Manado, Lembeh and Buyat and back again

[ftansari]

Hi folks,
I just got back from 10 days diving trip all over north Sulawesi. I went to 3 dive locations in north Sulawesi on this trip. so here is the detail on each location I went through.
Manado:
Probably you guys already been to Bunaken before. This place is famous for its coral growth and turtles all over the place. Guess what, went I went there the visibility was only 10 meters due to the monsoon and trash is all over the place because it was raining cat and dog in the city so the trash got carried from the town's river to Bunaken. I know the trash will be gone in a few month, but it's really a shame to see Bunaken at this state. With more people coming in to Manado, I'm afraid there will be more trash in ended in Bunaken

even though with the trash all over the place, I managed to see a lot of stuff i.e sharks, turtles, etc.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/3166430219_8149777ecb.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/3167264946_71f16b6448.jpg

:eek:
The toothpaste tube was found on top of the reef. I had to pick up tons of trash all over the place. My sister ended up picking up someone else's bra floating in Bunaken.
:eek:

In conclusions, don't come to Manado on December, usually the visibility is not as good as on June.

Lembeh:
Lembeh was great despite they got hit by tropical storm a week before I got there. there are plenty of frog fish all over the place and I found a mimic octopus in 3 days trip duration.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3079/3166426261_59ce0310a3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3166426541_ee93a3177d.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1029/3167259160_f5f3acf919.jpg

Buyat:
This is the best place to dive on december around Manado area. Located almost 4 hours car ride from Manado (don't forget to pack bengay, or any other muscle ointment, because the road to get to this place sucks) this place is an untouched paradise. I can get to see the reef blooming only 2 meters away from the beach, so be careful when you want to do shore entry around this area.

I did only 2 dives on that place, but they are the most memorable 2 dives I ever did. The reef has the same characteristics like in Bunaken, but it has more colors and in better shape than the reefs in Bunaken. It's almost like riding a time machine back into time where no tourists goes to Manado.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/3166434201_f76961a82c.jpg

PS: for more photos check out my flickr
go to my flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/ftansari/sets/72157612155851666/)

[sorvju-f]

Hi folks,
I just got back from 10 days diving trip all over north Sulawesi. I went to 3 dive locations in north Sulawesi on this trip. so here is the detail on each location I went through.
Manado:
Probably you guys already been to Bunaken before. This place is famous for its coral growth and turtles all over the place. Guess what, went I went there the visibility was only 10 meters due to the monsoon and trash is all over the place because it was raining cat and dog in the city so the trash got carried from the town's river to Bunaken. I know the trash will be gone in a few month, but it's really a shame to see Bunaken at this state. With more people coming in to Manado, I'm afraid there will be more trash in ended in Bunaken

even though with the trash all over the place, I managed to see a lot of stuff i.e sharks, turtles, etc.

:eek:
The toothpaste tube was found on top of the reef. I had to pick up tons of trash all over the place. My sister ended up picking up someone else's bra floating in Bunaken.
:eek:

In conclusions, don't come to Manado on December, usually the visibility is not as good as on June.

Lembeh:
Lembeh was great despite they got hit by tropical storm a week before I got there. there are plenty of frog fish all over the place and I found a mimic octopus in 3 days trip duration.

Buyat:
This is the best place to dive on december around Manado area. Located almost 4 hours car ride from Manado (don't forget to pack bengay, or any other muscle ointment, because the road to get to this place sucks) this place is an untouched paradise. I can get to see the reef blooming only 2 meters away from the beach, so be careful when you want to do shore entry around this area.

I did only 2 dives on that place, but they are the most memorable 2 dives I ever did. The reef has the same characteristics like in Bunaken, but it has more colors and in better shape than the reefs in Bunaken. It's almost like riding a time machine back into time where no tourists goes to Manado.


PS: for more photos check out my flickr
go to my flickr[/URL]

Hi Ftansari!

Thanks for the report!

Byat was to me new place in the area, what direction it is and what was the dive center?

Actually my experience from the area and news I have gotten indicates that visibility in every place ( Pasific area ) is worse than "earlier". This is one thing to take into consideration when planning the timing of you trip ( to Oct-Dec ).

Do you know what is growing in the egg?

Jukka

[ftansari]

Hi Ftansari!

Thanks for the report!

Byat was to me new place in the area, what direction it is and what was the dive center?

Actually my experience from the area and news I have gotten indicates that visibility in every place ( Pasific area ) is worse than "earlier". This is one thing to take into consideration when planning the timing of you trip ( to Oct-Dec ).

Do you know what is growing in the egg?

