Lembeh Strait has been recognized in over the past several years as the capital of critter diving. The place you come to see the broadest range of unusual and rare critters in tropical marine diving. all of the rare and unusual there is to see in the tropical marine diving. Several factors contribute to such outstanding diversity of this place: its geological history, its overall geographic position and the topography of Lembeh Strait.

Lembeh Strait is situated between the tip of Northern Sulawesi and the Island of Lembeh. The isolation of this area during the Pleistocene period times led to unmatched and the highest known “speciation”: -- the development of new species.

Recognized as an epicenter of marine biodiversity, North Sulawesi is known for the exceptional variety of its terrestrial and underwater life. Sulawesi straddles both the Asian and the Australian biogeographical zones, hosting the highest number of coral, plant and fish species on earth. There are at least 450 species of hard coral in this small area, compared to the 60 species found in the entire Caribbean.

Furthermore, a 30 cm difference between the water levels of the Pacific and Indian Oceans cause a huge massive movement of nutrient-rich water to flow through the Lembeh Strait. Nutrients from these upwellings are retained in the Strait by the actions of small eddies, slow water whirls, created by the narrowness of the passage and the fast changing water flows.

Lembeh Strait is a narrow channel, about 14 km long and 1-2 km wide. While the general diversity of the area is caused by the unique geographic position of the Strait, its particular diversity is then greatly influenced by the vast array of different underwater habitats present in Lembeh. There are black volcanic sand slopes (TK Bbay, Rojos, etc.), white limestone sandy slopes (Pante Parigi, Tanjung Tebal, etc.), ship wrecks (Kapal Indah, Mawali), pinnacles (Batu Kapal) , zones of rubble patches (Police Pier, Bronsel, etc.) and and rocky reefs with colourful soft coral gardens (Nudi Retreat, Nudi Falls, Angels Window, Batu Sandar, etc.). In addition,the southern and the northern entrances to the Strait are rimmed by rich coral reefs and there are unique shallows along the Strait’s coast lines (Dante’s Wall, Pulau Putus, Batu Angus, California Dreaming, Goby a Crab, etc.).

Each particular habitat supports a different set of marine organisms, and that is what makes Lembeh Strait so special. There are dive sites where we find the famous cephalopods of Lembeh: the mimic, wonderpus, mototi and hairy octopus and flamboyant cuttlefish, just to mention a few. Then there are the seahorse species, in addition tofrom the four pyigmy species found to date in Lembeh, there are the estuary, and common and thorny seahorses. When you ask our dive guides to show you a frogfish, they answer with a question: And hHow many would you like to see? This is because Lembeh is truly the frogfish capital. There are all types: the warty, and hairy, and painted and giant frogfish. just to name the most common ones. There are hundreds of nudibranch and crustacean species and the list of different fish species from the Scorpionidae family just goes on and on – and cockatoo wasp fish, devil fish, short spine lionfish, Ambon scorpionfish or Rhinopias are some of the examples.

There is nowhere else in the world, where visitors can find such an extensive array of marine life and underwater topographical features in such close proximity.