The Lembeh Straits
On the other side of Sulawesi to Bunaken, lie the Lembeh Straits. This really is "The muck diving capital of the world".
Muck diving is a term used to describe diving in what are, at first glance, places one would normally avoid. Barren bottoms, piles of rubbish and low visibility combine to produce dive sites that are not what one might call photogenic.
As it is sitting slap bang in the middle of one of the greatest marine biodiversity hotspots on the planet, Lembeh enjoys an enviable reputation as the place to go for critters, that range from fist sized frog fish, through to pygmy seahorses smaller than a fingernail. This is real macro territory
Go there! If you enjoy macro, don't mess about - just go there. It is some of the best diving I have ever done. We gave the guide a wish list, and after the first 2 dives half of it was ticked off, including rarities like Rhinopias and Mimic Octopus. For muck diving - this is it!
Don't expect coral, although there is a bit. You spend most of the dive on a black sandy bottom, hunting for stuff that can be smaller than a fingernail, and when you find it, attempt to photograph it. To really get some good photos here, it is essential to have a macro lens or two, otherwise it is near impossible to capture the really small stuff, like the shrimps and squat lobsters.
We stayed and dived with Bastianos Lembeh Resort. Very nice resort, although very quiet. Our guide, Winston, was exceptional, if we wanted to see something, he took us to it, or found out where it was. Usual rickety Indonesian boats, but their hire kit was of a good standard.