| There are two dive sites at the northern end of the strait on the Sulawesi side that are in front of Teluk Kambahu, a local village. The dive sites are more commonly referred to as TK1 and TK2.
The underwater seascape is a gradual black sand slope down to 30m with small patches of coral and sponge amongst rubble and sunken logs. Sea squirts, algae and the odd anemone add some colour but this is a pretty murky dive site with visibility ranging from 5-15 metres.
This is where the mimic octopus was first discovered in Lembeh and dive guides here are experts at finding them. Unlike most octopus they can normally be found in open sand, not hiding in the reef.
Banggai cardinalfish can also be found at the TK dive sites. They are endemic to the Lembeh region. They are often seen in pairs. Frogfish, leaf fish and scorpionfish are numerous here in many different shapes and sizes. As always, there are plenty of nudibranchs to spot and photograph as well as shrimps and gobies. Look for porcelain crabs on the edges of anemones. Ribbon eels can be found in the rubble as can mantis shrimps, jawfish and the tiny pegasus seamoth. Flying gurnards can be seen skimming along the seabed with wings outstretched.
Night dives are excellent. Dusk dives are good for spotting mandarin fish in the shallow rubble patches. Their mating dance is a wonderful sight to behold. Mating dragonets can also be seen rising briefly off the seabed to meet in mid water before shooting back to the sand. A useful tip is to have a red filter on your torch to difuse the bright light allowing you to see the underwater spectacle without scaring off the dragonets. (A red plastic bag and an elastic band does the job perfectly well). |
