Dive Sites
Diving in Lembeh - What You Will See
The dive sites along mainland Sulawesi had more black sand seabeds, while the dive sites along Lembeh Island were more coral rocks. This has probably to do with the way the current flows.
I expected Lembeh to be shallow, like 12m all the way, but actually the depths vary and can be quite deep, going up to 25-30m for certain sites. We even did a deco dive once!
But whatever the depth, the marine life is so varied that you'll see all sorts of things at any depth. Even at 3m, we saw a huge helmet shell.
From aboard the boat during our surface interval at Hairball2, we could see the sea anemones, resident clownfish and Banggai cardinalfish on the shallow 3m seafloor.
I think the best night dives we've had are those in Lembeh. You see an amazing amount of action because a lot of the marine creatures in Lembeh are quite nocturnal, like the shrimps, crabs and eels.
May 2009
Dive 1 - Nudi Retreat 2
Dive 2 - Pantai Perigi
Dive 3 - TK2
Dive 4 - Police Pier 2 (night dive)
Dive 5 - Critter Hunt
Dive 6 - Tanjong Kubur
Dive 7 - Jahir
Dive 8 - TK3 (night dive)
Dive 9 - Hairball2
Dive 10 - Rojas 2
Dive 11 - Tandurusa
Dive 12 - Lembeh Resort House Reef (shore dive) (dusk dive)
Dive 13 - Dante's Wall
Dive 14 - Joko Yance
Dive 15 - Sea Grass
Dive 16 - Aer Prang (night dive)
Dive 17 - Aw Shucks
Dive 18 - Magic Rock
Dive 19 - Nudi Falls
Dive 20 - Serena Besar (night dive)
Dive 21 - Nudi Retreat 1
Dive 22 - Magic Crack
Favourite sites: Dante's Wall and Nudi Retreat
March - April 2009
Dive 1 - Black Sand House Reef (dusk to night dive)
Dive 2 - Nudi Falls
Dive 3 - Jahir
Dive 4 - Joleha (new site) (night dive)
Dive 5 - Angel's Window
Dive 6 - Pantai Perigi
Dive 7 - Black Sand House Reef
Dive 8 - Rojas (new site)
Dive 9 - Jahir & Jahir 2
Favourite site: Pantai Perigi
July 2007 
Dive 1 - Nudi Falls (night dive)
Dive 2 - Air Perang
Dive 3 - Police Pier
Dive 4 - Tandu Rusa
Dive 5 - Jahir 1 (night dive)
Dive 6 - Batu Merah
Dive 7 - Angel's Window
Dive 8 - Nudi Retreat
Dive 9 - Police Pier (night dive)
Dive 10 - Jahir 2
Dive 11 - TK3
Dive 12 - Hairball 1
Dive 13 - Pantai Perigi (night dive)
Dive 14 - TK3
Dive 15 - Nudi Falls
Dive 16 - Tandu Rusa
Favourite sites: Nudi Retreat and Jahir 2
Mar 2007
Dive 1 - Magic Rock 
Dive 2 - TK2
Dive 3 - Jahir
Dive 4 - Police Pier (night dive)
Dive 5 - Aw Shucks
Dive 6 - TK3
Dive 7 - Jahir2
Dive 8 - Tandu Rusa (night dive)
Dive 9 - Angel's Window
Dive 10 - Hairball2
Dive 11 - Pantai Parigi
Dive 12 - Jahir (night dive)
Dive 13 - Jahir
Dive 14 - Air Prang
Dive 15 - Nudi Falls
Dive 16 - Hairball (night dive)
Favourite sites: Jahir and Hairball
Jan 2006
Dive 1 - Nudi Retreat
Dive 2 - Hairball1
Dive 3 - Pante Parigi
Dive 4 - Jari-Jari (Jahir) (night dive)
Dive 5 - Tanjong Tebal
Dive 6 - TK2
Dive 7 - Slow Pok
Dive 8 - Police Pier (night dive)
Dive 9 - Nudi Falls (dawn dive)
Dive 10 - Makawide
Dive 11 - Jari-Jari (Jahir)
Dive 12 - Hairball2 (Mandarin dive)
Dive 13 - Angel's Window (coral rock)
Dive 14 - Hairball2
Dive 15 - MPZ Point
Favourite sites: Jari-Jari and Police Pier
Things to Note
Important: The Lembeh Straits water tends to be a little colder (26 degrees Celcius in dry season) than Bunaken or Gangga (a throw away from the mouth of the northern end of Lembeh Straits). Having said that, on one trip in March 2009, the water was a lovely 28-29 degrees Celcius every day. However, we suspect that this was an exception rather than the norm, and that the water would go down one or two degrees because we experienced a really cold upwelling during one dive and we could see the shimmer of the cold water coming right for us. You are strongly encouraged to email your Lembeh dive operator before your trip to double-check the water temperature and weather. You never know, you may need some time to find and pack extra insulation.
If you're unlucky and it rains during the dry and cool season, be warned that the rain, wind, and cool ambient temperature can make you miserably cold, as evidenced by the 24 degrees on my dive computer. Once it was too cold to spend the surface interval on the boat, and we had to go back to the resort! (Where I promptly poured hot water down my wetsuit to stop the shivering. I was already wearing 3 layers, mind you.)
But this is divewithsus.com - there is a bright side! The good thing about this is big fish do pass through - fishing boats have caught whale sharks and mantas in the Straits! Yopie has seen a whale shark twice.
In fact there used to be a net in the northern of the Straits, but it was removed many years ago. Fish life is improving and we hope it stays that way. We've seen giant barrucuda, schools of batfish and many schools of bannerfish and angelfish.
