KBR Lembeh Dive Resort
In summary the KBR staff provided the most friendly and attentive service of any resort my wife and I have stayed at. When you combine that with the critter diving of Lembeh, this was a vacation of a lifetime. I will not give away the sendoff they provide, but let's just say my wife was a bit teary eyed when we left.
The Rooms
We are divers and tend to pick vacation destinations and accommodations purely based on the diving. That being said, when we arrived at KBR we were extremely pleased with the rooms. Through an odd twist of events and again amazing staff we got to try three different rooms. There was a bit of weather one night and a tree was hitting our room. We didn't mind or even say anything. The staff noticed and offered to move us to an upgraded room so they could cut down the tree branches. The quality of every room was excellent. The pictures on their site are accurate. If you want more privacy and/or a bathtub then I would recommend looking into an upgrade.
The Diving
The diving is unparallelled. If you are into macro photography then this place is heaven. They ask you to give them a wish list of critters. I gave them a list of about 12 which they took care of by day 3. I needed to expand the list. The guides have been doing this for many years. At least one is actually credited in some of the fish identification books. They know the behavior and environment of the critters. It is nature, so I am sure you could stump them, but I was impressed with their ability to find very specific things underwater. The guides also seem to really enjoy their jobs and remember for them it is a job. They take care of your tanks and gear for you. They are doing all sorts of work in between dives that we take for granted. Take care of them at the end of the trip with a little extra thank you.
The Food
We ate mostly from the Indonesian menu. My wife and I were not familiar with Indonesian food so I cannot provide you with an informed opinion. That being said, we LOVED the food. We became addicted to the chef's preparation of the local water spinach. I think we added that to every lunch and dinner. Our friends tried a couple of non-Indonesian dishes throughout the week and also were impressed. So much of their menu is made from scratch, including the bread! I did have the American breakfast most mornings and was extremely pleased with their home made smoked bacon. You might gain a pound or two on this trip, but heck, it's a vacation right?
The Staff
I need to save the best for last. The staff from the dive guides to the front desk were all top notch. Everyone is there to help make your stay memorable and everyone helps with a smile. The entire place has an energy that is contagious. Beary, the manager, and the dining room staff, greeted us after every morning dive to offer up snacks and ask us about what critters we saw. One of our dive guides, Stenely, would get excited and fist pump under water when he would find a critter from my list. Liberty, the legend, was constantly pointing out critters that I would have never found on my own in a million years. On several occasions both the staff and dive guides would accommodate special requests that my wife and I didn't even make! Seriously! I am not making that up. We aren't big into making special requests, but several times throughout the trip we would talk to each other about revisiting a specific dive site, or having a specific food at dinner. The staff must have excellent hearing, because the next thing we knew they were delivering that request.
In Conclusion
Go! You will have a great time with some great people!
