Dive Into Lembeh Resort is a one hour drive from Manado Airport on the Bitung side of Lembeh Strait. We received a warm welcome by owner Miranda and team with a delicious mango juice on a sultry night scented with tropical flowers while we completed our registration. I loved everything about the resort, the beautiful gardens and level setting over looking the pool and the Strait, especially the personal hot tubs on your bungalow deck heated for you just before returning from your afternoon dive.

The Indonesian style bungalows with AC were huge, thoughtfully decorated with a king bed, a single day bed and a long shelf desk with plenty of charging points. There was a filtered drinking water dispenser, fridge and tea and coffee in the room. There are also TV's in the room and wifi available throughout the resort.

The hospitality team were attentive, well trained and their English was very good. There was a full bar and lounge in the common area where delicious meals were served buffet style with plenty of variety. Self serve tea, coffee and cookies were available all day.

The resort sits on a fine black sand beach typical of Lembeh Strait. There is a large dive centre, individual gear hanging stalls and bins, a huge camera work room, with good lights, charging outlets, rinse pool bins and drying guns.

The diving was organised between 3 boats that were well set up for photographers. The dive guide ratio was 1:2 with some guests requesting a private guide, so they have a very large dive team including a photo pro. Most of the dive sites were within 20 minutes of the resort and they dived both sides of the Strait.

Lembeh is known for its' marvellous macro critters and their guides are excellent spotters. They also used slates and thoughtfully kept a written record of each creature spotted and photographed, so you could take a photo record of that list at the end of your dive. They offered Nitrox so 70 minute dives were the norm, sometimes even longer when you are totally absorbed photographing an adorable coconut octopus.

The so-called epicentre of the coral triangle does not disappoint even the most jaded of divers. The water was unseasonably warm and perhaps slightly lower visibility than previous visits due to the earlier rains, but the fish life is still varied and prolific being a protected marine park.

We had 10 days of diving the Dampier Strait iconic sites. While there were no mantas spotted this trip, most impressive were the schools of Barracuda on most dives, jacks and sweet lips on others especially the Arborek Jetty dive.

Coming from Australia, I was excited to see so many barramundi cod but less enthusiastic than the guides to see wobbegong sharks which are common on our east coast. I particularly enjoyed a bi-plane dive which was richly encrusted with corals and home to tiny anthias decorating the wreck in bright colors.

Our last dive this trip was a gin clear dive on Sardine’s reef, where just hanging in one spot you could see entire layers of the marine food chain in action. It is only in such clear conditions you can truly see the magnificence and scope of the corals and fishes Raja Ampat has to offer.

Arriving by boat from Manado to a large, fixed pier, guests are greeted by uniformed staff and cheerfully guided to your room through the Gangga Resort set on a flat sandy island. A walk past the dive center and camera room, leads to the main complex open-air reception, lounge, bar (open from 6.30 am) and restaurant overlooking a beautiful infinity pool. Plan to spend any afternoon free time keeping cool in the pool or in your AC bungalow as it can get quite hot.

Spread out along a meandering path, which looked a bit dry with not much green landscaping as other tropical resorts, accommodation is in air-conditioned duplex beachfront bungalows, each with an outdoor day bed and own beach cabana. The rooms are large with every amenity (except WIFI) TV’s, satellite channels, mini-bar, tea and coffee station, water dispensers, bathrobes, and toiletries.

The dining was a highlight, with full service, white tablecloths, and excellent quality meals. On arrival for lunch and dinner, you are greeted and place your order from a menu board of the day with an appetiser, first course, and a choice of 3 main courses and 2 desserts (or ice cream). It really was too much! Breakfast was an extensive buffet with eggs cooked to order. Lunch had mostly western food options and dinner had both local and western choices. Afternoon tea and coffee was served by the pool with a selection of local snacks.

The resort had more snorkellers than divers during my visit and the dive sites were chosen with the snorkellers in mind, so I passed on the 2-tank morning dive and was pleasantly surprised by an afternoon boat dive on the house reef as the only diver. The morning dives from Gangga tend to go to the better Bangka sites.

The boats are comfortable, with a snack and hot beverages between dives, plenty of water and towels provided. On the next days' morning dive were 2 guides for 6 divers and no snorkelers. The normal ratio is 1:4 and my guide was excellent at spotting macro on one of my favourite sites of the trip. The entry was a backward roll and a good ladder was provided to get back on board.

Following my dives I was efficiently transferred to another Bangka resort, so I never even had to repack my dive gear.

The Murex Passport to Paradise with it’s 3 resort locations, allows guests to experience the entire North Sulawesi dive areas of of Manado, Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh without missing a dive day or needing to pack up your dive gear or disassemble your camera. Your seamless transfers include dives along the way to your next resort.

I began at Murex Manado where after a delayed flight, and patient transfer driver (even stopped for me at an ATM and SIM card provider), arrived to a light midnight supper before retiring to my large air-conditioned garden facing room, noted for plenty of outlets to recharge my devices. The next morning I was greeted by a lush garden with its own river and water features and met the owners Danny and Angelique. Breakfast was a huge buffet of fresh fruits, juices, cereals and pastries, with eggs cooked to order. The team were well organised and incredibly friendly, all coming to see me and the other guests off for our 2 dives and transfer to Murex Bangka.

The boat transfer from Manado to Bangka takes about the same time as an airport transfer by road and then boat, but during the 2 hour boat transfer, you can enjoy a couple of dives. We had one dive on the mainland over sloping sand looking for critters and then the wind came up and were diverted to the protected side of Bangka for my favourite dive of the trip, Busabara 1. I discovered that Bangka diving includes both beautiful coral reefs and critters.

Arriving at Murex Bangka we were greeted by Danny and dive manager Ross. While given a short tour, my luggage, dive and camera gear were delivered to their respective destinations, including a new, well appointed camera room and dive centre. After a quick freshen up, a buffet lunch of Indonesian fare was served on the beach, under shady trees. My dive buddy arrived later in the afternoon and we enjoyed a fun briefing with Elina over Margaritas.

The accommodations are a choice of standard beachfront bungalows or newer hillside deluxe oceanview bungalows. New beachfront bungalows are being added early 2024. The deluxe bungalows are large and well laid out for sharing. The beds are surrounded by mosquito net curtains, and had a huge desk and work area with plenty of outlets and a fresh water dispenser. The shower room was partly outdoors, with an adjoining indoor wardrobe and vanity area. There was a safe, night lantern and umbrellas available. The rooms did not have a fridge or tea and coffee making.

The next days were a routine of a buffet breakfast, eggs cooked to order; 2 morning dives, back for lunch on the beach, afternoon and night dives offered and then dinner on the beach, unless bad weather relocates dinner indoors. Wifi is currently only available in the dining room, so the bar is kept busy with pre-dinner drinks.

The diving is well-organised with a guide ratio of 1:4 divers and 70 minute dives are allowed NDL and air permitting. The boats are comfortable, with shelter, dry areas and marine toilets on board. Snacks, hot drinks and towels are offered after dives. Dives were planned to go to different sites each day and I only repeated one dive site, which happened to be my favourite. There is a good house reef for afternoon or night dives weather permitting, reported by others to have pygmy seahorses, so you may want to use a guide!