The Lembeh Strait, Manado, North Sulawesi has become a mecca for hard core muck divers and macro photographers. Introduced to the world in the mid 90's it has grown in popularity. There are now several dive resorts on the shoreline and a few liveaboard boats service the area as well. Divers from around the globe now flock to the Lembeh Strait to see the weird and the wonderful. Serious underwater photographers never want to leave.
The Lembeh Strait is a narrow channel that seperates Lembeh Island from mainland Sulawesi. The reefs at Lembeh are poor, mostly small sandy reefs and rocks. The visibility isn't great either as the seabed is black volcanic sand. The water temperature can be cool at times, maybe down to 24°C (normally 26-28°C). None of that should put you off though because the marine life is awesome. Lembeh is one of the few places that does live up to it's billing. Most divers exit the water from each dive amazed at what they have seen. If you don't like muck diving when you arrive at Lembeh, the dives will convert you. If you have a wish list of critters that you want to see, tell your dive guides and they will find most of them for you. From flamboyant cuttlefish to mimic octopus, stargazer to pegasus seamoth, snake eels to rhinopia. The list goes on and on.
The bio-diversity of the water is such that there is just more macro life at Lembeh. Critters that are almost impossible to spot elsewhere are abundant. It's possible to see ten pygmy seahorse on one sea fan, twenty bobbit worms on one night dive. Every dive is an adventure, hunting for stuff that you've always dreamed of seeing and photographing. Dive guides are experts at finding every critter. Most dives are shallow and currents are minimal so bottom times can be long while you hunt for the cool stuff. Night dives are also amazing at Lembeh, often producing more astonishing finds than the day dives.
The Lembeh Strait can be dived all year round. June to December are the busiest months with September and October having the best conditions overall. Visibility drops in August but the marine life is particularly abundant at that time.
Much of the best diving is accessed simply by walking onto a house reef from shore. Other dive sites are no more than a short boat ride away. Liveaboards here are effectively floating hotels, moving very little in the narrow channel and transfering divers to the dive sites by tender.
There are over 30 dive sites in the Lembeh Strait. Here are some of the highlights:
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