Lembeh Straits, Manado Indonesia
The resort in Lembeh
Lembeh Straits is known as the muck diving capital of the world. Muck dives consist of sandy black slopes with good visibility, approximately 10-15m. It is a macro-photographers dream, as the slopes are teaming of all sorts of fascinating critters and the black sand reduces back-glare. Muck dives are the main reason many divers return to us, Lembeh Island, time and time again.
Lembeh is actually an island across from the town of Bitung, which is on the eastern side of the northern tip of Sulawesi. The Lembeh Straits (or Selat Lembeh) refers to the body of water in between Lembeh island, and the mainland.
A little geography lesson: Sulawesi is the gnarled-looking piece of land to the east of Borneo. Its funny contorted shape is believed to have been caused by plate tectonic movements (go do a Google search – very interesting stuff).
A talking point is the volcanic sand beneath the water. This means that when you dive, you are will often see stretches of black sand. And because volcanic sand has got its own rich and unique qualities, the marine life there is pretty rich and unique.
HOW TO GET THERE
You have to fly to Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado. From there its a 90 minutes drive .There are frequent air service from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali. Airport-to-resort transfers are included in all dive packages.
