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If you have dived in Lembeh Strait before, please share your experiences: Dive spots you would recommend, which Dive Center you used, Fishes & Diving, Visibility, Currents, etc. Please post your comments in the section below, by doing so you will help fellow divers to plan their next trip
Some say that Lembeh Strait is the Best Muck Diving place in the World! It is a real paradise for underwater macro photography and for all the critter lovers. Scuba diving in Lembeh is like jumping into a world of tiny strange and weird creatures. Famous photographers and enthusiastic divers come from all over the world to dive this famous spot and discover this incredible biodiversity!
You can find all sorts of strange critters such as the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, the rare Mimic Octopus or the ugly Hairy Frog Fish!
What is Muck Diving?
Muck diving refers generally to diving in murky water with poor visibility on shallow sandy slopes. Okay, so it doesn’t sound so good for the moment! But Muck diving offers the possibility to observe some of the weirdest creatures on Earth! These tiny little critters are the preferred subjects of underwater photographers.
If you are a beginner diver, muck diving could seem a bit boring to you and Lembeh is not really a good diving destination for your first bubbles! Try instead to explore Bunaken dive sites with amazing Walls and Coral gardens.
Muck diving is more suitable for experienced divers who have dived many times on conventional coral reefs and now want to discover really rare underwater creatures. Another amazing location for Muck fans is Mabul Island in Malaysia.
In this page you will find more detailed information about scuba diving in Lembeh Strait.
Table of contents
Best Dive Review
Scuba diving in Lembeh Strait is all about the rare and strange macro creatures. The biodiversity in this part of Indonesia is just incredible!
Due to the lack of places to hide in this sandy environment, the species living there have developed unusual strategies to hide themselves. This unique ecosystem is home to critters such as the magnificent Ghost Pipefish, Seahorses, rare species of Nudibranchs, the superb Flamboyant Cuttlefish, the amazing Mimic Octopus or the weird Hairy Frog fish!
Most of the diving is done on volcanic black sand and this will give superb contrast to your pictures.
Moreover, Lembeh Strait is not all about critter diving, it also offers interesting shipwrecks, beautiful soft coral and several coral gardens.
You can also explore this underwater world on a Liveaboard trip that generally combines Bunaken National Park, The Bangka Island and the Lembeh Strait. I usually use this website to book in advance my Liveaboards in Indonesia as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because they have an easy booking system.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_childs/3165713089/
Where to stay?
I usually use this website to book in advance my hotels in Lembeh Strait as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because it's free to cancel and change the dates.
Best time to dive in Lembeh Strait
You can dive in Lembeh Strait all year round. Depending on the season, visibility and conditions can vary but since you are here to look at small critters, the visibility isn’t too much of a worry. In fact, the worse the visibility, the more critters there are. Fish species vary throughout the year, which means you can dive the same place at different times and see totally different creatures.
- Dry season runs from March to October, average temperature of 30°C.
- Rainy season from November to February, but it is usually just heavy rain for 2 hours and then a sunny day!
- Low Season from January to June with fewer divers and less good conditions but still fine to dive.
- Peak Season runs in July and August and you should book in advance during this period.
- Worst visibility takes place in August but it is actually the best time to see many critters!
The best time would be in September and October. Liveaboards are running all year round too around Lembeh Strait.
Top liveaboards in Lembeh Strait according to divers reviews
Scuba Diving conditions
Scuba diving around Lembeh is very easy and shallow. Most of the dive sites don’t go below 15 meters and maximum depth is around 25m deep. Generally, there is no current.
Water temperature varies year round from 24°C to 30°C. The visibility is generally not good as with many muck diving destinations. It ranges from 4 meters to 20 meters if you are lucky. However, there is a rule saying that the more the water is murky, the more critters you will find
There are around 30 dive sites all within a short boat ride away from the Lembeh diving resorts.
Snorkelling in Lembeh Strait
It is really not a great place for Snorkelling. If you are in the area you should head to Bunaken Island not far from Manado for excellent Snorkelling on shallow Coral gardens.
Diving Safety
If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Lembeh Strait, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance for scuba diving, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this diving insurance as they offer worldwide coverage and focus on providing scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Photos Lembeh Strait
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Yellow Seahorse in Lembeh StraitPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Blue Nudibranch in Lembeh StraitPhoto by Rich Guest -
Lion Fish swimming in crystal clear waterPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Surreal LifePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Grouper RestingPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Sea SnakePhoto by Jihye Lee -
Red Fish BottomPhoto by Jihye Lee -
Underwater PhotographyPhoto by Agnes Tjandranegara -
Crayfish CloseupPhoto by Jihye Lee -
SquidsPhoto by Jihye Lee
Travel Guide
Now that you know all about the underwater world, you might want to start planning your scuba holiday! Check out our Lembeh Strait Travel Review for information about how to get there, activities and excursions, where to stay, and more.
