Thank you to everyone who has been enquiring about how we are and what’s happening in our dive resorts around Indonesia!
Indonesia is on lockdown so like most of you we are staying at home except for essential travel. As different countries locked down one by one during March 2020, our main priority was to ensure that our guests returned home safely – apart from those who decided to stay!
During March we also had to think about which of our resorts to shut down and which ones would remain active in some capacity. Here’s what happened at our locations around Indonesia.
Sunset from Two Fish Divers Amed beach
Gili Air, Lombok: The whole of the Gili Island’s was closed to tourists by the local government, and all dive operations and hotels were told to shut. This was actually done in early-March , which made Lombok one of the first areas to shut down like this.
All of our local staff are on lockdown in their homes except for 2 who are sharing the responsibility to look after our dive boat, and our Dive Manager Jenny and Instructor Komang moved over to Bali where they are now on lockdown.
Sanur is very quiet on lockdown, people are allowed for essential travel with masks and social distancing
Sanur, Bali: Our Sanur head office is closed with Nigel and Tina on lockdown and working from home in Sanur. Our Bali Manager Steve is also working from home in Sanur, and our Course Director Restuning is at home near Sanur waiting for the next IDC to happen!
Of the local staff, Nike took the opportunity to go back home to Central Sulawesi to stay with her family, and Nadya went back to Manado to be with her family. Purna on the other hand has stayed on lockdown in Bali, and is enjoying her daily exercise walking along the beach!!
South Lombok: South Lombok dive center and accommodation is now closed with two part-time staff looking after the boats and acting as security.
Our Dive Centre Manager Dom was running a DM course with two Divemaster Trainees and they all decided to move up to our Lembeh Resort in North Sulawesi, and they are now on lockdown with our Lembeh Team!
Our successful Amed IDC group celebrating – and social distancing!
Amed, Bali: Amed was an exciting place to be at the beginning of the lockdown in that area! Our Instructor Development Course moved from Lembongan when that area was closed down, and it was in full swing when Amed closed down and our candidates and Course Director Restuning Sandini became our IDC-Quaran-Team!!
When the local government closed all dive operations in the Amed area we needed to ask permission from them for the IDC-Quaran-Team to dive the house reef for the IDC, which they thankfully gave. They completed their IDC course and have now returned home, and are ready to take their instructor exams as soon as they become available!
Our Dive Manager Eze is locked down in the resort along with his girlfriend. All the Manado staff returned to Manado except for Ludwig who decided to stay on lockdown in Amed, and the rest of the Amed staff are in lockdown in their own homes.
Bunaken Island: The local government forced all diving to stop in the Bunaken Marine Park therefore we had to close. However, our Managers Colin and Maia decided to stay in lockdown at the resort, and are keeping themselves busy with regular beach cleanups and admiring the stunning sunsets and sunrises. They are also making sure that the cafe is continuously re-stocked with cold beer until they can welcome guests again!
As the resort & diving is closed all the locals are in lockdown in the village, but we do have a cook coming in to help look after Colin & Maia, and security who looks after the resort & boats.
Colin and Maia are busy with beach cleans in Bunaken and are becoming creative with the trash during lockdown – can you spot this turtle?
Nusa Lembongan: The local government also closed the diving here, and forced all the fast boats to stop. Our Nusa Lembongan Resort is closed, and our Dive Manager Thomas was taking part in the IDC that moved to Amed, and he decided to stay and lockdown in Amed.
When we closed we actually had an Instructor Development Course running, and by popular request by the candidates it was successfully moved to Amed where it carried on.
Many of our local staff are from Manado and they were offered flights home, and our security and local boatman are looking after our boats and resort.
Lembeh is where the action is- they are diving and Divemaster Training during their lockdown!
Lembeh Island: This is where all the action is!! Some of our guests from early-March decided to lock-down in Lembeh rather than fly back to Europe, and our Dive Manager Dan also stayed. With Dom and the two Divemaster Trainees from South Lombok its been quite busy, and they are keeping active with muck diving, quiz nights and plenty of critters! Keep an eye on our Facebook Page for updates from their dives!
With not many guests we have been able to cut down to half-staff, with the rest in lockdown in their villages.
Other Local Staff
Some of our back-office support staff are still working, including some admin staff and reservations staff.
Our staff are part of our Two Fish Divers extended family and we hope to be able to continue to support all staff during this period through salaries and all government payments for health and medical care.
Stunning sunsets and sunrises are still the order of the day from Two Fish Divers Bunaken
What Can You Do To Help?
Stay in touch with us! Keep following our social media pages – we are posting from our locations each day on our main Two Fish Facebook page and Instagram!
You might not be ready or able to travel yet but you can get prepared and make HUGE savings by starting PADI eLearning online from home! PADI are offering a 25% discount on online courses and we are also matching this by offering a 25% discount in your entire holiday when you come and visit us for the practical part of the course!! Check out our Special Offers page here.
If you are planning ahead and would like to make a booking for future travel we have also put in place a COVID Flexible booking plan to ensure you can change your dates, free of charge, should you be unable to travel!
Get in Touch
If you’d like to find out more about what we are up to and make plans for future bookings, or ask us a question, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you!
