My Beautiful Indonesia: Lembeh, North Sulawesi..Underwater Macro Heaven...

I should start with an apology...

To my self particularly..

Why ooh why?

Because I should've written this piece looong time ago...right after I shared my unforgettable underwater experience in Bunaken...

Well, better late than never, rite...
Particularly as I will never stop writing about my beautiful Indonesia :)..

And this time, I have LEMBEH in my draft :D...

Have you ever heard of Lembeh before? Some of you might have...particularly those who love diving..and even more particular (I keep using that word!), divers who enjoy underwater photography, especially macro!

Yuuup...let me present Lembeh, famously coined as the capital of muck diving and even more popularly known as the capital of underwater macro diving ...

This crab (too bad I don't know the name..) was so tiny..I was lucky I could actually catch it...

Where is Lembeh anyway?

It is located in Bitung District, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. When I visited this beautiful island and strait, I stayed in Manado, which is near to Bunaken Marine Park (read here and here for my lovely underwater adventure in Bunaken :D). It took approximately 2 hours to reach Lembeh from Manado by car. There, from Bitung Port, it took another 20 minutes to reach the island and the strait, where the diving spots are.

two tiny pygmy seahorses....

Why do divers come to Lembeh? What makes Lembeh famous?

Critters and their magnificent beauty...Critters and all those gorgeous creatures you can possible find in this beautiful place!

For an amateur diver like me, I don't know what to expect when our group said we would try muck diving in Lembeh and that we would find different atmosphere as well as different creatures. But what I saw was beyond my imagination indeed...especially compared to my previous diving.


Don't forget, that Lembeh is world-widely known for its muck diving..so, instead of clear turquoise water, you will find otherwise...It might be deceiving for a start, but as I started to see those lovely (some are weird) creatures, it felt like I could scream on top of my lungs for excitement (of course I couldn't do it...not down there! :p)

I just luv to see these two nudibranch :D...sooo cuteee :D...

When is the best time to visit Lembeh?
Well, I went there in the middle of April and the weather was a bit tricky...It was raining cats and dogs as we stepped into the van that would take us to Lembeh, but as soon as we dived, everything was peacefully beautiful underwater.

arriving at Bitung port...

Lembeh Island...

There are many operators offering Lembeh experience...so you just google it and they're all popping out :D. My group and I dived with La Rascasse diving center, with Luther a.k.a Meta as my cool, funky DM :D>..

And here are some of the photos I managed to make while enjoying the beauty of Lembeh.

When we met this mimic octopus, we really took our time to take her (I call it 'she' for being soo beautiful :D>) pictures...well, judging from her swift movement and different poses she gave, she is definitely a great actress :D...

the octopus :D...

on the seabed...

Pak Sinek, my DM :D...

See you around, beautiful...

another pose ...

time to go...

Then we met puffer fish...or scientifically known as Tetraodontidae...Well, they can be cute, but dangerous at the same time...

big eyes...puffer fish...

Then, more and more nudibranch...

Ribbon eel...

Frog fish

Flamboyant cuttlefish

And soooo many moreee...

More puffer fish, including the one without being puffed ....

he's coming to meee :D...

Well, well, well...for sure Lembeh has sooo many more beautiful things to see and I would definitely lovee to come back..as you see, I still have to work on my UW photography et diving skills...

cheers...

In times of diving, I was accompanied by my lovely Canon D20 :D...now, I have new toys, G15 with fantasea casing (courtesy of Bapak Udi, my luuuv) and GoPro Hero3 that I haven't tried underwater (but properly abused by Bapak Udi my luuuv during his downhill cycling trips :) ) 

our tools...all in the bucket :D...

Now, it always happens to me whenever I finish writing anything about UW..

I want to dive noooow.....

P.S :  I really want to be a professional underwater photographer but I'm still learning the ropes now...so, this blog, and all its photos, is part of my never-ending learning process :D..so amateur as it might be, that's me :)...