Diving Reviews for this region
Dive spots reviews in Lembeh Strait
Liveaboard Reviews in Lembeh Strait
Muck Diving Paradise! If you like taking underwater pictures, this is THE place!!!
As I commented in the Bunaken section, I spent a week on Wallacea boat (the Paisubatu II) on a cruise. We spent quite a lot of time in Lembeh as there is really a lot to see. I strongly recommend this place as there is a lot of rare species. the flamboyant, the mimic octopus or the boxer crab are amazing. I brought back pictures and videos but also great memories! my favorite place for muck diving for sure!!!
My wife and I dove at KBR in the straits 2 yrs ago in September and it was the trip of our life! The KBR resort was outstanding, food, service, diving, room ect. We like to dive differnt places but we are thinking of going back this year. I have reccomended this place to anyone, and if they went I am sure they wouldn’t be disipointed. We stayed for 12 days of diving.
D
Theres not much to add to whats already been said,the guy sounded like he owned a resort there.
We dove there start of nov huge rain for the first day 8hrs but i was told its been vary dry there and that the rain was welcome .We stayed @ Lembeh Resort Nice setting ,great food the resort is set up for serious photographers there camera room had at any one time $500,000 -$750,000 of gear. But the resort wasn’t pretentious which I was happy about.
Nothing worse than a resort catering to a bunch of north Americans how came from 50 degrees or less having to put on a tie or long pants in 90 with rh of 75-100 percent.
The diving a lembeh resort was with lembeh critters.
they own the boats and are out of Manado,they allso have a place on Bangka ,just north of Lembeh By 2 hours called Murex..Bangka
Boats always left on time not too many on the boats and we had a guide for every two divers ,,, or you can pay extra 75$ per day for your own .
And if you find a really good one it can make the difference that one that you have missed in the
past
And he will take you away from the group.They seem to follow each other with space in between , they know the dive spots like the back of there hand ,,There was a blue ring with eggs in 80 feet this guy swam down to it in 20 vis and found it in less than 3 min,,, in total sand Wow
The critters that are there strange & cool if your a photographer and haven’t been put it on your bucket list and it easy diving shallow with little currant.in black sand so no reflection like white sand makes ,,,,,,,,,bad photographers look good,, and good photographers look great .
…
Now the bad
t
Theres trash every were piles in the ocean some times over a foot thick 100s of yards wide ,long.We were diving the police pier area ,garbage on the bottom every were
but you know the fish didn,t seem to mind ?
But really how can you tell ,we also dove a place call nudie falls great dive
lots of stuff .but on surfacing as we are getting on our boat there was what we thought was a white trash bag,,,floating about 30 yards away, but it was a dead bloated white dog ! During our time there 6 of the 8 on our boat G.I issues 3 with ear infections .And it wasn’t the food or everyone at the resort would have got it or a lot more than did..
I didn’t But i spent over 1500 in shots & pills but just let me say our trip was for 6 months in different places .
There are things like dukaral and other to help you ,,,,,,talk to a travel clinic before going .
Would i go back yes
also Lembeh Resort tried there best for everyone,,,, nice people fantastic grounds ,nice pool, camera room ,dive shop, restaurant ,photo shop,ect the older rooms
are get a little old in need of better lighting & get rid of the brown walls but the rooms are large apx 800-900 sq feet with a great out door shower.& what a view
Hope this helps any one traveling there
All in & diving for a week was apx 4,000 for two i think
Absolutely fantastic diving, If you are interested in macro this is a must do! We also dived with Lembeh Resort, what a fantastic place! Our guide Opo Kecil was amazing, he showed us all of the animals on our wishlist (they actually offer you to fill in a wishlist of the animals you would like to see and try to plan the dives accordingly!!). we saw hairy frogfish, seahorses, blue ring octopus, mimic octopus, mandarinfish and so many more fantastic things, Lembeh is a 5/5 for us!
Dived 14 days this month and found the resort very accomadating and dive guides excellent,
Not sure where the rubbish issue on previous reviews came from as yes, we dived bianca, police pier and nudi falls a few times and found them excellent- ok there is a lot of plastic and rubbish but most resorts try to keep it clean.
Lembeh was a good base and yes we thought the food was just average and often just warm, but management are on the case.
We are fussy Brits and say what we think and I’m sure new management will sort.
Critters dive shop were excellent in every way and a week after returning we will go back we have decided.
Dived almost 50 dives and found over 100 species of nudis and numerous critters…bliss.
Its a shame divers with huge cameras have not bothered to do a bouncy course!
I’m gratufel you made the post. It’s cleared the air for me.
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One of my Best Muck diving experience till date. Have never seen and clicked so many species in one trip earlier. Would be back there very soon
Incredible! Ambon was excellent for muck too! Must go back.