Eco Divers News

This is the third year that our friends Anna and Ned will be offering their brilliantly educational and entertaining workshops at Eco Divers Resort Lembeh.

Taking part is absolutely free as Anna and Ned offer the workshops purely out of their desire to share their love of the underwater world with as many other people as possible.

They are co-authors of the best-selling series of marine identification field guides including Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific and Reef Creature Identification - Tropical Pacific, and the marine life column Encounters in Alert Diver magazine, and Critter Hunt in Scuba Diving.

Come and grab a rare opportunity to spend time in the company of this hugely knowledgeable and exceptionally generous and warm couple, whilst enjoying the wonders of the Lembeh Strait. A dive holiday really doesn't get any better than this. During the days there will be underwater fish and critter hunts for the area's most celebrated species, whilst informal lectures will take place every evening after dinner.

Here's what you can expect...

Underwater Photo/Video Workshop:

• How to capture winning marine wildlife portraits
• Tips on getting close to elusive subjects
• Framing your subject
• Waiting for the right moment

Special Nightly Presentations include:

• Cephalopod behavior: The outrageous antics of octopus, cuttlefish and squid
• Symbiosis and Camouflage: Hiding in plain sight
• The diverse reproductive behavior of reef fishes

We guarantee that after spending an energizing week of fun and learning with a group of like-minded friends, diving will never be the same!

Dates:

• Week 1     24-31 May 2014
• Week 2     31 May - 7 June 2014

There are a few places left, Email info@eco-divers.com and be sure to book your place today!

Jim & Cary Yanny are very happy to be able to announce the formation of their brand new UK travel company, Diverse Travel Limited, which promises to bring all of Jim & Cary’s twenty years of dive centre and resort management experience into its service, ensuring that its clients get an effortless holiday experience.

As Jim explains, “Over the past twenty years we’ve travelled and dived extensively and seen both the good and the bad. Our aim is to offer the good, and more, and that means we cherry pick the products to suit our client. Everyone who books with Diverse Travel should be confident in enjoying an exceptional holiday, which comes from us listening to their requirements then advising on what would suit them best. What’s more, as a Member of the TTA (Travel Trust Association) every holiday booked with Diverse benefits from full ATOL protection.”

Diverse Travel’s destination experts can put together and book complex itineraries to Eco Divers and also other parts of Indonesia, such as Raja Ampat, Komodo and Bali. They also offer holidays to several other destinations where they have an extensive personal knowledge, including the Red Sea, Maldives, Oman, South Africa and Mozambique.

Despite this exciting new development, Jim & Cary maintain their interest in Eco Divers. Cary explains the new set-up like this: “We founded Eco Divers and continue to be very proud of it and our wonderful staff. Although we are now back in England again after twelve amazingly enjoyable years living in Indonesia, we are still partners in Eco Divers. Andrea has done a superb job of steering Eco Divers on a steady course since he took over the wheel from us in 2011. With his exceptional management team he will continue taking our company forward, with our full support. And, of course, we’ll be regular visitors in our second home, North Sulawesi. You won’t be able to keep us away!”

If you live in the UK and would like Diverse Travel to assist you with your next holiday booking to Eco Divers, visit their website or just send an email request to info@diversetravel.co.uk and they’ll take all the effort out of getting you underwater soon.

Minahasa Lagoon, Manado consolidates its dive operation with Eco Divers to further improve dive experience for our guests.

Minahasa Lagoon Dive and Tour Club (Minahasa Lagoon) is nestled in the world famous Marine Park off Bunaken, 30km south West of Manado in North Sulawesi.

With 15 seafront and mountain villas built with iron wood architecturally styled with thatched roofing and rustic charm and 6 spacious garden view rooms nestled in abundant tropical greenery, this 4 hectare resort boosts of unrivalled bio-diversity, complemented by its own Dive Centre and Club, Swimming pool, Bar, Lagoon Spa, food & beverage facilities, a hilltop Jungle Restaurant and bountiful scenic sights to discover.

Minahasa Lagoon is well-known among travellers as a premium dive and leisure property in the Bunaken National Marine Park. Minahasa Lagoon is constantly upgrading its facilities and services for its guests and has recently agreed to consolidate its Diving operations with ECO DIVERS.

Dive enthusiasts can look forward to highly engaging and personalised diving trips and sessions with Minahasa Lagoon and Eco Divers, while staying on site the 21 villa resort in Manado with 15 sea views villas and in Lembeh where Eco Divers has a unique feature; a 53 feet boat anchored in the famed Lembeh Straits diving spots where guests can spend the day diving in close proximity.

Eco Divers is a well-known and respected Diving Group internationally with operations in Manado and Lembeh and they have been operating out of Minahasa Lagoon for the past 24 months.

Mr. Andrea Bensi, Managing Director of Eco Divers, said “the reorganization of the diving operations is a logical next step in our co-operation with Minahasa Lagoon and this will further strengthen the partnership between Minahasa Lagoon and ECO DIVERS. I look forward to Eco Divers and Minahasa Lagoon completing its consolidation at Minahasa Lagoon soon to allow both Eco Divers and Minahasa Lagoon’s guests to enjoy a high level of service, and seamless great diving experience in Bunaken and Lembeh at most competitive rates.”

We’re delighted to announce that Dr. Mark Erdmann is coming back to Eco Divers this year, after the success of Fish Geek Week 2012 and the associated first ever Fish Survey of Bunaken National Park.

The 2013 dates for Fish Geek Week are the week of 31 August to 07 September. As with last year, our Guest Lecturer will give informative, educational and entertaining free talks each evening after diving.

