Bastianos Lembeh Dive Resort

That infinity pool on the hill, with its sea view, was the clear bright spot. The staff were friendly throughout, but service could be so inattentive that we sat in the restaurant for two hours without getting drinks. Rat traps placed prominently around the hotel didn’t make the place feel inviting either. Our room had just been renovated, yet it still felt cold and carelessly put together, with plenty of old, worn features. The seats had sticky, aged faux-leather cushions. Food was only okay, heavily influenced by European dishes and short on local flavor. Breakfast meant a small selection of jam, eggs, and fruit. The payment policy was particularly hard to accept: cash wasn’t accepted at all, and card payments came with a 2.5% surcharge, which I found completely unjustified. The drawbacks outweighed the positives, so two stars is all we can give it.

We came for the macro life and did see a range of it on a few dives. The sightings met the basic expectation, though the experience itself wasn’t amazing or exceptional. What we saw the dive leader doing repeatedly was unacceptable: using a pointer stick to poke the sand under octopuses, stargazers, and scorpionfish to drive them out of hiding. It happened more than once. Harassing animals for entertainment or photos is unprofessional and disrespectful to the ocean, and it violates responsible diving standards. We can’t recommend this five center. In all our years diving, this was the worst conduct we’ve seen from a dive leader.

The rooms aren’t fancy, but they’re clean and comfortable, and there’s a spacious camera room, good food, and a pleasant pool area. The staff and dive crew were excellent, always ready to help whatever time of day. I’d highly recommend this resort.

The Indonesian food was tasty, served as a buffet when the resort had a lot of guests and à la carte at quieter times. We also enjoyed a terrific massage after diving, and the staff around the resort were friendly and helpful. We spent nine nights and ten days here and did 16 dives. The service was excellent on land and in the water. The dive operation ran very efficiently, and our guide Vic was amazing at finding critters. He paid attention to our needs and safety too, even ending one dive early when he didn’t like the change in current. Our room worked well for us, with air conditioning, a fan, small fridge, water dispenser, ensuite bathroom with a good water supply, and a power board. The zigzag route over the dive sites kept turning up amazing critters with the guide’s help. Visibility was limited, as expected, but close to the bottom it was always good enough for photos. We’re already thinking about returning.