Lembeh Resort, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Dear Fellow Diver,

I had just read Anna and Ned DeLoach's fascinating article on the unique behavior of a blue ring octopus in Alert Diver. Still, even their lively descriptions paled as I watched a thumb-sized blue ring creep across the bottom, flare, and hunt. As the sly little creature found its prey, its vivid blue rings lit up. Moving over a bit of debris, it gracefully extended its arms wide, curling and uncurling the tips as it probed for its next snack. Next to it, a robust host pipefish floated like a dead leaf.

This is why this past October, my partner and I returned to Lembeh, one of the world's unique dive destinations, where one doesn't go in search of great schools of fish, or mantas, or sharks, but rather, for unique animals hidden in coral heads, scattered trash, and tin cans! It's a fish-and-critter-geek's treasure hunt for connoisseurs of the rare. In 25 dives over eight days, I never lost my thrill of the hunt.

And it's worth the trek to Indonesia, a nation with more than 17,000 islands. My partner and I flew 90 minutes on Lion Air from Bali to Makassar on South Sulawesi Island, then to Manado on North Sulawesi, 600 miles away. Getting there was not half the fun. Lion Air's densified 737S was crammed with 213 seats; being taller than average, I hobbled off the flights, knees screaming. I perked up when I spotted the Lembeh Resort staff, who shepherded us by van and then by boat to the resort.

The lovely resort has 20 rooms and can handle 40 guests, but with many solo travelers, it usually serves around 30. I heard German, Russian, French, Aussie, British, and American English, with English as the lingua franca. From Room 3B, we had a splendid view of the strait, with beautiful volcanic peaks framing the sunset. Five years ago, we enjoyed the cliffside villa, with its infinity pool and large living area. But our knees can no longer take the 164 irregular steps up and down, so we chose fewer steps and less luxury. Our room was just fine - a large living area with a sofa and a nice bedroom - but I missed the double sinks and huge outdoor shower. Tiny violin playing sad song ...

Managers Kathrin Heussner and Tarkan Sever were responsive to every request, from providing a voltage converter (I love my Oral B toothbrush) to extra pillows and towels. When my buddy developed belly problems, which he often does when traveling, they delivered broth, rice, and bananas, along with a local remedy of loperamide with herbs. The chef made chicken soup and dry toast, and within 30 hours, my buddy, weakened a bit, was back in the water.

Knowing the diving here was unique, we wanted to make maximum use of our diving time, set our own schedules, select more distant sites, and dive at our own pace. So, we splurged for our own boat at an extra $350 per day. Captain Ifer and deckhand Rolly had big smiles and great attitudes, and our clairvoyant dive guide Carter seemed to know where to look for the cryptic stuff, especially unique and tiny critters in hidey holes. On every dive, I needed my magnifying glass and my dive light - or, as the Aussies say, "torch."

So, what is a dive like? At Makawick 3, I logged two juvenile barramundis, juvenile harlequin sweetlips, saddleback anemonefish (A. polymnus, a particular favorite for its fearless defense of its territory), a colony of at least 100 tomato anemonefishes on an enormous carpet sponge, and Clark's, pink, skunk, and orange anemonefishes. A juvenile star puffer floated next to a pygmy cuttlefish; a banded snake eel looked remarkably like a sea krait; and then there were flying gurnard, fingered dragonet, Banggai cardinalfish, tiny puffer filefish, longhorn cowfish, thorny seahorses, razorfish in formation, zebra moray, and a devil scorpionfish (the aptly named Inimicus). And this was just our checkout dive! I continually ran out of room to note things down my slates.

A favorite dive was in the highly industrial southern part of the strait at Kampis, a small Muslim village. I descended over coral and lots of rubble, aware of the humming generators and engines of nearby ships. As I went to the deep rubble and sand, with 40-foot visibility, I spotted a dancing juvenile harlequin sweetlips. Floating over the sand at 75 feet, the treasure hunt went on. Carter pointed out a small black-and-white clown frogfish in a clump of debris. Nearby, floating next to white crinoids, were two snowy ghost pipefish, like little scraps of lace. On two nearby crinoids were their spouses, white with maroon reticulation and so heavily pregnant that when I shone my torch over their swollen brood pouches, I could see the tiny babies inside! As I made my way back, I saw a messmate pipefish curled around a piece of rubble, a hunting longhorn cowfish, and a banded pipefish under a coral head floating next to a shortfin lionfish. A black and white juvenile barramundi danced in another coral head featuring a snowflake eel. In the shallows at 10 feet, we found a beautiful orange and black juvenile pinnate batfish hiding from a school of razorfish swimming vertically in perfect formation. We enjoyed Kampis so much that we repeated it later in the trip.

Lembeh Resort has six locally built simple dive boats with outboards, and the crew set up all gear on the boats. My week, they listed 11 divers on one boat, eight and six on two others, with never more than four to a guide. The dives typically start at 8, 10:45, and 2:30, with one night dive and one dusk mandarin fish dive weekly. I dived with an aluminum 80; some divers used 50s or 100s. The photo operation is impressive, with expert support, lots of equipment, a large and well-appointed camera room, and a fully loaded Backscatter (the photography company) facility. All outlets are 220. The dive locker area has plenty of room, though it's rather dark.

