It’s been a busy week here in Lembeh!
The dinner tables are almost at full capacity and we have a fantastic mix of guests. It’s lovely to spend the festive period with new friends from all across the globe, each with their own stories and experiences and of course, words of advice about diving and underwater exploration.Over Christmas we celebrated with lovely homely dinners like roast chicken and even custard for dessert, amongst colourful Christmas decorations on the table which got everyone into the spirit of the season; especially when the festive music started playing in the cafe!
We have also had a few students this week; Betty has come to stay with us with her friends and has taken on the exciting adventure of becoming an Open Water Diver (congratulations Betty!). She didn’t just stop there, though – after a morning “off” fun diving she dived straight into working on her Advanced Open Water Diver Course. We have already completed her Deep and Navigation dives and if the weather plays along we will be done in no time and she can make the most of her remaining time in the muck diving capital of the world.
Kristina came to Lembeh from Bunaken where she had started her Advanced course with Dion, and whilst here she finished off with Wreck, Navigation, and Night dives. Great job Kristina! Already a natural in the water she’ll be racking up the dive numbers in no time. Amidst all this activity, we have also had DMT Estela from Amed doing some training here as part of her course, and she arranged a Dive Against Debris to help give back to nature and clean up our dive sites. We collected large backs of rubbish and everyone was very enthusiastic to join in and support the cause to become role models for our fellow divers.
Though some of the more commonly spotted life seems to have been on holiday, we have seen a variety of octopus in the past few days, including 2 blue ring octopus on separate dives as well as a Wonderpus and the elusive hairy octopus! There are lots of anemone fish eggs around that are ready to hatch so we’ll keep an eye on them in the next few days; and there seems to be a large number of shrimps with eggs in the area which are making for some amazing photos.
So what’s next and what’s in store for New Year’s, you ask? Well the party planning elves have whispered rumours of fireworks and singalongs (we have heard extensive guitar and vocal practice the past few days) so we can’t wait to see what happens, but what is for sure is that we’ll have a great time and be ready to get wet as soon as the dawn breaks in 2017!
