Manado resorts: Tasik Ria or Santika?

[GoorglinGeorge]

I have dived with both Eco-Divers and Thalassa at Santika. For diving go with Thalassa. Eco-Divers has several boats - 20+ divers per boat with a 6:1 diver to guide ratio. My big problem with them is that they do 60 minute dives timed to the minute. I have watched their dive guides stare at their watches waiting to rush the divers to the surface at 60 minutes. Another issue with Eco-Divers is that for three days of the week they do the third dive at their house reef. The house reef is OK once and maybe twice but not more than that and not when they put 40+ divers - more than one of their boats on the same site at the same time. I have seen this happen repeatedly.

For diving go with Santika/Thalassa. However, for food go with Tasik Ria. Unless things have improved I have had some really terrible food at Santika and they don't seem to care.

 

[JenM]

If your partner gets seasick, then the Santika is definitely the right choice. A few of the far sites in the Park take longer then 20 minutes to get to, but the vast majority are very close. Plus, I really can't think of anything negative to say about the dive op. It's the perfect mixture of being well-run, but at the same time, flexible enough to accomodate various divers' different wants and needs.

As for the food at the hotel, don't worry too much about it. We are from the SF Bay Area and are definitely "foodies", and we thought it was okay, maybe not great, but on dive trips, as long as the food is okay, that's all we ask. Great food is just a bonus, it's really all about the diving.

Definitely try to get over to Lembeh for a day if you are not already planning to stay over there. Thalassa organizes all-day trips. I think they need four divers, but that's usually not hard to arrange. They take you over in a van in the morning (it's a two hour drive), you do three dives, and you get back in the early evening. It's a long day, but Lembeh is not to be missed. We love muck diving so we spend two thirds of our trip on the Lembeh side and one third in Manado, but if you've never done it before and aren't sure if you'd be interested, you should give it a try. It's a unique experience and you'll will see some amazing creatures.

 

[pelan-pelan]

Both are nice resorts and excelent dive operations; with its plus minus as described by other posters; I consider equal and will choose the best offer. But, for my next year Menado trip I am considering Sedona Manado / Euro-Divers - they claim as ***** accomodation with pristine white sandy beach, private lagoon.

We heard something a bit "strange" about the dive-boat for Euro-Divers - I would advise you do some research. . . . Strongly advise.

You might also look more closely at the sandy beach and private lagoon. I have good things to say about a number of the dive operations in the same area - eg Tasik Ria, Lumbalumba etc - and their beaches are somewhat limited if you are thinking in Caribbean or Maldivian terms, and as for lagoon - again this feature may not be quite what you picture. We love the area - don't get me wrong - but you need to be clear what sandy beach and lagoon mean with any of the places in that area. The general location of the Sedona is excellent and I know that it has recently been refurbished. Hopefully we will read positive reports about it from people who have actually stayed there.

 

[bodiver13]

I have dived with both Eco-Divers and Thalassa at Santika. For diving go with Thalassa. Eco-Divers has several boats - 20+ divers per boat with a 6:1 diver to guide ratio. My big problem with them is that they do 60 minute dives timed to the minute. I have watched their dive guides stare at their watches waiting to rush the divers to the surface at 60 minutes. Another issue with Eco-Divers is that for three days of the week they do the third dive at their house reef. The house reef is OK once and maybe twice but not more than that and not when they put 40+ divers - more than one of their boats on the same site at the same time. I have seen this happen repeatedly.

For diving go with Santika/Thalassa. However, for food go with Tasik Ria. Unless things have improved I have had some really terrible food at Santika and they don't seem to care.

George, i am completely agree with your opinion in this subject.
Both Tasik Ria or Santika are great, either one is (hopefully) good enough for you nwflyboy.

Cheers,

 

[SwedishMarianne]

Stayed at both Lumba Lumba and Tasik Ria. Lumba Lumba outshines Tasik Ria by millions! We had an absolutely fantastic stay there and were really disappointed when we came to Tasik Ria as it was really depressing in comparison...

 

[pelan-pelan]

Thanks SwMarianne. We're just happy customers of lumbalumba and want people to know how good they are. Glad you enjoyed your stay. How about a brief trip report - what did you see/where did you see it? Any pilot whales?