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Dive Review of Kungkungan Bay Resort in
Indonesia/North Sulawesi

Kungkungan Bay Resort, Jun, 2007,

by Gary Krippendorf, CA, USA (Contributor Contributor 14 reports). Report 3418.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments I planned a trip for 8 of us to go diving in North Sulawesi,
Indonesia. We split our stay between 2 resorts. Having been to the same two resorts in 2004 and 2006, I knew what to expect. This trip report is for the first of the 2 places we visited, which is located on Lembeh Strait.

I planned the Lembeh Strait portion of our trip via telephone and e-mail with Linda at the Kungkungan Bay Resort (KBR) office. Linda was very good at answering our questions, and we booked a 5-night inclusive package. She also arranged for our transfer to the Santika Hotel from KBR rather than the normal transfer to the airport.

The KBR resort was generally in good shape. Our group occupied 5 of the cottage suite rooms, which are a good size and have an enclosed porch. Unfortunately all 5 of the rooms had very active termites, which were flying around in our rooms at night. In the morning the floor and sheets had areas where the results of their nocturnal activities were quite visible. The weekly fumigations we were told about didn’t seem to be effective. Perhaps the nature of the building materials used and the methods of construction have lead to a problem that can’t be overcome without a major renovation of the buildings. I agree with the March 2007 issue of Undercurrent regarding the need for the housekeeping staff to aggressively clean the bathroom areas with black mold.

While everyone in the group had a very good time, several mentioned that the breakfast and lunch offerings were high on carbohydrates and low on protein. We all noticed the amount of meat was reduced in comparison to the same meals 11 months ago. The dinners were on a par to our 2004 and 2006 experiences.

Lembeh Strait is known for its muck diving and strange critters. The water was smooth and most boat rides were 10-15 minutes to the dive sites. Our maximum depth was 90 feet, though we spent most of our time between 30 and 60 feet.

There were 8 of us in the boat along with the boat captain and 2 or 3 dive guides. On prior trips, we had had a maximum of 6 divers per boat, so the boat was a bit crowded this trip. Before each dive we’d get a briefing for the site, which included a list of the critters usually seen in that location. Our dive guides usually were able to find everything on the list and many more exotic fish as well. They were very patient and made sure we had seen each critter before moving on to the next area at the dive site. Ade was the dive guide assigned to myself and three others and he was wonderful.

There were so many different things on each dive that we couldn’t begin to log them. Some of us were taking digital photographs, which was a big help, because it provided a record of what we saw with a date and timestamp so we could match the photos to the dive sites.

In summary, the diving was excellent. The staff members were all very friendly and all worked very hard at their jobs. They were very willing to help us whenever we asked for anything. However the overall experience was not quite as good as we had on our recent prior visits. Some of the group wondered if the changes we noticed were due to a cost cutting effort underway by the management.

We plan to return to dive Lembeh in 2009 and KBR will remain a strong option for us.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Dominica, Cozumel, Roatan, Sea of Cortez, Hawaii, Australia (GBR), Coral Sea, and PNG
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather cloudy Seas calm
Water Temp 80-83°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No gloves, 3 to 5 minute safety stop, responsible to
monitor own air remaining
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments Small boats did not have any facilities for cameras. Cameras were safely handled and stored in a plastic basket. Shore facilities are
excellent.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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