We are in Lembeh Strait, the world´s capital of muck diving! However, what is muck diving ? Many times my guests and students ask me about it, and it is time to clarify this term. According to Collins dictionary (US) the word “muck” refers to: moist manure black earth containing decaying matter, used as a…
For June, we will be moving back to the dive centre for our monthly “meet the staff” blog, and we will be introducing you to another member of the staff who has been with us since we starting building the resort nearly 20 years ago. Meyti Bawekes has been an integral part of our team
It was a pleasure to have Lisa Collins with us once again for her INON UK UW Wide Angle Photography Workshop. Lisa is an award-winning underwater photographic journalist who is a regular major feature writer for many dive publications. “We have been very privileged to run our latest INON UK Underwater Photography Workshop at Siladen
Earlier this year, we said goodbye to our dive centre management team, Galen and Romina, who we would like to thank for their hard work and dedication during their tenure. They did a great job running the dive centre along with Teddy, and the dive centre team, resort staff, and guests will miss them. With
Can you spot the fish? Look closer and you can see the crocodile fish hiding in the rubble on one of our local dive sites, Lekuan 3. These relatives of the scorpionfish are masters of disguise in Bunaken National Park and a treat to see if you can! The Crocodilefish, (Cymbacephalus beauforti), sometimes know as the…
Divemaster course in full swing in Bunaken and I must say it has been a wonderful experience so far. One of the first practical things another Divemaster trainee and I had to do was run through and practice 24 skills. These skills are ones that every student learns during their PADI Open Water Course. As…
Why are nudibranchs so colorful? As you certainly know, nudibranchs are beautiful sea slugs that display most of the time a full range of vivid and elegant colors. From flashy pink to intense purple, bright yellow to deep green, blue, red, etc… We can frequently observe them in many dive sites in Lembeh like Nudi…
Lionfish in Bunaken National Park! Lionfish, Pterois, are native to the Indo-Pacific so, unlike in the Caribbean sea, west Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, in Indonesia we don’t see them as a pest or hunt them with spears, we actually enjoy seeing them and they make great photography subjects. They mainly eat small fish, including…
We have fantastic news that we can’t wait to share with you all. Over the past couple of years, we have been searching for a new resort to take over and manage, with the dream of being able to offer guests more of the best diving Indonesia has to offer — perhaps even as a
Today we are going to be looking at many peoples favourite animals underwater, the frogfish of Lembeh. They are a firm favourite among all divers but can you identify what each one is? It always makes a dive more enjoyable when you know what creature you’re looking at and with so many varieties of this…
About a year ago I had the pleasure of stumbling upon the beautiful island of Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. I came in search of amazing diving and what I got was so much more. I found a place where I could train to become a PADI Divemaster. One year later and I am back…
The Giant Frogfish, Antennarius commerson, is an ambush predator so it usually relies on camouflage to avoid detection and they can actually change the hue of their skin to better match their surroundings making them almost impossible to spot. Sometimes though, the Giant Frogfish are hard to miss in Bunaken, growing up to 38cm in…
My name is Wilfried. Here is my second diving trip to Bunaken. I made the first one by chance last summer: I’d been in Jakarta and Bogor for a few days but at the end, I couldn’t stand the heat anymore and went to the airport with the Lonely Planet, looking for the first plane…
For May’s entry of ‘Meet the Staff’, we will be introducing Vendy Rinaldy Yusuf, one of our long term restaurant and bar staff. If you have stayed with us before, you will probably know him as the chatty bartender who loves mixing cocktails, football, and showing off his magic skills and card tricks. Vendy was
Whether you have seen every species of Moray Eel or just the common ones it is always exciting to see them guarding their holes and even better to see them out swimming. For some divers at Two Fish Divers this week was the first time spotting Snowflake Moray Eels in Bunaken. The Snowflake Moray (Echidna…