Jukka

Jukka i put it on google maps
click here for the map (http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=0.857832,124.72371&spn=0.044713,0.077248&z=14&g=Jakarta,+Indonesia)

anyway the things growing inside the egg were cuttlefish.

sorry if I do vague report. I'm doing it while at office hours. I'm afraid my boss will look over my shoulder

[Andrew]

Thanks for the report Ftansari, this is an area I have always wanted to dive and it is useful to know not to go in the off season.

What is in the last photo from your Lembeh part of the trip?

Andrew

[Jonathan Bird]

Thanks for the trip report! I have never heard of Buyat! A new place to check out!


What is in the last photo from your Lembeh part of the trip?


Bobbit worm, Eunice aphroditois. They call it "The Thing" in the Caribbean.

I photographed one in Lembeh at night as well:
http://www.jonathanbird.net/jpegs15/jbird_uwp7848.jpg

[Jonathan Bird]

So it looks like Buyat is down the coast south from Lembeh?

[ftansari]

So it looks like Buyat is down the coast south from Lembeh?

yeap. this trip was a survey trip tho. I'll ask my dive op will they do a dive trip to get there. it is south of Lembeh.

[pygmyghostpipeturtle]

Hello there. My name is Erwin Filius and I am on the Critters@Buyat / Critters@Lembeh dive team. I may be able to give you some helpful info about the area as I have spent the better part of this year exploring it with help from Newmont Minahasa Raya and of course, logistical support from the dive center at Lembeh Resort, Critters@Lembeh.
It is located about 3 hours drive from Manado or 3 hours by boat doing 20 knots. Critters@ are now running trips there using the old Newmont camp for accommodation and the Critters@Lembeh custom built wooden dive boats for the trips. It's still early days and semi exploratory but we have more than 20 dive sites up our sleeve and are starting to get a firm grip on the dive conditions, where and when to dive and where to find certain critters.
Again, as ftansari observed, the reefs are amazing and definitely worth a look.
If you would like to visit the area, contact Critters@Lembeh through the Lembeh Resort web page www.lembehresort.com.
Check out these links for more background info..

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/12/19/buyat-bay-reborn.html

http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/striking_gold__buyat_bay__north_sulawesi/

http://www.lembehresort.com/_h2b28.html

We don't claim to be the first to dive there, that honer goes to the Newmont guys, but it is still early days in the development, remote and pristine, so come have a look! Bring your macro lens as well as your wide angle lenses because as well as the amazing reefs there is good critter and night diving too.
You can contact me directly on erwin@lembehresort.com too if you want more info.
Cheers.
Erwin Filius.
Critters@Buyat.

[Jonathan Bird]

Thanks for the additional info. What makes this place different from other areas in Indonesia?

[pygmyghostpipeturtle]

All right, you asked for it. Here's my sales pitch..
I am lucky enough to have dived in 11 countries around the world, 8 of them with tropical diving and by far the most dives I have made in my diving career have been in Indonesia, the worlds largest Archipelago and arguably the richest place on earth in terms of underwater biodiversity. In my time here I have dived throughout the country, from Bali and Lombok, to Komodo National park and the now world famous Raja Empat in west Papua. I have also had the fortune to dive all over Sulawesi, from Wakatobi in the southeast, the Togean Islands and Gorantalo in Central Sulawesi and all the hotspots in the north of the island: Manado bay, Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh....... and now Buyat Bay and it’s surroundings in Manahassa Tenggera, North Sulawesi.
So, what are my impressions?
First of all, you can tell that there has been very little human impact in this area and that the conditions for coral growth are ideal. On many a dive there you can expect to see huge coral and sponge formations, of which can only be formed over a long period and only when left undisturbed. To say we have found some healthy reefs is an understatement! Some of the sea fans are over 2.5 meters across, some of the sponges 2 meters tall and some of the table corals immense! Perhaps 5 meters round! And there is not just the odd one but the place seems to be full of them! There are also huge areas of Staghorn, big bunches of Delicate Seawhips, great stands of Monkey Tails and beautiful soft corals. But it’s not just size but also the diversity that Indonesia is so famous for. I am no scientist but as a diver with over 4000 hours under tropical seas, I can appreciate this. Whether you like corals, fish or invertebrates, there is no shortage of different species there to enjoy and photograph.
The night diving is also turning out to be a real treat with strange critters around every corner.
I have done over 250 dives in the area to date, many of the early ones exploratory, and I am happy to say that we have a good list of world class dive sites ready to be visited, with undoubtedly more to be found.
Bottom line: We all know Indonesia has some of the best diving on the planet. Here is another wonderful, pristine spot, full of diverse life and as beautiful as any healthy reef I’ve seen in my travels, just 3 hours from an international airport and with no-one else diving it... yet.
Topside is nice too......

[Jonathan Bird]

Sounds fantastic! I like the part about 3 hours from a major airport.