Every week we really do have incredible dives here in Lembeh. The variety is truly staggering. There are just so many different critters..some we see on a regular basis..and some we see that we didn’t even know existed here (or anywhere for that matter).

This week Barb took some amazing photographs of some incredible creatures on some fantastic dives. Here are a few of them, and you can see them all by clicking the top or bottom photo strip.

These first two photos are of a Sea Hare. We have no idea what sort of Sea Hare it is. None of the guides here have very seen it before. The pattern and colours are just unbelievable…and, to make matters even worse, I wasn’t on the dive!!! Boo hoo, but at least Barb got photos…

These lovely little crabs are a type of Xeno Crab. We usually see white or dusky red Xeno Crabs on Whip Coral, where they grip the whips with there feet. This is another type that we hadn’t seen here before. rather than living on Whip Coral, these guys live on Sea Fans and colour themselves appropriately, except for a white strip on their backs.

These three crustaceans above are Saron, or Marble Shrimp. They live under rubble and can be very hard to find. On one dive Liberty and Fekia, the two guides, found four different types within 3 metres of each other!! Having only seen one or two in the last year, suddenly we saw four in five minutes and all different.

And a great week’s diving here wouldn’t be complete without an octopus or a nudibranch, so below are my two favourite from this week, one of a Wonderpus and the other a delightfully colourful nudi..

It was very difficult to choose a video clip for this week. I saw a Broadclub Cuttlefish egg hatching, the wonderful Saron Shrimp, great Xeno Crabs, but the clip I liked best was of a Spindle Rosy Cowrie. These cowries live their lives on Sea Fans. Like all cowries they have a shell, which is usually fairly plain. All the colour and texture you can see on this one is, in fact, it’s mantle, or ‘foot’, which it extends out of it’s shell to cover itself with. This is how it camouflages itself.

This little guy had got to the end of a branch on the Sea Fan, and it gave me the opportunity to film it’s bright little eyes and mouth as it was feeding itself.

Click here to see video in HD in a new window

And now, the rest of the stuff we saw. It was a surprisingly good week for Blue rings. After last week and the Blue Ring we found then, we didn’t expect to see many more. well the next day we found another, and then another the day after that! Most unusual but very welcome, as everyone at the resort got to see one. We also saw Mimics, Wonderpuses, Coconut and Reef octopus. We saw Flamboyant, Pygmy, Reef and Broadclub Cuttlefish. Crustaceans included Tiger Shrimp, Bumblebee Shrimp, Xeno Crabs, Mantis Shrimp, Whip Coral Shrimp, Orangatan Crabs, Porcelain Crabs, Hairy Shrimp, Zebra Crabs, Coleman Shrimp, Hairy Squat Lobster, Elegant Squat Lobster, Saron Shrimp, Paron Shrimp, Boxing Crabs, Decorator Crabs, Emperor Shrimp, Harlequin Crabs and Tozeuma Shrimp. We saw many different members of the Scorpionfish family, including Waspfish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Ambon Scorpionfish, Stonefish and Spiny Devilfish. There were plenty of Seahorses, with Bargabantis, Pontohi’s and Thorny’s. We saw Lembeh Pygmy Seadragons, Pygmy Pipehorses and Pipefish. There were juvenile Fingered Dragonets (adults too), Cockatoo Flounder, Stargazers and Helmut Gurnards. Plenty of Ghost Pipefish too, with Ornates, Halimeda and Robusts. And there were, of course, frogfish, with Randall’s, Giant, Hairy and Painted all being seen.

Thanks to all our guest for coming. we had guests from Germany, France, Italy, Singapore, Australia, the States and Spain….

Click the strip below to open Barb’s photos in a new window..

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My first post – My name is Kaj (pronounced Kai) and, despite the odd sounding name, I’m from jolly old London (England). For the last decade or so I, together my my lovely partner Barbara, have worked and managed resorts in the Eastern and Western Caribbean, Malaysia and Fiji. We are now extremely excited to be heading to work at Kungkungan Bay Resort to fulfil our dream of diving the Lembeh Straights and getting our hands/fins/bcds dirty with muck diving!!

