August 2011 Archives

As Gary and Louise come to the end of their year's management contract at Eco Divers Resort Lembeh (formerly Lembeh Cottages) this month, they leave us in great shape. Under their management, Eco Divers Resort Lembeh developed from a collection of humble cottages into a top quality dive resort.

Whilst our customers have enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and smooth, consistent personalised service, we know that this has been achieved by many hours of hard work, a constant focus and huge commitment by Gary and Lou as well as their senior staff, Rustam and Berty, and the excellence of the entire team.

Gary and Lou have been the finest of ambassadors for Eco Divers, setting a very high standard of service, which has taken Eco Divers Resort Lembeh to new heights. The vast majority of guests who have dived with them have told us how extremely satisfied they were - a level of satisfaction that has been reflected consistently with a high ranking on TripAdvisor. We are extremely grateful to Gary and Lou and wish the very best for their future. We know that they will continue to be model professionals and will be successful and happy. Goodbye and thanks!

And so it's a warm welcome to someone you have known over the years and who has been a major player in the success of Eco Divers generally. The next phase of management for Eco Divers Resort Lembeh will be in the highly experienced hands of...Cary Yanny! From September, Cary will run our Resort and dive operation and, if you've dived with her before, you'll know this means that our great service will continue and grow. It also means that there'll be much fun to be had as Cary brings her own, unique personality to the Resort. Now is the time to come and dive with her and enjoy Cary's immense knowledge of the area's dive sites and marine life, as well as her underwater photography skills.

Success stories are a welcome relief these days and so it is with great pride that we can share with you the achievement of our Lembeh Cottages.

From a modest and genuine wish to offer our guests first-rate customer service coupled with seamless diving, we introduced our first Lembeh Cottage in 2010. Our aim was simple; deliver a holiday that ticked all the boxes for diving, accommodation, personal service, fine food and relaxation.

Since then, our one cottage has grown to offer 12 ensuite rooms with first-class service, day-liveaboard-diving and a personal service that has seen us consistently achieve rich ratings on TripAdvisor.

Guests regularly comment on the high levels of personal service, the convenience of liveaboard diving during the day and the comfort of a welcoming, cosy resort at night.

Then there's the high quality of our dive boats and the low ratio of 4:1 divers per guide.

Welcome to Eco Divers Resort Lembeh! Because of its huge popularity, we've rebranded to reflect the expansion both in size of accommodation and the increased levels of service.

Read all about the Resort here

Congratulations to Yoko Toda who is our Photo of the week winner with this nice shot of a Hairy Squat Lobster.

She took this photo after hiring our rental D200 camera and getting some tips from our resident photo pro Christian Loader who is the Manager of The Digital Centre at Eco Divers. Well done Yoko!

Eco Divers Resort Lembeh has teamed up with Worldwide Dive and Sail to bring you a luxury diving trip with a choice of three dates. Come and enjoy our 14 night diving adventure, with seven nights aboard SY Mandarin Siren leaving from the Lembeh Strait taking you to the volcanic Sangihe Islands and Bangka and then returning to Lembeh to dive the wondrous sites of the Strait whilst staying at our Eco Divers Resort Lembeh for 7 nights.

Choose from three dates and spaces are limited to six guests, so book soon!

• 13th -27th July, 2012
• 21st July - 4th August, 2012
• 30th July - 13th August, 2012

For the full information, click here or email info@eco-divers.com

Congratulations to Myles Grogan who has celebrated his 450th dive onboard Nautica whilst staying and diving with us here at Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages.

Both Myles and his wife Yoko have had a holiday full of celebrations as they celebrated their wedding anniversary and also Yoko's 400th dive whilst they were diving with Eco Divers at Kima Bajo during the first half of their stay.

Here you can see Myles receiving his certificate from Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages manager Gary along with Yoko. Congratulations again guys!

Here are some of our critter encounters from 1st half of August 2011:

Peacock Mantis Shrimp, Thorny Seahorse, Juvenile Barramundi Grouper, Black Ribbon Eel, Dragon Sea Moth, Leaf Fish, Wonderpus, Cockatoo Waspfish, Decorator Crab, Cowfish, Poison Ocellate Octopus, Hermit Crab, Devilfish, Pygmy Seahorse, Fingered Dragonet, Jawfish, Cowry, Blenny, Frogfish, Sea Snake, Zebra Crab



Critter Focus: Poison Ocellate Octopus


Poison Ocellate Octopus (Amphioctopus siamensis) is relatively small, arms are up to 25cm in length and has an orange tan. When disturbed they display a white background with bold reddish brown stripes that run the length of its body and arms plus a single blue ring underneath each eye. They are most active during the day and can normally be found on shallow rubble and sandy bottoms.


This photo was taken by Christian using our rental Nikon D200 (Nikon 50mm lens, Scubacam snoot, 1/125s, f14, ISO200) which you can hire from 'The Digital Centre', whilst diving at either of our dive centres at Kima Bajo or at Lembeh Cottages.

Congratulations to both Bas and Kelly for completing their PADI Open Water Course with Lou at Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages. They are both in North Sulawesi, Indonesia volunteering their time at Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Centre. They head back to Holland later this week to continue their studies. We all wish them well and safe diving. In fact Kelly is already planning her next diving adventure with her sister in the Red Sea, Egypt!

Here you can see Bas Baudewijns and Kelly van Gils with their instructor Louise Kraechter (centre) after their last dive of the course.



Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Centre is one of the several wildlife rescue centres and wildlife transfer stations originally set up by the Gibbon Foundation to care for the ever increasing influx of confiscated, illegally kept and traded wildlife within Indonesia. The Tasikoki centre has been established in a strategic location to tackle the cross-border trade from Indonesia towards the Philippines and onwards to China, Taiwan and Japan. Guests staying at Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages can take a morning tour to Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Centre as it is located just 20 minutes drive from the Cottages. For more information about Tasikoki or to give a donation please visit www.tasikoki.org.

Congratulations to Matt Jarman who celebrated his birthday onboard Nautica whilst diving with us here at Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages.

He was surprised by his girlfriend Tam in the morning as she arranged for Matt to have a full day digital SLR camera rental and for our resident photo pro Christian to be with him all day giving Matt tips on how to get the bests shots! Matt didn't disappoint and after taking over 550 photos in one day he has some definite contenders for our photo of the week competition. So watch this space!!

Here you can see our onboard hostess Sevni bringing out a birthday cake for Matt at lunchtime.