Lembeh Strait
(North Sulawesi, Indonesia)
August 13-20, 2024
Venture with us to the macro capitol of the world, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Located in the North Sulawesi region on the island of Sulawesi, the area is famous for its 'muck diving' on black volcanic sand, famous for spotting weird and wonderful underwater critters, species that you would normally not find during a regular dive. Our adventure takes us to the beautiful boutique resort, Dive Into Lembeh, nestled in Kasawari Bay, looking out over Lembeh Strait and Lembeh Island.
Trip Details
Join Us in the 'muck diving' capitol of the world! Lembeh is a diver's critter searching haven. From wonderpus & mimic octopus's to flamboyant cuttlefish to blue-ringed octopus and much much more, we'll be going on an underwater critter spotting adventure in the black volcanic sand. The diving in Lembeh is great year round and we'll be headed there during 'dry season' prior to flying to Raja Ampat for our week on the Coralia.
Preference will be given to guests joining us in Raja Ampat. We'd love to have you at both locations, and Lembeh offers a relaxed 'ease' into the diving in Indonesia before we hop on the Coralia in Raja Ampat. If you are only interested in joining in Lembeh, please reach out to see if we have extra spaces.
Tentative Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival into Manado, Indonesia where we'll be met by resort representatives and taken in comfortable air conditioned vehicles on an hour long drive to Dive into Lembeh. Upon arrival we'll check-in, settle into our sea view bungalows, unpack dive gear, set up cameras and get ready for diving the next day!
Day: 2-6 Diving begins and continues through Aug 19th. 2 morning dives a day are included, offering you the choice of afternoon activities including the spa, diving on the house reef, relaxing at the pool, or adding additional boat dives. In the afternoon after our last day of diving we'll head to Tangkoko National Park to see the spectral tarsier only found in Sulawesi.
Day 7: We'll pack up our gear, say our goodbyes and head back to Manado for one night before flying to Sorong the next morning to board the Coralia liveaboard on August 21st, 2024.
Dates:
August 13-20, 2024
Duration: 7 nights/8 days
Package Cost:
Seaview Bungalow: $1750 USD (per person double occupancy)
Seaview bungalows have either 2 twin beds or 1 queen and 1 twin bed. The bungalows have A/C, wifi, TV, ceiling fans, mini-bar, bean bags and Japanese style onsens on the veranda (i.e. hot tub). The resort has an open air restaurant & bar, spa, and pool.
Inclusions:
7 nights in an air-conditioned sea-view bungalow
2 boat dives/day
Small dive groups & experienced dive guides
Fast comfortable speed boats to/from dives
Nitrox
Unlimited shore dives on the house "muck" reef
Camera room & large dive center
Three delicious meals daily, breakfast, lunch & dinner *(dinner only on arrival day and breakfast only on departure day).
Unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee throughout the day
Afternoon tour of Tangkoko National park on August 19th, 2024
Round trip transfers to/from Manado International Airport
Presentations on marine life
Photography advice
Fun & friendly atmosphere with experienced group leaders Kim & Amanda
Exclusions:
International & Domestic flights
Dive Insurance
Travel Insurance
Alcoholic beverages, soft drinks
Massages
Extra boat dives ($55 USD/dive)
Mandarin fish night dive ($55 USD) -we're hoping to get everyone on this dive during the week.
Rental equipment & dive courses
Gratuties
Getting to Lembeh:
To/From North America:
Travel to Indonesia is typically flown via Tokyo or Hong Kong or other Asian gateway cities (depending on the airline) and connecting onward to Jakarta (CGK) or Singapore (SIN).
Sometimes you'll find routings from the east coast through the Middle East (Doha/Abu Dhabi, etc)
Via Jakarta: Arrival into Jakarta (CGK) by August 12, 2024
The following day August 13, 2024 there are a few recommended flight options to Manado (MDC is the airport code).
