Lembeh Straits/Raja Ampat Dec 23 thru Jan 8th
Part I Lembeh Straits:
I arrived in Singapore in the early hours of December 25. Making my way to Manado (Lembeh Straits) I took a Silk Air flight to Balikpapan. Then catching a flight to Manado on Guardia Airlines. This was an all day event and a disaster. Guardia said I could not take all my Scuba Gear it was too much luggage etc etc... Long story short it was an argument for over an hour about the Scuba gear finally got it on the plane although they charged me $40.00 and wanted to charge me up to a $100.00. Plane was over 2 hours late... got to Lembeh Straits at 3 am. In addition, there were no money changers open. If you ever do this trip, plan your flight on the days Silk is flying to Manado. Do not go through Balikpapan!
I stayed at the Lembeh Resort. What an exceptional place, great room, staff, large camera room, meals and overall ambience. Definitely exceeded my expectations.
The diving, WOW! I have never seen such weird stuff in my life, Mimic Octopus, White ghost ornate pipefish, Pigmy Sea Horses, Hairy Frog Fish, Hairy Stonefish, Paddle-Flap scorpionfish, Cuttlefish, Longtailed & Halimeda Ghost Pipefish, Stargazers, Coconut Octopus, Pigmy and Large Seahorses etc etc etc... Do not expect to come here and see pelagic's and great visibility. This is about the weird critters and from a guy who likes big stuff and 100' visibility... I loved this!
The only slight problem I found was the dive operation lacked a helpful staff the first day. In all fairness, I need to say that is a Christian area of Indonesia. They celebrate December 25th and the 26th. So many of the regular staff and management were on their Holiday when the regular staff returned there was a difference. The Dive guides Ronald, Abner, Dino were all trained by Larry Smith. Needless to say, they were great at finding the critters. I will be back!
The weather was near perfect. Generally, hi overcast skies with periodic rain, nice comfortable evenings, and no overbearing heat. Water temperature was 82 to 84.
Part I Lembeh Straits:
I arrived in Singapore in the early hours of December 25. Making my way to Manado (Lembeh Straits) I took a Silk Air flight to Balikpapan. Then catching a flight to Manado on Guardia Airlines. This was an all day event and a disaster. Guardia said I could not take all my Scuba Gear it was too much luggage etc etc... Long story short it was an argument for over an hour about the Scuba gear finally got it on the plane although they charged me $40.00 and wanted to charge me up to a $100.00. Plane was over 2 hours late... got to Lembeh Straits at 3 am. In addition, there were no money changers open. If you ever do this trip, plan your flight on the days Silk is flying to Manado. Do not go through Balikpapan!
I stayed at the Lembeh Resort. What an exceptional place, great room, staff, large camera room, meals and overall ambience. Definitely exceeded my expectations.
The diving, WOW! I have never seen such weird stuff in my life, Mimic Octopus, White ghost ornate pipefish, Pigmy Sea Horses, Hairy Frog Fish, Hairy Stonefish, Paddle-Flap scorpionfish, Cuttlefish, Longtailed & Halimeda Ghost Pipefish, Stargazers, Coconut Octopus, Pigmy and Large Seahorses etc etc etc... Do not expect to come here and see pelagic's and great visibility. This is about the weird critters and from a guy who likes big stuff and 100' visibility... I loved this!
The only slight problem I found was the dive operation lacked a helpful staff the first day. In all fairness, I need to say that is a Christian area of Indonesia. They celebrate December 25th and the 26th. So many of the regular staff and management were on their Holiday when the regular staff returned there was a difference. The Dive guides Ronald, Abner, Dino were all trained by Larry Smith. Needless to say, they were great at finding the critters. I will be back!
The weather was near perfect. Generally, hi overcast skies with periodic rain, nice comfortable evenings, and no overbearing heat. Water temperature was 82 to 84.
