Health and Care

- Malaria

It cannot be denied. We are in the tropics and there are cases of malaria in Manado. But to get infected, you need to be stung by a certain kind of mosquito who before, had stung somebody who was already infected. This mosquito is mainly active early morning and around dusk. The best way to prevent malaria is to not get stung by this mosquito. You can do that by using plenty of insect repellent that contains the ingredient "deet". Especially during the risk periods (early morning-late afternoon). There are also drugs you can take, daily or weekly, depending on the type. Not all persons respond well to these drugs. Best is to consult your family doctor.

A divers ear is subject to more stress than a non divers ear.The constant equalization of your eardrums to the water pressure, the change in climate and the tropical sea water can lead to very painful ears. Often it is an allergic reaction of the body due to certain algae in the water. These can easily be treated with something called "sour ear drops". That is a mixture of a light acid with oil. Your doctor or pharmacist should know more about it and our experience is that it works effectively. In general it is important that your ears are clean and that you maintain them well during your stay.Water can get trapped inside when they are dirty and that can lead to infections. Rinse them out with fresh water after dives and don't start equalizing too late, or not frequently enough while you descend. Don't let your ears spoil your dive holiday!

- Small infections

-In the tropics, tiny wounds and scratches on your skin, that you wouldn't pay attention to at home can lead to infections if you don't treat them properly. When you dive the wound will probably be cleaned out, but diving daily also prevents it from closing. Be a bit fussy and put an adhesive bandage on it as soon as possible, preferably with some antibiotic cream. Keep the bandage on till the scratch has closed.

- Recompression chamber

There is a well functioning 2 person recompression chamber in Manado (Malalayang Hospital). 20 car minutes away from Lumbalumba Diving.
If treatment is necessary and you are still on the boat, transport time can take longer. We have a very competent emergency plan, first aid box, oxygen and radio/telephone on the boats, but that does not mean that we allow decompression dives to our guests and guides.
The chamber is actually not part of our dive planning, so we prefer you stay away from it.

In general:

- Don't dive if you don't feel fit. Be honest to yourself (and us!)

- Don't push it to your limits.

- Don't swim against currents

- dive relaxed. You want to fill your logbook with sightings, not covered distance.

- Always make your 3 minute safety stop at 5 metres.

- Drink plenty of water and take it easy after dives.

At the DIVING page and DIVE SITE discriptions, we already mentioned that we highly recommended you to dive with a computer. You can get away with tables, but it will limit your profile underwater. Be sensible and bring a computer. If you rent a regulator from us, there is a computer included.
Even though symptoms related to decompression can be caused by more factors than just depth and time, we think that conservative dives are the best way to keep you away from the chamber.