Makawidey Dive Resort - now known as Lembeh Scuba.

It truly felt amazing thinking that in matter of hours I would be diving in Lembeh Straits. Just google dive Lembeh, and you’ll find countless websites calling it a critters’ heaven. There are quite a number of dive centers that offer Lembeh dive packages. I decided to try Makawidey Dive Resort, a fairly new dive center right in the heart of Lembeh straits.

“Selamat Datang! Welcome!” blurted Nazir, the owner of Makawidey Dive Resort, when we arrived at the Bitung port, less than two hours drive from Manado’s Sam Ratulangi Airport I felt welcomed instantly. As soon as all of our bags were loaded into Sarah, we departed to Makawidey Dive Resort, which was about 20 minutes away from Bitung. We finally reached the resort at 10:30 pm. We had to walk very carefully to the traditional Minahasa wooden long house, where our rooms are. The staff helped carry my heavy bags. We were greeted by smiling staff bringing us our welcoming drinks, a mixture of local fruits in special made syrup. The other divers made themselves comfortable. Some checked their bags, while I looked around. Decorating the wall are photos taken by Nazir when diving in Lembeh. A sign that he has good spotters as dive guides. Reference books filled the book shelves, which is great because I only brought one general reference book. “Hello everybody! May I get your attention please?” Nazir then started briefing us of the dive resort. Our 10 days 9 nights dive trip officially began.

I had a room all to myself. My dive buddy cancelled on me the last minute, so I had to go alone. They have five twin-sharing rooms for the guests. Two shared bathrooms about five steps away from the long house. They are cleaned about two to three times a day by the staff. Hot showers are not available, but the cool fresh water brought in every week from “Aer Prang” is very refreshing in the afternoon after you are done diving for the day. Each room is supplied with two extra large twin beds, a wall fan, a mirror and a towel rack. The room is equipped with two power points, but make sure you have the adapter plugs with you. I forgot mine; luckily the resort had extra plugs. One power point is already dedicated to a wall fan, but it gets really cold at night, I sometimes turned off the fan. I appreciate the heavy curtains that covered the big windows as my room was facing the rising sun every morning. It is a simple room, but comfortable and clean. I wish for more pillows but hey with the price I paid, one could not ask for more. Clean set of towels are prepared for the guests: one in the room and a separate towel, which is cleaned daily, is given at the dive center. The guests could also request the housekeeping to clean the room daily and also change the room towels. As excited as I may had been, I was also extremely tired from the journey. I unpacked my bags and slept soundly until morning.

The next morning, I woke up early. I did not sleep until 3 am, but I was too excited that I woke up at 7 am. The first dive was not until 8:30 am. While waiting for our breakfast, we set up our cameras. Nazir is an underwater photographer himself, so the other divers took advantage of his knowledge and started asking him for tips and tricks. He answered their questions all too kindly. The breakfast was finally served: local fried noodles. They’ll vary the breakfast menu between continental and local Indonesian breakfast. Although they are all so delicious I do think that the cooks need a few more recipes for breakfast.

The dive center is about three minutes walk from the long house. The equipments for rent are still new and shiny. Even the tanks still looked brand new. A board listing out the divers’ names and the accompanying crews are placed at the front of the dive center. Three shower heads for before and after dive use are located next to the dive center. There is a flight of stairs towards the jetty, and two benches made solely from bamboo by the resort’s staff right near the stairs. Perfect if you’d like to hang out and enjoy the cool sea breeze.

Makawidey Dive Resort hires two very experienced dive guides for their guests: Engel and Julianto. Engel is a very experienced Lembeh dive guide. He knows the dive sites like the back of his hand. He even has a dive site named after him for he was the person who discovered the dive site, Angel’s Windows. He is also a very good spotter, and felt a bit upset when I found the critters on my own. All you need to do is to name what you’d like to see, and he knows just which dive site and where within the dive site you can find it. He’s really THAT good. Julianto or fondly known as Anto, however, is a much younger dive guide. He is an experienced guide in Bunaken. So, even though he has mastered the dive sites in Lembeh, he still takes more time to find the critters for you. Although I appreciate Engel’s determination to find me as many critters as he could find, I find it more comfortable diving with Anto, as I enjoy the experience in looking for the critters myself. Just look carefully at the black sandy bottom, and you would probably find a 10 mm long juvenile dragonet beneath you or a stonefish right under your nose. One has to be very careful there but the experience was exciting. There were so many things to see here in Lembeh. From the amazing wonder octopus to the deadly flower urchin to tiny, yet colorful nudibranchias, all are just waiting to be found.

