Lembeh Strait Dive Sites

Hairball

As you listen to the dive briefing for this Lembeh dive and look at the dive map you may feel a sense of déjà vu. The muck diving sites all sound the same - gentle slope, black sand, patches of activity, a few sunken logs. Hairball however, often emerges as a king among kings in the Lembeh Strait.

On a day dive here you are likely to run into a few quite large seahorses proudly going about their business unperturbed by divers. For frogfish lovers this is your spot. The question is not 'if' but 'how many?' White, yellow, black, hairy, giant ... you name it! Add to this the occasional encounter with an octopus lurking furtively inside half-buried coconut shells and you can see the reason for this site's popularity.

Night time, as with many sites here, turns the excellent into the unbelievable. Dreamlike oddities haunt hairball at night. Successfully spotting a buried stargazer, eyes cast up to the heavens, will keep you happy for a week. More frogfish, cuttlefish, cuttlefish eggs (with moving pre-hatched babies!) decorator crabs and Spanish dancers are but a few of the collection of wonders that Hairball spits out.

Good dives here cannot be overstated and are unlikely to be forgotten.

Hairball Reef Basics: Muck diving slope
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 8 - 20m
Currents: Gentle
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 26 - 29°C
Experience Level: Beginner - advanced
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: ~4 km north of Lembeh resorts (10 mins)
Access: Lembeh and Manado resorts and liveaboards

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