Lembeh Strait · Indonesia · Muck & macro · Sand slope · Night
Jahir
Zebra crabs sheltering in the spines of purple heart urchins
Area photo: Bernard DUPONT · CC BY-SA 2.0
One of the newer sites in the strait, named after the guide who first found it, on black volcanic sand of the sort that made Lembeh's reputation. Mimic octopus, tiny and hairy frogfish and ornate ghost pipefish are the draws, and the bottom carries large numbers of purple heart urchins whose spines shelter small zebra crabs.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Lembeh Strait and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
There is no structure to navigate by, so the dive is a slow cruise with your nose close to the sea-bed, moving only as fast as your eyes can read the sand. Honeycomb moray eels and long horn cowfish fill the gaps between the headline finds, and the ground itself gives nothing away until a guide's pointer stops on a patch of it that looked like all the rest.
The site features large numbers of purple heart urchins and therefore a thousand sharp spines, and among those spines you can look for the little zebra crabs that shelter behind their protection. The distractions in between are the ones people come to Lembeh for: mimic octopus, tiny frogfish, hairy frogfish and ornate ghost pipefish, none of them obvious and most of them found for you rather than by you.
You can reach as deep as 30 m here, which happens easily if your focus stays on the visuals rather than on your gauge, so it is worth a glance at the computer every few subjects. Jahir works as a day dive and comes into its own at night, and schedules that fit it in once often find room for it again after dark.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Lembeh Strait: Diveable all year; July and August bring the most critters, October to December the clearest water, and January and February the roughest seas.
Know before you go
- It is easy to drift down to 30 m without noticing while your attention is on a subject a hand's width from your mask; check depth as often as you check air.
Dive videos
Lembeh Dive Site - Jahir 4K · Divernesia Dive Resort on YouTube
Tauchen INDONESIEN - Jahir Nachttauchgang "Highlights vom Anfang bis zum Ende" 4K Lembeh Strait · Ollywood - Dive & Travel on YouTube
Sources
- Lembeh Strait Diving Sites — Dive The World
In The Logbook
- Frogfish: species, behaviour and where to diveMacro & muck · 12 min read
- Night diving: the best night dives in the worldNight diving · 12 min read
- The best muck diving in the worldMacro & muck · 6 min read
More dive sites in Lembeh Strait
Pinnacle
A swim-through at 22 to 25 m lined with crinoids
Muck & macro
Sand, rubble and algae on a point that pulls in nutrient-rich water
Wreck
A 60 m wartime cargo hull on its side under crinoids
Sea fans on the mini-wall hold pygmy seahorses
Reef
A shallow coral bowl between two soft-coral mini walls
Muck & macro
The strait's only white-sand muck site, with coral in the shallows
Muck & macro
Banggai cardinalfish in the hundreds under a night torch
Muck & macro
Blue-ringed, coconut and mimic octopus on one black sand slope
Similar dives elsewhere
Black sand to 27 metres, at its best after dark
Mimic and blue-ringed octopus over Anilao's best-known muck slope
Seahorses, spider crabs and coconut octopus on a sandy slope close to Dili.
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Where the holotype of the psychedelic frogfish was collected in 2008