To Lembeh or Not To Lembeh?

[Freewillow]

you are right. Raja Ampat is wonderful on LOB

 

[indiedive]

I second scorpionfish. I have been diving in Lembeh (stay in resort) and R4 (LOB). I did not remember how many dive sites with muck diving in Raja Ampat that we visited with LOB - maybe one dive site.. Thus, if you wish to do more muck diving, then it's better to visit Lembeh too.

And it really depends on your flight connection to Sorong - if you have a layover/stop in Ambon, then you can dive in Ambon Bay for muck diving. Last November, I met some scuba divers in Ambon who were on their way to Raja Ampat. I loved the dive in Ambon Bay - I saw Rhinopias and this giant nudibranch that sucks everything under its way - (gosh its name is out of my mind now, but here is its picture). I will write my diving experience in Ambon Bay soon in my blog.

 

[texswamper]

My husband and I just got off of an 11 night trip to RA on the Dewi and loved it even though some of the Dampier currents were challenging for me. Now we have 2 Indonesian holidays coming up in May that would give us 4 or 5 nights to go dive somewhere. (we live in Jakarta) So, I was thinking of Lembeh. My husband loves photography but I just dive and enjoy the scenery so I don't LOVE muck diving yet. We went to Tulamben last year & stayed at Villa Markisa. It was nice to have muck diving, along with reefs & the wreck at the same time. So, the big question then is should we just return to Tulamben if he would like to see strange critters in the sand or is there really enough difference and unique stuff to make the trip to Lembeh instead? Who knows, maybe I would turn into a muck fan! Would love to hear some opinions.

 

[AlMitch]

Lembeh is not 100% muck. They do have a few reef type dives up the Northern tip of Lembeh or on the open ocean (east) side of the island. BUT the muck is so so so good. Having stayed at Scuba Seraya (next door to Villa Markisa) twice and Lembeh 3 times I can honestly say the critter diving in Lembeh is much better/ more diverse (in terms of variety of critters) than Tulamben is. It really is a treasure trove and you basically go from one amazing critter to the next.
And seen as you live in Jakarta I would say give Lembeh a chance. Your husband will absolutely LOVE it and I'm fairly sure Lembeh will turn you into a muck lover. It did turn my wife into one!
The other thing that helped my wife enjoy it even more was for her to get her own camera, nothing complicated, just a Canon S -series in a Canon housing with a macro lens and a light. That way she can click away at the critters that interest her.

 

[texswamper]

Lembeh is not 100% muck. They do have a few reef type dives up the Northern tip of Lembeh or on the open ocean (east) side of the island. BUT the muck is so so so good. Having stayed at Scuba Seraya (next door to Villa Markisa) twice and Lembeh 3 times I can honestly say the critter diving in Lembeh is much better/ more diverse (in terms of variety of critters) than Tulamben is. It really is a treasure trove and you basically go from one amazing critter to the next.
And seen as you live in Jakarta I would say give Lembeh a chance. Your husband will absolutely LOVE it and I'm fairly sure Lembeh will turn you into a muck lover. It did turn my wife into one!
The other thing that helped my wife enjoy it even more was for her to get her own camera, nothing complicated, just a Canon S -series in a Canon housing with a macro lens and a light. That way she can click away at the critters that interest her.

Thanks for the advice! I think we're going to book 4 nights at the Lembeh Resort and see what everyone is talking about. That's the beauty of living so close! I usually do the Gopro, so I'll give that a try. I'll definitely report back when we return!