One advantage of a private boat is that it can reach remote sites. We did a two-tank trip to the far north of Lembeh Island to dive California Dreaming and Angel's Window. Both feature a lot of stony and soft corals, though with a few pieces of rubbish floating around, which is hard to get away from here. The California Dreaming Reef is almost as lush as those around Bunaken. The weather was mostly clear and hot, visibility was decent to good, and water was consistently 82F. Dive times tended to be around 70 minutes, and deco diving should never be an issue since sites are not deeper than 90 feet.

Hairball is one of Lembeh's signature dives, a black sand slope filled with classic Lembeh critters but often swept by current. In fact, I had mild to moderate current on 16 of my 24 dives. On four dives, the current was so strong, I kept tight to the bottom with my knees and fins cocked up to avoid rucking up the sand. By not silting up the water at Hairball, I watched a wary coconut octopus lurk, intimidated by the many peacock founders nearby (evidently, octopus sashimi is a favorite snack); I saw the same behavior from a pair of longarm octopuses. A cockatoo waspfish and fingered dragonet lurched across the sand, and nearby, a flamboyant cuttlefish hen rested, evidently tuckered out after depositing eggs. A hydroid was home to a lovely pale ornate ghost pipefish. At the other end of the color spectrum, a black painted frogfish dangled its lure, hoping for a snack. What to the uninitiated could look like featureless black sand revealed itself as rich in life.

Next to the diving, good food is the backbone of any dive resort, and Lembeh brought their A-game to the large open-air dining room, with lots of tables and sitting areas with sofas. Soup and a huge variety of Indonesian and Western dishes were featured at lunch and dinner. I particularly liked babi buluh, pork slow-cooked with lemongrass and chili; my buddy couldn't get enough of their mie goreng, a popular noodle dish. At breakfast, I had tropical fruit, pastry, and an egg cooked to order, bypassing the waffles, pancakes, porridge, charcuterie, Indonesian items, and yogurts. They offer dishes for everyone, from vegan to gluten-free, and at least three sambals to spice up your meal. I also enjoyed Deke's daily cocktail specialties (dragonfruit mojitos, anyone?). Cocktails were about $9, and a nice bottle of Australian chardonnay was about $64. Local beer was inexpensive. Once a week, the resort offers an Indonesian BBQ and hosts local children and teens who dance and sing, tons of fun for everyone. It's part of Lembeh Resort's outreach to local schools, where they teach kids about conservation and have them feel like partners in the larger project.

Though the divers were from all over, this trip proved the small world theory. I had a birthday while there, and when the staff sang for me, one diver perked up when he heard my name. Was I the same person by that name who lived part-time in Bonaire and was friends with so-and-so? Indeed I was, and we finally met Michael, a good friend of friends whom we had heard about for years. It was quite a kick to text a photo of us together to our Bonaire buddies, 11,000 miles away. Of all the gin joints in the world ...

My last dive was one for the record books. Rojos was a Lembeh wonderland and obviously a popular site, as we encountered two other dive groups there. After a backroll in, I spotted a reticulated white and maroon ornate ghost pipefish floating next to a crinoid and then two robust ghost pipefish going back and forth in the surge next to two cockatoo waspfish! A taxi-yellow frogfish tumbled in the surge until it landed on a log next to a small group of fishes. I love flamboyant cuttlefish, and Rojos offered five, including one hunting; its proboscis darted out and speared a fish. Amazing Tiny Ambon scorpionfish, fingered dragonets, and my favorite, Inimicus, all pulled themselves over the black sand. A big mimic octopus hunted, disguising itself by assuming seemingly impossible shapes, unfazed by divers with cameras. Two small coconut octopuses actively hunted. A floating needle cuttlefish, a shoal of squid, lots of seahorses, more cockatoo waspfish ... I ran out of space in my log!

Diving Lembeh is not for everyone. As for skills, one must have excellent buoyancy control, be comfortable finning over black sand without stirring up the bottom, and be cool kicking against a strong current over a sandy bottom at 80 feet in limited viz. If you want lush corals, Siladen, Bunaken, Raja Ampat, and Wakatobi are better Indonesian bets. If garbage in the water ticks you off, you won't be pleased; if you are a serious fish and critter geek and enjoy hunting for the weird and wonderful on an underwater treasure hunt, it's as good as it gets. As their tee shirts say, "Keep Lembeh Weird!"

-- A.E.L

Authors Bio: AEL dives all over the world and has written for Undercurrent for over twenty years.

Diver's Compass: Prices vary by room type, starting from $150 for Garden View (per person, double occupancy) to $450 per night for the Cliffside Villa. Our Premium cottage was $280 per night. Our 9-night package, including Nitrox and three dives daily, was $4030 per person . . . Full equipment rentals are available . . . One can fly to Bali (DPS) or Jakarta (CGK), then connect with Lion Air to Manado (MDC), where the resort will pick you up. We added a special meet and greet service at the airports, which added about $200 per person (well worth for early check-in, reduced overweight baggage fees, etc.) . . . If you fly to Singapore (SIN), connect to Manado on Scoot . . . Rainy season is November-March. If you lay over in Bali, I recommend The Balé Nusa Dua, only 25 minutes from the airport and truly deluxe . . . Bali requires a nature fee to be paid before entry, using an app called "Love Bali" (about $10 per person) . . . U.S. currency is not accepted except at hotels, where one can exchange it for Indonesian rupiah; easy to get cash at airport ATMs . . . The nearest chamber is in Manado, one hour from Lembeh.