Lembeh Strait is a muck diving paradise and a magnet to divers, underwater macro photographers and marine biologists.
Plan your next dive trip to Lembeh Strait with the following travel tips and advices.
Table of Content
- Pictures of Lembeh Strait
- Lembeh Strait Travel Guide
- Excursions and Tours
- Best Season to Visit
- Where to Stay?
- How to Get There?
- Map of Lembeh Strait
- Diving in Lembeh Strait
- Top Dive Destinations
- Travel Comments and Reviews
Pictures of Lembeh Strait
Lembeh Strait Travel Guide
Lembeh Strait manifests as a rather narrow area of water surrounded by Bitung to the left, Lembeh Island to the east and a harbour city at Sulawesi’s northern tip.
The busy harbour of Bitung is littered with rusty ships that have long been abandoned making it a very interesting dive spot. From here you’ll be able to grab a peek at the tops of the volcanic mountains and should get a great first sighting of Lembeh’s most impressive and distinctive feature – the dark volcanic sand.
Excursions and Tours
Don’t miss a day trip to the Tangkoko National Park Tour, where you can easily watch the amazing Black Crested Macaques along with the Tarsiers (the smallest primate in the world).
If you are into birding, a must is to go on a Tangkoko birdwatching tour where you can spot most of the endemic exotic bird species of Sulawesi.
Other interesting tours include:
- Hiking Lembeh Island
- Visit to the Bitung Traditional Market
- Visit to Pintu Kota Village
- Day tour to the Minahasan Highlands
- Day tour to the Mahawu Volcano
Best Months to visit Lembeh Strait
This is a year round destination which is not affected by the Typhoon season like the Philippines.
- ‘Rainy’ season: November to March
- ‘Dry’ season: July to September
The macro and muck diving at Lembeh Strait is all year-round.
Where to stay in Lembeh Strait?
There are several well established dive resorts in Lembeh Strait.
Luxury Dive Resorts
- Lembeh Resort
- Kungkungan Bay Resort
- Lembeh Hill Resort (Dabirahe)
- Kasawari Lembeh Resort
Medium Range Dive Resorts
- Eco Divers Resort Lembeh
- Bastianos Lembeh Diving Resort
- NAD Lembeh Resort
- Divers Lodge Lembeh
- Two Fish Divers
How to get to Lembeh Strait?
Most visitors choose to access the diving sites of North Sulawesi by arriving in Manado first as there is an international airport (Sam Ratulangi Airport) for arrivals from both local Indonesian destinations (Garuda, etc) and nearby destinations such as the Philippines (Cebu Pacific) and Singapore (Silk Air). Visas are issued upon arrival for a large number of passports and are worth the minimal fee. Although entering and gaining access to Sulawesi may be easy, please ensure that you do not overstay your visa in Indonesia.
From Manado, most divers will pre-book transportation from Manado and head straight to Bitung. Local dive shops and dive resorts can help to arrange this transport for you which will consist of a car ride of 2-3 hours and a quick 10 minute boat ride that goes across the strait. Transport costs are certainly reasonable and many would agree that this is well worth it due to the remote locations of the sites and the inability of many local drivers to understand English.
Where is Lembeh Strait?
Scuba Diving in Lembeh Strait?
Check out our Lembeh Strait diving reviews and start planning your next dive trip!