STAYING AT FROGGIES
TRANSFERS CONSIDERATIONS
For Bunaken, it is not possible to do the crossing from the mainland to the island at night. Many small fishing boats without lighting are scattered across the bay and render the trip too dangerous. Should your plane arrive in Manado after 15:30, you will have to spend the night in Manado. We can help you organize your first night in a hotel we trust and pick you up in the morning to go to Bunaken. If you are staying in Manado and would like an early transfer to Bunaken in order to join the dive boats for the two morning dives, it is possible for a surcharge of IDR 330'000 per person.
For Lembeh, it is possible to do the crossing at any hour. There will however be a surcharge of IDR 330'000 per person if your flight lands in Manado between 18:00 and 06:00. The transfer surcharge is the same if your flight takes off between 21:00 and 10:00 the day you check-out.
CHECK-IN & CHECK-OUT TIMES
Normal check-in time at Froggies is after 12:00 and if you arrive at that time, lunch is included. If your room is available, there is usually no problem to welcome you a couple of hours earlier than this, without any surcharge.
Check-out time is also 12:00 and lunch is not included. If you wish to leave later in the afternoon, it is possible free of charge but we may ask you to free your room for our next guests and an extra lunch can be purchased for IDR 124'000.
FOOD REQUIREMENTS
Usually, you will be shown the menu after breakfast to order your lunch and dinner dishes. We have the choice between two main dishes for each meal and you should be able to find something fitting to your taste.We may be serving buffet with the same choice of dishes if the resort is very busy.
Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you.
TIPS
Our staff works hard to make sure you have a great holiday at Froggies.
The best way to show your appreciation is to leave some tip upon check-out. We have a general tip box located in the restaurant. All local staff will get a share of whatever treasure is found in there. It insures that our employees working behind the scene are not forgotten as they also contribute to your experience. Cash currencies such as EUR, USD, SGD or IDR are of course welcome.
Tips cannot be added to your room bill and charged on your credit card. If you wish, it is also possible to give some tip to a person in particular, like your dive guide, boat staff or housekeeper. We do however not encourage the promise of a large tip in advance for a specific service. A good example would be to promise EUR 100 to your guide if he finds you a hairy pygmy whale shark, nicely posing on top of a sponge for a contest picture. This goes against our will to protect and preserve the environment and pushes the guide to go beyond what is acceptable for the extra cash. Remember that the wages in Indonesia are very low compared to Western standards and such a tip can represent a week or two of salary.
DIVING AT FROGGIES
MEDICAL STATEMENT
Once you arrive at Froggies, we will require you to fill up the PADI medical statement. You can download it at the following link: PADI Medical Statement.Please, make sure you go through it before you come, because if you have to answer a YES to ANY of the questions of the first page, we will require a medical certificate signed by a doctor in order to let you dive or start your course.
EQUIPMENT RENTAL DIVE EXPERIENCE INFORMATIONS
In order to make sure all necessary equipment will be available when you arrive at Froggies, we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to fill up the following form (one time per person of your family or group): Online Diving Form. It will also allow us to prepare and organise our dive groups according to your level and experience
DIVING CERTIFICATION
As a certified diver, we will require you to show us your certification card, and possibly your logbook prior to diving at Froggies Divers.This is specially important if you were certified by an agency other than PADI, in which case, we have no way to check online if you are a certified diver or not.
PRIVATE GUIDE
Our maximum group size is four divers per dive guide. However, divers under the age of 18, divers with limited experience or other special requirements may need a private guide at an additional charge. Please let us know beforehand if you think you will require a dedicated guide so we can plan accordingly.
SCUBA REVIEW
Depending on your previous experience, if you have not been diving for more than one year we may recommend a Scuba Review. It can be done in half a day and includes one dive. You will go through the essential equipment, safety procedures, dive theory and buoyancy control with one of our instructors. Practice, ask questions, and get your confidence before heading out the famous walls of Bunaken or the black sands of Lembeh.
