at least 10, maybe even 14 days in Lembeh. The place is amazing. Every dive is like a treasure hunt to see what new creatures you can uncover. If you aren't sure, or you've never dove muck before, then split your time equally. The Manado side has nice coral, plus lots of critters and a few good muck sites also, so it is a good mixture of Indo diving.

 

[pelan-pelan]

Yes, would stay on the mainland. More to do when not diving. Read the posts here about diving Manado-side. More and more excellent critter sites being discovered there. And they are close to many of the Manado dive lodges.

Time on the boat - with a big boat you can sunbathe on the roof, read, obviously have lunch and snorkel between dives = lots to do.

Philip - if there is a group going then lumbalumba also have a guest cottage with a further two twin/double rooms.

Socialising - know what you mean, some places are like a ghost town in the evening. That's why we go to lumbalumba because the atmosphere and food are so good. Most evenings everyone stays around and chats. And they not only chill the beer, they chill the glasses as well!

 

[hallboy]

We did 6 days in Manado, 4 in Bangkka,


the dives in bangka and bunaken where different?
more of this or less fo that? more visibility in bangka? more big fishes?

 

[BlueBayDivers]

bangka diving means excellent softcoral gardens with macro. every dive different styles of frog fishes, pyfmy seahorses. we frequently find boxer crabs and other rare craps and shrimps. its definitly NOT a big fish area, if you are lucky you can see some bigger rays or bumpheads, sometimes dugong. bangka is not wall diving, there are some "mini" walls. its more rock underwater landscape, slopes, pinnackles ...
ckeck the web site to have some underwater picts:
Blue Bay Divers | Home

or email me
info@bluebaydivers.de

have fun
anke

 

[xariatay]

We did a day trip to Bangka (3 dives) from Lembeh & saw a pod of pilot whales on the way there!
Dive sites at Bangka are quite pretty. But viz was not good & there was strong current, the other group that went on the following day also reported strong current... BUT they pilot whales on both their to & fro trip...
Other than the pilot whales, I enjoyed Bunaken more than Bangka..

 

[JenM]

the dives in bangka and bunaken where different?
more of this or less fo that? more visibility in bangka? more big fishes?

Not more big fish, but the coral was in better shape than Bunaken, really beautiful dive sites, tons of nudis and other macro. Viz was about the same.