There is nothing more leisurely when it comes to diving then making a shore dive, especially when the shore is literally on your doorstep. At Murex Manado (and Murex Bangka) it’s simply a case of strolling down the beach and entering the water. It really is that easy. For divers who are staying with us
For divers who are looking to explore new muck diving sites with few other divers (if any) in the water and the chance to really hunt for critters, Manado Bay is rapidly gaining recognition as critter hotspot which is rich in rare and unusual marine life. Here are some of our favorites which we encounter
Here in Lembeh we have a variety of fascinating creatures under the water. Some of the most interesting are the Pipefish. Pipefish are closely related to Seahorses and Seadragons and are often observed as a straight bodied seahorse. Their bodies are long and slender and have a similarly distinguished snout. They all have a dorsal…
Beautiful Carnation soft corals at Bunaken are especially nice when the sun hits them and you get to see their vibrant colours. They are found in the Soft coral family (Nephtheidae) under the genus Dendronephthya. They add a flower garden effect to coral reefs and small shrimps, crabs and fish use the soft coral as…
Most divers who visit Bunaken Marine Park are interested in seeing the macro life that North Sulawesi is most famous for, but some dives are more “critterful” than others, and on occasion, all the critters seem to hiding from our guides. Luckily, there are plenty of other interesting things to see so your dives will
A curious looking couple we met the other day when diving in Padang Bai, Bali. Seamoths are a very unusual looking fish and are often hard to find. The most amazing thing about seamoths is that they form long lasting monogamous bonds with their partner, a real happy love story! Seamoths walk over the bottom…
These last few days have been packed full of diving! From assisting Sal in the pool with open water water courses, Discovery scuba dives and running through skill sets. Its now common for me to conduct boat briefings too. On the boat I help set up the dive equipment and assist divers get into their…
Diving the Best of Bali means: diving the legendary dive sites of Nusa Penida (including Manta Point and Crystal Bay) dive the famous Blue Lagoon for pelagics, or enjoy the muck of The Jetty in Padang Bai swim around the wreck of the USAT Liberty in Tulamben and drift along the nearby drop-offs We can…
It’s amazing what you see in the mangroves and eel grass in front of Two Fish Divers, even at low tide, if you keep your eyes peeled! This week, amongst other critters, there was a Long Spine Porcupine Fish seen hunting in Bunaken. The Longspined Porcupine Fish (Diodon holocanthus) can often be found hunting on…
We are always striving to improve our facilities and the services we offer our guests. We know that most guests visit us to experience the exquisite diving and snorkelling that Bunaken Marine Park has to offer, but what about about after you have returned from your boat excursion? We have wanted to offer yoga classes
This week in Lembeh we have had many divers using Enriched Air (Nitrox) throughout their stay. This always causes discussion between those diving ‘only’ on air. Why should you use Nitrox? Here we will discuss the added benefits of using this enriched air instead of standard air we all learn using. Enriched Air (EAN/Nitrox) is…
For Aprils entry of meet the staff, we will introduce you to another of our staff members who has been with us for many years. He is very popular among our guests for his ability to speak German, which is rare in Indonesia. We are of course talking about Herry, our front office tour specialist.
The stunningly clear waters and sheer abundance of marine life living within Bunaken Marine Park makes it a world renowned scuba diving hotspot. The vast majority of our guests are scuba divers, and they visit Siladen Resort & Spa specifically to explore as much of the underwater world as possible. But, scuba diving is not
We are delighted to announce that at this year’s ADEX Blue Green 360 awards Lembeh Resort won the prestigious award for “Dive Operator of the Year”. Not only did Lembeh come in first but Helen, who is in-house restaurant staff, and one of the founding members of the Lembeh Foundation took the title of “Blue
Have you ever wondered how marine creatures carry their eggs, or where they lay them, or if the juvenile of the species is born live rather than hatched? Here we take a look at a few of the common marine species we see around Bunaken, Manado, Bangka and Lembeh and answer some of these questions