
Our new sea-front dive center!
We are very excited to present our brand new dive centre in Lembeh! Our new, larger dive centre was started in late October 2013 and completed in January 2014, with some final touches added in April 2014!
Our new dive centre is located on the waterfront, and so has easy access directly from the boats, with rinse tanks and equipment storage and drying areas very close by. Our reception is also now located on the waterfront and is incorporated into the dive centre. We also added a new bigger planning / meeting area and some extra areas for camera storage and Nitrox analysing.
Our plans for the new dive centre have been there for a while… We wanted to maximise the use of space in the resort, have a more impressive appearance as you approach the resort from the water and make everything easier and more accessible for our guests. By moving from our old location we have created space to add two new standard rooms… The update on those will follow soon!

The old rinse tank area
So, after much planning and research on space and materials we embarked on making our plans a reality. We started with moving our fuel store and knocking down our old rinse tanks to create the space we needed to dig the foundations for our new dive centre. Once the foundations were laid we could start with the wooden frame for the walls and roof, and then add the roof sheets so that work on the interior could start. We decided to use layered woven bamboo sheets called “pitate” for the walls – These are incredibly strong and also give a great island-look to the dive centre! They have to be specially ordered and can only be made at certain times (according to the moon cycle!), so getting them to the island at the correct time and in the correct quantity was a challenge!
Logistics for building projects on the resort always take a lot of thought… All materials have to be brought in from Bitung by boat and then unloaded with great care… Needless to say a few items ended up in the sea on our supply runs! All in all everything went smoothly and all materials arrived safely to Lembeh.
Our team of local workmen worked tirelessly through very hot days and even some rainstorms to complete the dive centre as quickly as possible. Our regular resort staff also mucked in to help when their duties allowed – everybody was keen to open the new dive centre and see the end result.

New dive planning area
Once the walls were complete the main structure was finished and we could work on the finishing touches… Tiles were laid, the rinse tanks were built, doors and windows went in, our new reception desk was made, electrics installed and everything was painted! “Moving day” was in early January where we re-located our equipment store (manned by our Aqua Lung technician, Henry), filled our reception and pinned up our map and planning board… Good to go!
Here are some fun facts about what it took to create our new dive centre. We used:
8 workmen, for 13 weeks
200 zinc roofing sheets
45 woven bamboo “pitate” sheets
180 boxes of tiles
82 bags of cement
97 kilos of nails
88 cans of paint / varnish
1000 bricks
We’re really happy with it and we hope you will be too!
- Old rinse-tank area
- Reception area during construction
- New dive center almost complete
- New rinse-tank area, more space!
- New reception and shop
- Our new sea-front dive center!
Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to come for another visit. If you haven’t run out of space, energy or money… this is what you need to build next. A dedicated camera room. http://www.muckdivingindonesia.com/resort/underwater-photography/
The new set up looks great. Chris and I are looking forward to our return in November and meeting up with the boys. Keep up the good work. Cheers