I had a total of 20 dives during my stay, and my most favorite dive site would have to be Angel’s Windows. It’s a colorful “seamount” with various corals surrounding it. Aptly named Angel’s Windows, there is a swim-through at about 26 meters deep and another smaller window at about 16 meters. We started the dive at about 30 meters and looked for a pygmy seahorse there and up we went to the “seamount” where the colorful corals and creatures resided. An octopus also made a home there, looking out as if watching us snapping photos after photos of the creatures we found there. Another favorite dive site would have to be Jahir. It’s a muck diving favorite where you could find a lot of little critters, a variety of lionfish and also frog fish. A diver in our group found the mimic octopus here when we did a night dive. I found some very colorful nudibranchs at Jahir. Towards the end of our dive at Jahir, there was a seahorse sort of sending us home. Jahir is an excellent site for night dive. I would recommend this site if you love muck diving. Aer Prang is also worth checking. It is also a muck diving site, with plenty to see and hunt. We found several octopus species here and Rhinopias at this site. I found the most scorpion fish species when diving in Lembeh camouflaging between the rubles and the sand. Therefore, it is advisable that a diver maintain some distance from the sand.

On the boat, Tode and Marcus, the boatmen, waited for us patiently. As soon as a diver boards the boat after each dive, they would serve the diver a towel and a glass of water. They even make coffee for you if they see you shivering after a dive. In between dives, they will sometimes serve fresh fruits or light snacks. They will also change the tanks for you, so while waiting for the next dive, divers are welcomed to just lie down on the boat and rest.

As I was there for about ten days, I decided to try other services that Makawidey Dive Resort offers. An excursion to Bangka for a day was planned. We had to travel about two hours from the resort to get there and we also had to travel early. We had to leave the resort at about 7:00 am so that we made it for the morning dive. We dived at three dive sites in Bangka and the extra cost they had charged for the dive trip worth every dime. Diving in Bangka was somewhat different from Lembeh. If you prefer seeing corals and reef fishes, then Bangka is the place to be. Colorful, variety corals are waiting for you. The current is stronger in Bangka at some dive sites but the view was so amazing that we enjoyed the drift dives. A stopover at a private beach for lunch and then off to our third dive. At about 3:30 pm we were already on our way back to the Dive Resort.

Lunch and dinner at Makawidey Dive Resort are delicious local dishes: simple white rice with several dishes on the side. Careful though because they tend to make it very hot and spicy. Although I am not a fan of hot and spicy dishes, I enjoyed every bite as the water was extremely cold for me and the air was chilly for me. The hot and spicy dishes sort of warmed my body for the next dives. The cooks are also opened to suggestions by the guests, should you have a different taste pallet. While waiting to go on the boat for the next dive trips, we’ll usually turn on our laptops or watch the television. Unlike some dive centers I frequent, the electricity is provided 24-hours daily. They also provide free wi-fi. I took the opportunity to upload some photos from my trips for my friends and family back home. It’s easier than calling home, as the telephone lines are quite bad here sometimes. The hospitality of the staff at Makawidey Dive Resort made me forget home for a while. They have truly put an arm’s length to make sure that I had a comfortable stay there. Despite the language barrier, I had gotten to know some of the old folk’s tales of how some dive sites got their names from Nazir and the staff. I even learned a recipe or two from the cooks. At Makawidey Dive Resort, a guest is regarded as a new friend. Each person was treated as though a friend came to visit.


As I boarded the flight back to Kuala Lumpur, already I am planning for a second trip with my friends. I really had a great time in Lembeh. Excellent services and facilities, great food, and the amicable environment in Makawidey Dive Resort made the trip an experience to remember. Accompanied by superb dive sites, this trip is simply unforgettable.


(Note: Makawidey Dive Resort is now closed due to some administration reasons. However, Nazir and his friends are now operating Lembeh Scuba. They provide the same quality dive experience only from a different port. For more information, please direct your questions to dive@lembehscuba.com)