Lembeh Diving

October 23, 2012

Lembeh Diving

When you scramble onto the little boat that ferries you across Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, you see many interesting things, like for instance- a floating coconut, a coke can and the Manado city's garbage. My advice to you- Don't wait for the pretty crystal clear blue part that you are going to dive into, because this is it!

I could still hear the sounds of Manado, when we arrived at our quaint little hotel with tiny cottages. I thought of the isolated pristine islands and waters at Maldives, longingly, wishing I was there instead.

NAD Lembeh was a sweet little resort, not luxurious, but very comfortable. The rooms were clean and well ventilated and the bathroom had regular supply of hot water. In a nutshell, it had all the necessities a diver might need to have a pleasurable stay.

As I dived for first time in the murky waters, miles and miles of black sand rose up around me. There were no pretty corals and no fish, just mud and dust. The visibility was terrible, due the clouds of volcanic sand that erupted at the slightest fin kick.

We swum around a bit and just when I was dozing off, I noticed the guide vigorously gesticulating at something delightedly. I finned over to him and saw... a matchbox! You can imagine my confusion as we hung there, suspended for a few minutes. I feared for the sanity of my dive guide and I feared for my safety, because I was with this madman, 25 metres underwater, and all I had was a fast depleting oxygen pipe. Just as I was debating how I should get out of this predicament, something peeked out at me. Then I got closer and 'Surprise!', it moved and opened its eyes- a hairy frogfish!

Over the course of the dive, I played treasure hunt all over again as millions of inexplicable species peeped out at me in a whole new world. Hidden behind every piece of supposed garbage, there were the most fantastic crouching critters.