Garuda Airlines flight #600 9:20am-1:45pm
Batik Air flight #6272 10:40am-3:05pm
Batik Air flight #6280 8:00 am-12:25pm
It is recommended to arrive in Jakarta a day prior to your flight to Sorong. The Anara airport hotel is recommended if arriving a day or two early into Jakarta.
Via Singapore:
Currently the only nonstop is on August 12, 2024. You will have to overnight in Manado for one night.
Scoot Airlines flt #216 9:25am -1:15pm
If you arrive a day early into Manado the suggested hotel is the Novotel Manado Golf Resort which is not far from the airport.
Getting to Raja Ampat:
On August 20th, 2024 we will transfer from Dive into Lembeh to the Novotel Manado Golf Resort for a one night stay.
On August 21st, 2024 we will fly from Manado to Sorong to board our home in Raja Ampat, the Coralia liveaboard. There is only one nonstop flight option:
Lion Air #796 7:00am-9:25am
Departing from Raja Ampat on August 28th, 2024 can be at any time to head back to Jakarta or wherever your onward journey takes you.
More About Lembeh:
Lembeh Strait lies in the northern peninsula on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The province's capital and largest city is Manado, which is also the main gateway and the economic center of the province. Other major towns includes Tomohon and Bitung, the latter being the closest town to the Lembeh Strait.
Geography: Most of North Sulawesi is mountainous, and it has many active volcanoes, notably Mount Soputan. Mount Klabat on the Minahasa Peninsula rises to an elevation of 6,634 feet (2,022 metres). The coastal lowlands are narrow, the soils are fertile, and there are coral reefs offshore. The uplands are drained by many fast-flowing streams, including the Milango and the Marsa. The highlands are covered with rainforests of oak, chestnut, and various conifers; hillslopes have teak, ebony, and a dense ground cover of grasses and shrubs.
Lembeh was the first real muck diving destination in the world. While there are critter infested black sandy slopes, Lembeh does also have some beautiful coral dive sites. The House Reef is the biggest coral reef inside of the Lembeh Strait and great coral dive sites such as Angels Window and California Dreaming are a short boat ride away from the resort.
Our home for the week, Dive Into Lembeh opened in 2016 and offers 9 sea-view bungalows overlooking beautiful Lembeh Strait.
Terms and Conditions
Designed for Scuba, LLC highly recommends you purchase travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://diveassure.com/en/home/?pid=18662
Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $800.00 USD per passenger in 2024 and a regular deposit schedule will commence in late 2024/early 2025.
All deposits are non-refundable.
Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminders. No refunds will be given within 100 days of the start of any trip, under any circumstances.
If you cancel your spot more than 100 days before the start of a trip, and we are able to resell/fill the spot, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee deducted) will be issued for use on another Designed for Scuba, LLC trip within 2 years of the cancellation.
If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.
If our In-Country Providers cancel or if aForce Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Designed for Diving shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.
The affiliated and established company such as Dive Into Lembeh, hold the relevant insurances and maintain responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling or swimming you are diving under the affiliated company's policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.
Designed for Scuba, LLC takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the sale or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving, snorkeling and tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bears the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death. Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions and engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of attending the Trip or participation in the Activities. Nor will we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy prior to providing any deposits and agree to the booking and trip. By placing a booking with Designed for Scuba, LLC, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and cancellation policy.
Entry Requirements
The requirements for entering Indonesia for international travelers (foreign citizen) are as follows:
(as of June 2023)
All COVID vaccination entry requirements have been dropped.
Travelers from most countries will need to apply for a tourist visa. (Please check requirements for your passport).
This can be completed online prior to arrival often listed as eVOA. You can apply here for the eVOA: https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/
It is possible to receive the tourist visa on arrival (VOA).
The cost for the eVOA/VOA is 500,000 IDR which is approximately $32 USD.
Requirements to apply for VOA or eVOA:
A legal and valid passport that must be valid at least 6 months before the expiration date.
An international ticket for return or onward travel.