Dive Review of AquaOne in
Indonesia/Lembeh Straights

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AquaOne, Jul, 2005, by linda rutherford, ca, usa ( Contributor 17 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 1881.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Schedule was four dives a day. 8 am, 11 am, 2:30 and 6 pm. We tried to fit in 5 dives a day, but with shallow, long dives (sometimes, 70 minutes to 80 minutes) we decided not to rush around to do more. Everyone was satisfied. We were divided into two groups of seven divers, each group with two divemasters. In August, I wore a 2.5 mil suit, a hood and a 3 mil neopreme vest. But I am a female that tends to chill easily. Most people wore hoods, but not the vest. Most of the muck diving was in Lembeh Straights, and most of the coral was out at Bangka island. My favorite dives were at Bangka island, California Dreaming, Pulau Putus, Angel's Window, and Nudi Falls. The food on the entire trip was tasty and very enjoyable. The special hot snacks and appetizers after the afternoon dives were gratefully devoured. The kitchen is a tiny affair with only two people. The main cook is a humble Chinese man who turns out a great variety. The boat crew is outstanding. They assist passengers totally as they get off the mother-ship into the inflatables. The rides in the inflatables are very short, 2 to 5 minutes, but are used to get precisely to the dive site and for individual pick up after dive. Saw lots of creatures that I did not know existed. I had never seen fish "walk" before, or seen frogfish "swim." I loved the numerous scorpionfish and devilfish that were disguised as coral. I wish I had known in advance just how small many of these rare sea creature really are. If so, I would have bought my husband a super-duper macro lens. A 4x or more would have helped. I don't have a camera, but it did seem a bit absurd to see 7 divers attempting to simultaneously see, photograph, AND video, something smaller than the size of my baby finger nail. And the pymgy seahorse is smaller than that. They appeared to be 1/4 by 3/8 inch to me...but maybe I was seeing babies. I was shown about 6 pymgy seahores by the guides. After the liveaboard, we stayed at Lembeh Resort which is also a very good option and which has great facilities for camera work. Several of the guests there were staying for two-week intervals. We also stayed at the very nice Santika Hotel in Manado, diving the Bunaken reef. The Thalassa dive operation at Santika was ok but not as good as AquaOne or Lembeh Resort. After the low vis of Lembeh Straights, I was shocked to see the perfectly clear water of Bunaken of over 125 foot vis. Thalassa takes guest to sites which are mostly wall dives in current, so photography is more difficult. Perhaps other dives could be made by special request.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Yap, Truk, Fiji, Caymans, Hondorus, Bonaire, Belize, Cozumel
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	17-65 Ft/ 5-20 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	none
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Top deck behind upper lounge is used by photographers to clean, repair and to store cameras as well as extra luggage devoted to cameras. CD burner available. TV and lounge upstairs available for video viewing.

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Dive Review of AquaOne in Indonesia/Lembeh Straights

AquaOne, Jul, 2005,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of AquaOne in
Indonesia/Lembeh Straights