Lembeh - Manado, Indonesia, March 14-18, 2016

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
After our Damai II liveaboard trip was over, we spent 4 more days in Lembeh and Manado. These are on the northeast tip of Sulawesi. We were first at the Lembeh Resort on Lembeh Island with the diving in the strait between Lembeh and Sulawesi. The Lembeh Strait is noted for "muck diving," lots of small and unusual creatures on a mostly sandy bottom. Upon arrival you are shown an intro video, emphasizing no gloves and avoiding stirring up the sand with your fins. We rented metal pointers, which you could slowly stab into the sand to help maintain your position and keep your feet elevated. There were two other couples at Lembeh Resort who had been on other dive liveaboards, the Waow and the Mermaid I, to see the March 9 eclipse. Richard and I had been on Mermaid I in 2012: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... =6&t=10304

Some Lembeh critters, crocodile snake eel here:
Hairball 2786a-crocodile snake eel.JPG


2 leaf scorpionfish:
Hairball 2828a.JPG


longhorn cowfish:
Hairball 2845a.jpg


spiky starfish
Pante Aloo 2883.JPG


crab on night dive
Sarena Besar 2754a.JPG


On Palau and Yap I had been unsuccessful in seeing mandarinfish, but we saw lots of them on a dusk dive in the Lembeh Strait. They are gorgeous but small and difficult to get clear pictures in the debris where they like to hang out.
GOPR2992a.jpg

GOPR3108a.jpg

The males are larger and mostly blue while the females are smaller and mostly orange.

This site also had many Benggian cardinalfish.
GOPR3074a.jpg

These are endemic to a very small area in central Sulawesi, but they were introduced to Lembeh and we saw them on a few other dives too.

After 2 dives on March 16 we transferred from Lembeh to the Murex Resort in Manado, but spent a few hours in Tongkoko National Park. Our guide had no problem finding lots of macaques.
IMG_3504a.JPG


Three in a tree:
IMG_3454.JPG


Close up of mother with baby:
IMG_3432.JPG


Juvenile in another tree:
IMG_3462a.JPG


As dusk approached we moved to a different area, passing some banyan trees.
P3160292a.JPG


We were waiting for sunset to see the small and elusive tarsier, which lives in tree hollows.
IMG_3541.JPG

IMG_3581.JPG


The guide put a grasshopper on a branch to encourage the tarsier to come out for a snack.
IMG_3563.JPG


On March 17 we had 3 dives, first two in the Bunaken marine preserve. Bunaken is known for its coral walls.
GOPR3281.JPG

GOPR3328.JPG


We also saw some nudibranchs.
GOPR3209a.jpg

GOPR3264a.jpg


Here's a resting turtle.
GOPR3290.JPG

Liz got some GoPro video of another turtle swimming nearby.

The third dive was a good muck dive not far from Murex, but our camera ran out of battery.

There was no diving March 18 as we were flying out, but we had an interesting tour around the Manado area. There are some taste treats alongside the road, like the cinnamon bark of this tree.
IMG_3710.JPG


The white mangosteen fruit is delicious and refreshing.
P3170322.JPG


We went to a local market, where there are food items available you would not see most places.
IMG_3678.JPG

IMG_3683.JPG


Unlike most of Indonesia, northeast Sulawesi is predominantly Christian. A few years ago they built the second largest Christ statue in the world.
IMG_3743.JPG

More dynamic than the famous one overlooking Rio de Janiero.
 
Back
Top