Hairy frogfish on the hunt
Lembeh, Indonesia, is a world-renowned diving destination located in North Sulawesi. To get there, we flew from Bali into Sam Ratulangi International Airport (MDC) in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi. From Manado, it's about a 90-minute drive to the port town of Bitung, followed by a short boat ride to Lembeh Island. Then it was on to our dive resort, NAD Lembeh. We are planning on diving all day, every day, and even some at night!
Lembeh is best known for the Lembeh Strait, a mecca for muck diving enthusiasts. The black volcanic sand and nutrient-rich waters create a unique ecosystem home to some of the world’s most bizarre and fascinating marine life, including pygmy seahorses, hairy frogfish, blue-ringed octopuses, and flamboyant cuttlefish.
Lightning eyes of a porcupine fish
Blenny in a bottle
Take a walk, or swim, on the wild side. Bizarre fish pop up on every dive here in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. While staying and diving out of NAD Lembeh resort and with the help of our amazing critter finder and guide Nathan we saw a plethora of fun fish. Here is a sample of the craziness.
Hairy Frogfish, Antennarius striatus
Frogfish are some of my favorite fish to look for. I can find a few species in Hawaii but for the rare hairy frogfish, Lembeh is the place to look. We were lucky enough to find two of these bizarre looking fish during our stay. Both were moving along the black sand and bobbing their lures up and down trying to trick prey into coming close enough to gobble up. Their mouth extends forward enabling them to swallow prey nearly as large as they are.
Male Ribbon Eel
Ribbon Eel, Rhinomuraena quaesita
Another big mission this trip was to find a blue ribbon eel. The adult males are blue, while the adult females are yellow. Juveniles are black and for a long time were classified as a different species. They resemble an ancient Chinese dragon with a long thin body and high dorsal fins. We ended seeing four or five of these blue ribbon eels, Rhinomuraena quaesita, making Lembeh the top place for them so far.
Backlit Sea Horse silhouette
Sea Horse
Backlit Ghost Pipefish
One family of fish to keep an eye out for while muck diving in Indonesia are sea horses and pipefish.
Pink Pygmy Sea Horse
Ornate Ghost Pipefish
There are many different species from Thorny Seahorses to tiny camouflaged pygmy sea horses, to the newly discovered Lembeh Sea Dragon, to wild colored Ornate Pipefish. Because of the number of species you can encounter it is possible to find sea horses or pipefish in any environment in the Lembeh Strait. But it does take a highly trained eye to find some of the smaller species like the Lembeh sea dragon and pygmy sea horses.
The Lembeh Seadragon (Lembeh Pygmy Pipedragon, Kyonemichthys rumengani) is a recently dicovered species that has been seen for the first time in Lembeh Strait in 2006.
Ambon scorpionfish (Pteroidichthys amboinensis)
Flying Gurnard
Zebra Batfish
Juvneile Spadefish
There are fish here in Lembeh that you might not recognize as fish. But even the somewhat recognizable fish are out of this world. Ambon scorpionfish and flying gurnards walk across the sandy bottom, clownfish dart in and out of their beautiful anemone homes, and juvenile batfish trail behind huge fins compared to their bodies.
Here's lookin' at you, kid
Juvenile Lionfish
Hope you enjoyed visiting this other world with me. I always tell people that snorkeling is like your doorway to a whole new world....scuba diving is like your doorway. You can really spend time underwater, and find things that few others will ever see.