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Live-aboard dive boat at anchor in Lembeh Straits
That’s a giant jellyfish, I thought while drifting through the warm waters of Lembeh Straits, Indonesia. Paddling closer my heart raced as I worked to keep track of my dive buddies. Most, like me, were girls scuba diving in Indonesia for the first time. My excitement was soon crushed as I discovered that the floating white mass was actually a plastic bag. It bounced in the current as I came near to spear it with my pointer. A swift twist later it collapsed and I shoved it into my BC vest pocket. Over the next five days, that pocket filled again and again with plastic garbage recovered while diving.
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Tradition collides with the present
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One afternoon our small group rinsed gear along the dock at the Lembeh Resort. While emptying my pockets into a trash can, one of the girls scuba diving with me asked, “What do you think they’re going to do with the garbage?” Flushed with cold fear, I knew it was going back into the sea. Like many struggling island nations, North Sulawesi has a pile of infrastructure challenges. Traditionally islanders cook in and eat off abundant green leaves. Then they toss the used greens into stream beds to be flushed away during monsoon season. It’s an age-old tradition that’s now choking the ocean. As tasty and tempting fast food options have become popular, and plastic bags ubiquitous, the beaches and ravines are littered with plastic wrappers. Cheap packaged food is found in even the tiniest village markets.
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Hope is rising with the tides, but first about diving here…
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Boat ready for scuba diving girls and their buddies
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Lembeh for girls scuba diving and underwater photographers
This is one of the world’s top spots for underwater photographers and divers seeking strange creatures. The narrow strait between seas is famous for muck diving. That rough and mottled sand bottom is full of nutrients and shelter for the startlingly unique sea life. It’s also easy to dive the shallow depths and most dive sites are less than ten minutes from the various resorts dotting the coastline.
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Tea time at Lembeh Resort
The Lembeh Resort is luxurious without feeling imposing. Scuba diving girls and anyone traveling with gear will feel secure in the gated grounds. There are 14 Deluxe Ocean View Cottages, 6 Garden View Rooms, a Spa, as well as a wonderful swimming-pool and oceanfront deck. Locals from nearby villages work at all levels of the family-owned destination. The dive facilities include a dedicated, temperature-controlled equipment room and bays for each diver to set up. There’s lots of assistance too. It’s easy for boys and girls scuba diving and novices like myself to concentrate on working our dive skills. I had help getting into my heavy gear and positioned to jump in. Also, it’s tiring to spend 3 or more hours underwater daily. The eager and strong dive masters drew our tanks and weights out of the water simply. That’s a luxury for anyone, scuba diving girls and boys of all ages!
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Strange dive creatures in the muck of Lembeh Straits
But best of all were the transcendent revelations underwater. I’ll never forget circling my dive buddies as they set up shots in the different areas. I had a camera but with my novice device bored quickly and wandered a bit. My exasperated dive master cautioned me about staying with the group. Most of the divers had hauled cases of gear, lenses, and batteries for the opportunity to capture pictures of the rare creatures. Still, I’m pretty pleased by the few shots I managed to get.
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One morning, I joined a few of the girls scuba diving with me to ride up into the hills to search for Tarsier Monkeys – tiny, endangered marsupials with big eyes. A guide from Safari_Tourtso drove us into the Tongkoko Nature Reserve. I’d doused my limbs with mosquito repellant and wore long sleeves and pants in the dire heat. It was a futile effort to avoid stinging plants and the tiny mites that seek warm skin to feed. Rain fell hard when we arrived and tromping through the thick growth made an umbrella useless. Soaked from sweat and pelted with rain, again I worked to keep from getting distracted and stay with the group.
A Mandarin Fish, Tarsier Monkey and Electric Clam in North Sulawesi
Tarsier Junction
All that discomfort faded when we finally stood at the base of a large tree to view our reward. I could just make out tiny creatures blinking into the fading afternoon light. Our guide lifted a husky, skewered grasshopper towards their lair and one by one, a trio of the adorable creatures emerged to check it out. These endangered creatures are losing habitat quickly. The tree I peered up into was one of the five they favor that remains in the vast jungle preserve. Before leaving the area we watched an indigenous Crested Black Macaque preening himself and our guide tried to spot the rare birds we could hear in the dense jungle.
Tidal fishing near the Lembeh Resort
The Lembeh Resort has grown since I visited several years ago. It bodes well for the environment inside the property and for the community and the Resort is the first to acknowledge the need for improvement with plastic garbage:
“Here in North Sulawesi the local community are not educated about reducing plastic and almost all items are sold in plastic bags. We now use large crates for transporting goods to the resort, eliminating the need for plastic bags.”
While limiting plastic as much as they can, they’ve ditched styrofoam in favor of paper bags for dive lunches and cocktails are served with stylish, glass straws. The bungalows have new water-saving faucets, solar energy, and green materials. Reef and beach cleanups are being organized too.
Family in the Bitung market
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The future looks good for scuba diving girls and boys in Lembeh
The Resort is close to the Tasikoki Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue Center where they are fighting illegal trade and trafficking through the port in Bitung. Learning about the incredible natural environment and how to protect it is an important part of the work the Center does, as well as to organizing and funding trips for local children to visit Tasik Oki. The Resort also donates to the effort in the name of each guest.
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Hopefully, these efforts and tourism throughout the region will lead to more sustainable jobs, fewer plastics in the ocean, less mining, clear-cutting, and poaching that is threatening the health of the region.
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Here’s more about my novice, scuba diving girls experience health challenge on the trip.
