Lembeh Strait
If you are into underwater photography, chances are you would have heard of Lembeh Straits. Located 2 hours away from Manado, Lembeh Straits is full of weird and wonderful critters. It is a true macro photographers' dream. There are many species of nudibranchs here and they range from the tiniest to the largest nudibranchs that you would have ever seen. Some of the critters you could see here are skeleton shrimps, pygmy seahorses, wonderpus, flamboyant cuttlefish, scorpionfish, frogfish, bengai cardinal fish, electric file clams, emperor shrimps, Lembeh sea dragons, lizard fish, bobtail squids and the list goes on.
Most dive sites are sandy bottom so maintaining good buoyancy is important. You can do a day trip from Manado or there are accommodation choices in Lembeh Straits as well. The eagle eyed dive guides here are amazing at spotting super tiny and camouflaged critters and are great with photographers. Be sure to pack your macro lenses and extra memory cards.
Some of my favorite dive sites are Nudi Retreat and Nudi Falls. At these sites, you can almost spend all your bottom time in less than 12m of water and not get bored. The water temperature here is cooler than nearby Manado or Bunaken. Dives are usually shallow and long so a full suit would be my recommendation. I would recommend at least 4 days of diving and be sure to include some night dives as well. You will not be disappointed.
Bitung is the closest town to Lembeh. There are small supermarkets, ATMs, small eateries or warungs. My favorite place to eat in Bitung is Mutiara Minang for BBQ seafood.
Water temp: 26 - 28C
Recommended for: Divers of all levels with good buoyancy, macro photography enthusiasts.
Dive conditions: None to mild currents.
