Dive Review of
Aggressor in
Indonesia/Sulawesi

South pacific, Caribbean, southern California

Dive Conditions

60 minutes bottom time  

[None]  

Overall Rating

  From July to October the winds blow through Lembeh strait. This means
chop and you may not be able to dive there.  When the winds blow they dive
the Manado area.  There is some muck there also, but nothing like Lembeh. I
got 3 days in the strait.  The Captian took advantage of a 3 day lull in
the wind.  Lembeh is a terrific place for those wierd and strange critters
that live in the muck.  Lembeh would be very boring if the critters were
not out.  The guides were very good at finding them and unless you have
done this type of diving before, you need to stick close to a guide. There
are two guides for every dingy, with four to six in a dingy. Boyancy is
very important. You swim close to the bottom and can't stir up the
sand(mud), otherwise you will be very very unpoplular.  Also you must wait
your turn and give eveyone a chance to see the fish.  That was a benefit
from very small groups.  I dove with four other divers in my dingy (two
were photographers).  I saw rhinopias, wasp scorpion fish, devil's
stingers, pegasus fish, mandarin fish, blue ring, long legged and reef
octopi, pigmy and regular size sea horses, sea snakes, snake blennies, pipe
fish, squat lobster, harlequin shrimp and so many other things which I have
no idea what they are called. Macro is the name of this type of
photography.
  The best dive is the first morning dive at 7:30a.m. because that is
before all the day boats show up from the local resorts.  Also the last
afternoon dive is good because in July it is already starting to get dark
at 4:30p.m.  The night dives weren't that great, except for the Manado
area.  Snake eels came out and swam across the sand, lion fish would feed
in your light.  That was fun!
  For the last night/day at the dock, almost everybody took advantage of
the massage at the local resort. They all raved that it was the best
massage they had. I took the option of the eight hour round trip to see the
specualted tarsiers (Tincoco is the local name) at the national park on the
Lembeh side of the island.  That was terrific.  There is a group of about
seven that live in a crack in a tree. It is a short but hot and mosquito
infested hike to get there. I arrived just before dark and the tarsiers
were starting to wake up.  They are very small and would fit in your hand
if you could get them to sit there.  I was also surrounded by a family
group of yaqi.  I was told I was very lucky to even see these tailess
monkies.  It was a lot of fun, but admittedly a very long day.
  The boat was great. However, I had room number five and it needed some
maintenance. The shower had a constant drip but I just shut the bathroom
door and couldn't hear it.  There was a wet spot where condensation dripped
on the floor. Also storage space is adequate, but it is all under the bed
with a small opening. I had my own room, but if I had shared the room, it
would have been a hassle moving luggage around to get to my stuff in the
back.
  As a travel tip. There is an Ambassador Transit Hotel in the transit
lounge in Singapore.  You don't have to go through customs to get to it. 
You rent your room in six hour blocks of time. It is a great place to sleep
in a bed, and take a shower while you wait for your connecting flight.


 

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