Ahhh, I want to go on a girls scuba trip. Ed and I were thinking about going on a night muck dive tomorrow to Blue Heron Bridge (and hopefully see frog fish), but that changed to a day float dive down the Rainbow River and then just got scrubbed all together. Ed’s buddy bagged out. I love it that you were involved in Indonesia at ground zero trying to start up ethical and sustainable travel there. I don’t think leaving trashin the was is a good long term solution.
What a wonderful adventure. I enjoyed hearing how the locals are starting to understand the problem with plastic bags. I have to say that I thought your photos turned out quite well. I’ve snorkeled several times but never got up the courage to go scuba diving.
Thanks for the kudos. I never pictured myself as a scuba diver but when the opportunity came, in a very relaxed way with warm waters, I took the plunge. The training made me confident enough to keep going. Now, I get in the water whenever I can. I so love the wildlife!
I remember seeing Tarsier monkeys in an encyclopedia as a youngster and thinking I’d love to see them in person.
What a great adventure you had, sorry to hear about the plastics situation, really sad.
Thanks, Nathalie. Tarsiers are endangered still but surviving for the moment. Plastics too but we’re getting wiser and I need to believe there’s hope.
Nice job. The story balances all the concerns you had on your trip and diving, and it’s great to hear about the early efforts at clean-up. Pinning this post.
Thanks, Kristin. I was concerned it was a bit of a jumble. Happy travels!
Very cool that the Lembeh Resort limits plastic and has ditched styrofoam. I recently discovered how awful it is for the environment and was shocked! Every little bit helps. I’d be curious to visit the Tasikoki Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue Center as well to learn more about how they’re combating illegal trade and trafficking.
Thanks, Francesca and yes, every little bit helps.
I did scuba diving, but never in Indonesia! Those dive creatures looks so different from everything I’ve seen and Lembeh Straits must be a great place as well. It is such a shame that with all these plastic bags (sadly, it´s not only an issue on the islands) we put in danger oceans and some marine creatures might simply disappear one day. #TheWeeklyPostcard
Glad to meet a fellow bubble blower! Yes, I so hope there’s time to preserve the oceans and all they provide.
The plastic bag instead of jelly fish was such a bummer 😐 But I totally get what you are saying. With the number of tourist influx in Indonesia, I can imagine the plastic under the sea. Haven’t ever thought of indulging in a muck dive but your post on Lembeh Straits has made me think about it:) with marine life like the white frog fish and others, it looks too tempting! The colours of the Mandarin fish are ammmmazinggg! Hope the efforts help in sustaining this paradise!
I hope you get to visit Lembeh one day. The sea life is unbelievable. What I didn’t post about the Mandarin fish is that they come out at dusk to mate and you can watch the whole dance!
Indonesia is such a great destination for scuba diving. We did some in Lombok and loved it! Lembeh Island seems like another wonderful place for a scuba diving trip!
Lombok has crossed my radar but I’ve never been. I hope to visit so many places and dive too.
I looked at the white frog fish for a good minute wondering what it was until I realized you had a caption on top hahaa. Those are definitely some strange water creatures you encountered on your dive! And it’s great to see people becoming more aware of these environmental issues and actually doing something about it!!!
Those fish are so weird! Glad you found the caption.
Elaine, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your diving trip. I could also relate to the tendency to get distracted — that’s me, for sure. Such fascinating creatures in North Sulawesi; those Tarsier monkeys are so darn cute! I’m glad to hear efforts are being made to reduce the need for plastics, or at least to keep them out of the ocean.
Thanks so much, Tami. It’s an incredible part of the world to visit for so many reasons.
The sustainable approach to adventure and activities is the best thing to happen here. I wish more and more resorts adopted these. But I wondering how they will clean the glass straws. May be boil them in water?
Sustainability is so important for tourism. I can imagine washing the glass straws in dishwashers perhaps?
What a different world you encountered at the Lembeh Resort. You have a gift for sharing detail that brings that world alive. I’m aware of the problems with one-use drinking straws, but haven’t heard of glass ones. I’d love to have some.
Thank you, Pamela. I really appreciate your kind words. The glass straws are delicate but I like traveling with metal ones.
What an adventure! It is good to see that not only do they offer enjoyable activities, but they are making them sustainable by using more environmentally friendly materials. Thanks for sharing your story and the fun pics.
It was an adventure for sure. I’m glad you enjoyed the story and pictures.
This is very inspiring, I love hearing about companies and places like this that try to promote awareness and try to protect the natural environment. How can people help more? I am all for fewer plastics in the ocean,.
I’m so happy that you found this inspiring. The Resort is really trying to do the right thing and plastic pollution is a huge problem. We, each of us, has to reduce our plastic use.
Oh my gosh, i want to see a Tarsier Monkey! The trek to get to them sounds like hell but the reward is huge. So sad that they have such limited habitat.
It was quite an uncomfortable trek but well worth the effort. Those rare little monkeys are wild to witness.
That is so sad that the waters are polluted with garbage bags – it’s devastating to ocean life. It’s wonderful to hear that they are heading towards using paper bags.
Slowly, hopefully, swiftly enough, we’ll end plastic pollution.
It seems you had fun scuba diving with girls and staying at the Lembeh Resort. I would rather see the beautiful underworld on a big screen, but I’m sure it’s a different experience being there in person. Tossing garbage into the ocean is a sad reality in some parts of the world. It’s good to know they limited the use of plastic. There is some hope for the planet and the future of our oceans.
There is hope still and the oceans are immense. I was glad to find that in Lembeh they’re working to fix the environmental problems. It’s slow going with climate deniers there too.
Those monkeys are so cute! I’m glad to hear that they’re doing what they can to help reduce their waste to better preserve their community. So many hotels/resorts just don’t take the time/effort that is needed to really make a difference.
Too often with plastics it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ I feel it’s necessary to applaud good efforts and keep improving my own.