DIVING PRACTICES
Regardless of certification all of our dives are limited to 30 meters and are "no decompression dives" or "no stop dives".
DIVE SCHEDULE
On a normal day, our dive schedule is as follows
• Two morning dives (unlimited dive time) at 08:00 with one hour of surface interval and return to the resort for lunch.
• Afternoon dive (unlimited dive time) at 14:30
• Night dive at 18:00, however we need a minimum of two divers for the night dive and it is limited to one hour maximum.
SNORKELING
Please let us know before you arrive if you would like to rent snorkeling equipment. Snorkeling from the diving boats can be arranged for an additional charge.
DIVING INSURANCE & SAFETY
Both our resorts are located on Islands, far from professional medical assistance. You will most likely be doing between two and four dives every day.
Although diving is considered as a very safe activity, risks exist and the outcome of a scuba diving accident greatly depends on the time until which you can receive professional treatment from a specialized doctor.
There is a hyperbaric chamber in the hospital in Manado but the specialist can be absent or the chamber may be occupied by a patient already.
This means an evacuation by a special (pressurized to sea level) private plane, to either Bali or Singapore may be your only solution. The costs of such evacuation and treatment can be extremely high and we strongly recommend to be properly covered by a scuba diving insurance. Many regular health insurance do not cover scuba diving accidents as this is considered as a risky activity.
Most of our customers are already covered by an Insurance such as DAN or Aquamed and we recommend you do so yourself.All our dive boats are equipped with first aid and emergency oxygen kits. Our dive crews are regularly trained on the usage of this equipment.
DIVE TANKS
In Bunaken, most of our dive tanks are equipped with a yoke valve. A very small number of tanks can be adapted to accept DIN regulators and we have only three adapters available. You may want to bring your own adapter if you have one.
In Lembeh, all our tanks accept both DIN and yoke regulators. We have three large tanks (13.4 litres instead of the normal 11.0 litres) available for rental at each location. They are available on a first come, first serve basis. If you are a heavy breather and would like to secure them, please let us know in advance and we'll be happy to reserve them for you if they are still available.
GOOD TO KNOW
VISA REQUIREMENTS
Lately, it has become very easy to travel to Indonesia. Most countries do not require to purchase a visa and a free visa on arrival is probably all you need, making entry in Indonesia a breeze.
Please, do note that some countries do still require the travellers to ask for a visa in advance.
If you are unsure, we recommend you check the following site, updated regularly. They should be able to provide you with the required information: Wikipedia visa information.
LIVING ON A TROPICAL ISLAND
We love our little bit of paradise but of course, you should be prepared for a few things when coming to visit us.
• Dehydration is a risk here as it can be very hot. Please, think about drinking plenty of water.
• The sun can be very strong under our latitude. Even on overcast days, it only takes a few minutes of exposure to get sunburnt. Think about protecting yourself with a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen (preferably a brand that will not damage the coral reefs).
• Mosquitoes really like to crash our parties. Especially at sunrise and sunset. If your blood is yummy, think about taking some mosquito repellent. As far as we can tell, however, dengue fever, malaria or zika are not a concern on the islands of Bunaken or Lembeh.
• There are no stores on the islands. If you run out of cigarettes, sunscreen, toothpaste, etc. , it may take a few days before we have a boat going to the mainland to purchase what you need. Please, plan ahead.
• For the ladies, note that tampons are not available for sale in this part of the world. If the timing of your holiday conflicts with your natural cycle, please, bring what you need.
LAND TOURS
As every diver knows, it is not possible to dive 24 hours before flying.
We have a small selection of land activities that can be organised for you to keep you busy or to avoid the shame of telling your friends that you went all the way across the world and all you saw was the resort and what happens under water.
We usually need to know one day in advance to be able to organise this for you. Don't hesitate to ask us at the resort to see what is available.