It’s always been a dream to dive in North Sulawesi, having heard stories of unusual critters “in the muck” for many years. Last month I stayed in the luscious Solitude resort – newly refurbished which has beautiful views of the Lembeh strait. The diving was phenomenal, absolutely living up to all of my expectations. This was helped by two extremely knowledgeable and eagle-eyed guides and brilliant speedboat crew.

However, it was the resort itself that made this trip really special. From the infinity pool to the luxurious rooms with personal balconies.

In an area where plastic pollution is a problem, I was especially impressed with the attention to detail to minimise single-use plastic by having small drinking water dispensers in every room and ceramic dispensers for complimentary toiletries.

It was a wonderful trip and I would highly recommend both the area and this resort

I was vert excited to hear the newly refurbished resort, Solitude Lembeh, would be wheelchair accessible and having checked out the website, booked into the resort for the final 6 days of our dive trip to North Sulawesi.

It felt like we had arrived in paradise, the resort is beautifully located in a quiet bay opposite Lembeh Island. The rooms are spacious and well planned out with international and USB plugs next to the bed. Wi Fi was available 24/7 which we’d missed desperately at our previous stopover. The bathroom was immaculate and stocked with quality products too. I cannot overstate how comfortable we were and happy to be finishing our trip in such luxury.

The food served during our stay was beautifully presented every time, our smoothie bowls in the morning were as colourful as the nudibranchs we were there to find. We ate a selection of Indonesian food, fresh fish and salads along with fruit and other snacks during the day. The menu offered plenty of choice and vegetarian options.

The main purpose of the stay was to dive in the famous Lembeh Strait and the dive team at the resort were amazing. We were assisted down to the boat in our wheelchairs and the guides found every little critter we put in a request for. We were the first wheelchair guests at the dive resort and the team’s response was to do whatever was needed to get us into the water comfortably and ensure we had the same diving experience as any other divers. Most of the dive sites were only 10 minutes away in the speedboat, hot towels, fresh fruit and refreshments all offered in between the dives ensured we were comfortable and well hydrated.

I finished my final day with a dip in the infinty pool, something I’ve always wanted to do and the resort staff were so happy to help me out. I then had a wonderful Indonesian massage to end on a real high.

I would return to Solitude Lembeh in a heartbeat and hope the opportunity arises in the future to go back to this very special place where I’ve made many happy memories and new friends.

Not my first time with the Solitude Team, i’ve been on their Solitude One and experience first-class service. Hence, the value you paid is worth everything Solitude Team make is worthwhile.

Lembeh was the next, I wasn’t keen in lembeh diving (macro) initially, however, on my trip, the dive guides were so good, I got to learn macro photography and so much fun know all those critters, amazing experience – not only that, the whole team of Solitude Lembeh made you feel like home, down to the finest details. You can rest your mind even I let my belongings anywhere in the resort (HAHA).

I will definitely revisit again and highly recommend this dive resort all anyone

We were fortunate enough to scuba dive with the Solitude team. Special thanks to Pernilla, Niko, Yaije and Demsi. Niko can spot and show you all of the tiny sea creatures on a dive. Amazing as some are only the size of a few grains of rice! We were so well cared for to the point of being spoiled. We had a lovely meal at Solitude and a tour. Everything in the hotel is pristine and beautiful. The view into Lembeh Strait is stunning. The staff are very caring and charming. Disabled persons are welcome to scuba dive here. The rooms and access to the dining room, etc, are all wheelchair friendly. The dive boat is convenient to use with a choice of entries into the water. Loved it

This was not our first time booking a dive holiday with Solitude. We’d previously been on a trip to Tubbataha with Solitude One and we were so impressed that we wanted to go with them again and luckily they have some fantastic locations to choose from…
This trip we decided to go to Lembeh, it is our second trip to the “Macro Capital” the first time was amazing, but after experiencing it through Solitude, they really set the bar to new heights.
The first sign in Lembeh that really impressed me was that it was it felt like they knew me before I’d arrived. They knew I’d been with them I guess on Solitude One in the Philippines, so arriving in Lembeh I immediately felt comfortable more like I was returning somewhere as opposed to being in a resort for the first time.

The diving, of course, is exceptional, our guides were wonderful and had the sharpest of eyes. There’s not much need to write about all the creatures we saw, I think all know of the diving in Lembeh… We saw a lot of critters I had always dreamed of seeing.
The real bonus diving this time was the boats. Several high-powered speedboats to take us to the dive sites in only 2 minutes, it meant after the dive we could come back to the resort and relax in/by the infinity pool.