And again, as last year, guests have nothing extra to pay to join this special event – Mark will be sharing his vast knowledge of the underwater realm out of the goodness of his heart.

We are very grateful to him for his generosity and we look forward to welcoming him back and assisting him with his second Bunaken fish survey, which will add to the database of our national park and aid in its conservation. We hope you’ll join us for Fish Geek Week.

To do so, just book a minimum 7-night stay at Eco Divers Manado & Minahasa Lagoon Resort: info@eco-divers.com

19 - 22 September, Friedrichshafen, Germany

Make a saving for your pocket with our great offer at the new & international dive trade show at the border triangle at Lake Constance!

Book at least a 7-night All Inclusive Dive Package (Air or Nitrox), at Eco Divers Manado/Minahasa Lagoon Resort or Eco Divers Resort Lembeh and receive a 10% discount.

Conditions of offers:
•    Bookings must be a minimum of 7 nights All-Inclusive Dive Package
•    Offer cannot be back-dated onto existing bookings
•    Only applies to bookings made between 19 September & 18 October 2013
•    Valid on stays till 30 June 2014
•    Cannot be taken in conjunction with any other offer made by Eco Divers
•    All bookings are subject to availability
•    Offer applies on pre-booked package only

Exclusions: Drinks, Tips, Diving equipment rentals, Bunaken National Park entrance fee, Night dives, Nitrox fills, Spa services, Land tours, Mini-bar purchases, Laundry, Telephone calls

Book at the show or email Eco Divers on info@eco-divers.com
 

This spring Eco Divers is giving you a chance to dive Manado in style for less, with a very special offer on stays at Minahasa Lagoon Resort.

Our special All Inclusive Dive Package in a top category Sea View Cottage represents an incredible saving on normal prices. It's valid on stays from 15 May but must end on 31 July.

» Click here for the full offer details

Want to learn all about underwater photography? Then there's no better place to be than at award-winning Eco Divers Resort Lembeh this September.

Wolfgang Pölzer, respected underwater photo journalist, book author and double gold medallist at the CMAS World Championship of Underwater Photography, will be running a FREE week-long underwater photography workshop: plenty of diving, discovery and underwater fun, plus nightly presentations. Dates run from 28th September to 5th October.

Wolfgang has won numerous top international prizes including gold medals at the CMAS world championship on two separate occasions: 1998 (category "Macro") and 2002 (category "wide angle") and at Antibes in 2000 (category "software image"). Born in a small town in Austria, he studied marine biology at university and over the past fifteen years has published many books and worked as freelance journalist and photographer for several diving, travel and nature magazines.

In this workshop everybody – from beginner to professional – can learn from his extensive knowledge, through nightly slide shows and also one-on-one critique sessions with individual guests. Taking part is absolutely free when guests book a 7-night package, as Wolfgang is offering his workshop purely out of his aspiration to share a love of underwater photography.

To book your stay at Eco Divers Resort Lembeh: info@eco-divers.com

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is sponsoring an event for the first time which, in just its first year, has instantly become the largest, longest and most prestigious photo contest in the world, with a staggering total prize value of over US$200,000!

This contest is open to anyone with a camera, with prizes in 6 underwater categories and 1 conservation category, plus a Best of Show category.

Enrolment is free – to enter the competition all you have to do is dive with a Participating Dive Operator before 30 November and then submit up to 5 images in each category. Your images will then be judged by a panel of respected judges. It’s as simple as that!

Eco Divers is a Participating Dive Operator, so if you’d like to enter IWUPC 2013 please book a stay with us in Manado or Lembeh, or a combination of both if you wish to take both macro and wide-angle photos.

If you’re interested in entering IWUPC 2013, please visit the Indonesia World Underwater Photo Contest website to learn more about this amazing contest.

We’re not done just yet, with new managers!

Last, but not least, please say hello to Macedonia Domingues. “Macy” is not from Macedonia, mind you – she’s Portuguese.

She’s from Pombal but started her diving career in Peniche, after finishing a degree in Marketing and Tourism.

Most recently she managed a dive centre in the Azores, but wanted new experiences as well as new diving environments.

As Macy herself says “I found the paradise in Manado, as well as my dream job, since it’s a perfect combination of richness in nature, diving, culture and gastronomy.”

Macy, a qualified teacher, is organized but also creative and loves to dance. She has a capacity to combine her serious side with a warmth and genuine care for other people, which we think makes her a great person to run a dive centre. Oh, and she’s also an animal lover, of course! Come and enjoy your next dive holiday in Macy’s capable hands.

Meet Tarkan Sever & Kathrin Heussner, our new managers in Lembeh:


Tarkan, CMAS 3 Star Dive Leader, EFR Instructor and PADI IDC Staff Instructor with more than 300 certifications under his belt, is a British citizen who has managed a dive centre in his native Turkey.

Kathrin, a German citizen, is PADI MSDT Instructor and EFR Instructor, who previously worked as a Holiday Representative for tourism giant TUI over several years through the Caribbean and Mediterranean. She was also the manager of a safari lodge in Namibia, where she was able to prove her ability in resort management. Between them they can teach many specialty courses such as Digital Underwater Photography, Nitrox and the brand new PADI Self Reliant Diver.

This charming, smiling couple came to Indonesia last year on their honeymoon. They loved it so much that they decided to stay on, well….a bit longer than originally planned! They now manage Eco Divers Lembeh, also providing photo & video services through our Digital Centre and adding their professional yet personal special touch to Eco Divers’ award-winning services. We invite you to return to Lembeh, to enjoy for yourself T&K’s friendly service.