However, we are not there yet….I’m visiting family in London and Barb is visiting hers in Melbourne. There is no better incentive to wanting to get out to the tropics again than sitting in London, watching the low grey clouds, listening to the gentle pitter-patter of the drizzle outside and hearing your friends tell you how warm it is while you are shivering in ten layers on cloths. Barb and I have wanted to work in Lembeh ever since we worked in Malaysia and heard our guests and friends talking about the incredible critters and creatures of Manado. We both take photos and video and love nothing better than discovering some magnificently weird and wonderful critter…

So we will be arriving at KBR around the middle of April. We are really looking forward to meeting everyone who is coming to the resort and we can’t wait to get wet!!!

A beautiful day here at KBR – blue skies, calm winds, calm sea, calm atmosphere – well, on the surface at least. Underneath? Different story altogether my friends….. I did two dives this morning, Makawide 2 and Tandu Rusa. On Makawide we found a mimic octopus – and on Tandu Rusa…. yeah, you guessed, YET another Blue-Ring Octopus. Man, those things are everywhere.

Me seeing Blue-Rings has meant the Dive Team have nothing to tease me about. Well, that was true up until yesterday….. do you remember that childhood song (well, it’s one kids sing in the UK anyway. OK, yes, right, they did in the 1950s. OK), “Oh dear What Can the Matter Be? Two Ladies locked in the lavatory” Well, alright, in the 1950s it was funny. Anyway, guess who went to the Dive Centre bathroom yesterday and the lock jammed on the bathroom door? It required a screw driver and some brute Mancunian muscle to get out. On re-appearing there was much hilarity, jeering and laughter from my erstwhile Dive Team colleagues. But hey, 35 years on the  front line of diplomacy does nothing if give you huge measures of sang froid and ability to make light of the most awkward of situations……. But how long before I live this one down?

Anyway, whilst I was repairing bathroom locks, the Dive Team have been busy with paint brushes and filler making sure the KBR boat fleet gleams for the coming Xmas season. No, we have not fitted them with fairy lights or antlers (tempting though, eh?). But they now look in great shape. Two down – one more boat to go.

And, in addition, courtesy of a bag of cement, some tiles and a few bricks, we have just replaced the slightly down-at-heel rinse tank that you might remember was used for wetsuit washing. The new one is a bespoke magnificence of gleaming white tiles, splashing water – all cleverly designed to be the perfect height. Honest, it would look great in a Scandanavia bathroom….. But don’t take my word for it. Check out the picture of our new Japanese instructor, Yuko, with Boat Captain Julius, giving the tank a wipe….. Yuko will be teaching the PADI Rinse Tank specialty for anyone wanting that really special specialty qualification. Orderly queue now, boys.  (for US guests this means please make a line nicely…)

Yuko and Julius measure the new rinse tanks

KBR DEMA Special: 7 night dive package is $1335 (at value $1465)
• Pay for 6 day dive package and the 7th day is free, stay in a beach front accommodation, get a free night dive, an hour complimentary massage.
• Bring in a group of 9 and the 10th is free

Rate includes:
Accommodation in a beach front cottage suite, all meals, free WIFI, 3 day dives x 6 diving days, unlimited house reef dives from 8AM-5PM, tax, service charge and two ways airport transfer. UPGRADES AVAILABLE FOR AN EXTRA CHARGE

Exclusions: extras (drinks, equipment rentals, night-dives, land-excursions, massage service, telephone calls, laundry service)

KBR-TRR Combo package: (combine Bunaken and Lembeh)
14 night dive package is $1773 (at value $2448)
• Pay for 10 day dive package and get 4 free days.

Add PADI Enriched Air Course for only $99

Conditions of offer:
• All rates are based on double share. Single surcharge applies to single package.
• Cannot be back-dated onto existing bookings
• Offer valid on all new bookings made between November 4-21.
• Cannot be taken in conjunction with any other offer made by each resort.

Group offers available, just ask us.