Wiggsy
Contributor
This place looks the goods...anyone been there recently and care to comment on the accomodation; facilities and the diving?
Thanks in anticipation,
Thanks in anticipation,
Siladen Island Resort
- Thread starter Wiggsy
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
hallboy
Contributor
I guess you're talking about theSiladen Resort and spa. If i were you, i would go with Onong resort : its also on Siladen, absolutely adorable, operated by Celebes divers and it cost peanuts for qhat it is. you can decid to stay in Mapaia resort if you wish, the other redort operater by Celebes divers that is not in th bunaken park but close to Manado.
Great dive operator, great italiano/indonesian food very nice and comfortable acomodation. and so more afordable.
Great dive operator, great italiano/indonesian food very nice and comfortable acomodation. and so more afordable.
hallboy
Contributor
nwflyboy
Contributor
When researching for a recent trip there, I was also intrigued by the place, it does look very nice. I noted there were no prices on their website, which made me wonder if this might be a case of "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it." So I emailed them to ask for the price - and my suspicions turned out to be correct: it was shockingly expensive. The cheapest prices they quoted were over US$400/night (most rooms were much higher). Yes, it looked very nice, but I'm just not willing to pay that much for a room - especially when there were plenty of quite nice alternatives nearby at much more reasonable prices.
We ended up staying at the Hotel Santika, and although that wasn't exactly what I would call "cheap", it was very nice and I thought a reasonable value - I would definitely go back again. There are many other places around there that I'm sure are quite a bit less expensive, but I don't mind paying a bit for a nice experience and a bit of luxury, and the Santika turned out fine for us. Nice place.
If someone else was paying (someone with more money than sense), I'd certainly consider staying at the Siladen resort - and I'd expect it to be pretty exceptional - I'm sure it's quite nice (it ought to be, for 500 bucks a night) but if I was paying, I'd much rather stay someplace more reasonable.
YMMV.
Thanks for the information and all the help. However, I have a group of over 40, and as Onong Resort only has 6 cottages, that would not be possible - SIladen is about the right size for us. And as I have a large group travelling, we have been given what I thought were fairly good rates - by the time you factor in that rates are full baord (include all meals) and the dive package is quite reasonable at around $30 US per dive. So all up it really is quite "affordable" - we pay more than that for a lot less luxury each year in Fiji! And the cheap dive package saves us heaps (I looked into a resort in Taveuni which offered cut price accomodation, but around $80 US per dive - how do they justify that!. Over a 15 dive package ($1200 US)....that makes a huge difference.
As a matter of fact, I've just checked the room rates sent to me by the resort and the figures I have are around half of what you were quoted - the only rooms over $400 US are the quad share two bedroom family villa and the luxury four bedroom villa which sleeps eight! Even then, divide the room rates by the number of people they accomodate, and it's a fairly competitive price all inclusive. We also get a free hour long massage each and few other bits and pieces. The benefit of having a large group of dive buddies I guess. All up, our package ex Melbourne, Australia will cost well under $3000 AUD including all airfares, 8 nights; 15 dives and all meals.
So.....has anyone been there recently at all? I gather the diving in the entire area is pretty superb.
Thanks for the information, if I were in a small group I'd probably opt for Onong as well....looks terrific and has a great deal to offer as regards marine education also.
As a matter of fact, I've just checked the room rates sent to me by the resort and the figures I have are around half of what you were quoted - the only rooms over $400 US are the quad share two bedroom family villa and the luxury four bedroom villa which sleeps eight! Even then, divide the room rates by the number of people they accomodate, and it's a fairly competitive price all inclusive. We also get a free hour long massage each and few other bits and pieces. The benefit of having a large group of dive buddies I guess. All up, our package ex Melbourne, Australia will cost well under $3000 AUD including all airfares, 8 nights; 15 dives and all meals.
So.....has anyone been there recently at all? I gather the diving in the entire area is pretty superb.
Thanks for the information, if I were in a small group I'd probably opt for Onong as well....looks terrific and has a great deal to offer as regards marine education also.
Well, now that I've been there....I can tell you all that Siladen was absolutely brilliant. It was just so perfect....My trip report is as follows...
Ever been anywhere that totally lived up to the glossy brochures and the glamorous websites or promotional DVD's? Neither had I...until I took a group of 30 plus to SIladen last July 2008. Siladen was the perfect small group diving holiday destination. The beach is superb, the views across to the dormant volcano , Manado Tua are stunning, and the snorkelling 5 minutes walk down the beach to Siladen jetty is among the best I have ever experienced. This is an awesome place - we were totally impressed from the moment we arrived until our sad departure from this heavenly island.
The resort quality is quite upscale - the manager is ex-Sheraton, and this is reflected in huge 5 star buffets that left us all concerned for our waistlines. And yet the food is so healthy - masses of Asian vegetables, fruits, seafood, pork, chicken. beef and lamb options, that we didn't gain one kilo! Desserts at luchtime and dinner....but again healthy and delicious low fat options were always available. We had a villa on the beach - a huge timber lined room (a little dark - as is typical of timber lined rooms) with every possible comfort and luxury. Four poster king bed, outdoor lounge and daybeds and a very cool outdoor private bathroom that was such a great idea we want to build one for our home! The spa does a great massage and coconut scrub - I have never, ever been so totally relaxed!
But we were there for the diving - and this is also a top notch dive operation - with the luxury of 1 dive guide for every 3 or 4 divers. Dives are guided at such high ratios so that you get an individual guide to show you all the tiny critters like pygmy sea horses and crinoid crabs that wouold otherwise go unnoticed. The biodiversity of the Bunaken marine park is remarkable and there was so much to see - dives typically last an hour - you don't use much air when drifting with the gentle currents. They also have en excellent instructor who taught 6 of our group to PADI Open Water standard - they were in very good hands indeed.
The village nearby is a gem - we visited the school (even thought they were on holidays they all came in to meet us!) and we learnt (since forgotten) how to count to 10 in Indonesian.
I cannot recommend this place strongly enough - if anyone finds anywhere better (or even as good) then please let me know. I have travelled at least once a year to dive resorts for the last 20 plus years and this is my new favourite. I now have the tough job of finding somewhere as good next year!
Loved it and will go back!
Ever been anywhere that totally lived up to the glossy brochures and the glamorous websites or promotional DVD's? Neither had I...until I took a group of 30 plus to SIladen last July 2008. Siladen was the perfect small group diving holiday destination. The beach is superb, the views across to the dormant volcano , Manado Tua are stunning, and the snorkelling 5 minutes walk down the beach to Siladen jetty is among the best I have ever experienced. This is an awesome place - we were totally impressed from the moment we arrived until our sad departure from this heavenly island.
The resort quality is quite upscale - the manager is ex-Sheraton, and this is reflected in huge 5 star buffets that left us all concerned for our waistlines. And yet the food is so healthy - masses of Asian vegetables, fruits, seafood, pork, chicken. beef and lamb options, that we didn't gain one kilo! Desserts at luchtime and dinner....but again healthy and delicious low fat options were always available. We had a villa on the beach - a huge timber lined room (a little dark - as is typical of timber lined rooms) with every possible comfort and luxury. Four poster king bed, outdoor lounge and daybeds and a very cool outdoor private bathroom that was such a great idea we want to build one for our home! The spa does a great massage and coconut scrub - I have never, ever been so totally relaxed!
But we were there for the diving - and this is also a top notch dive operation - with the luxury of 1 dive guide for every 3 or 4 divers. Dives are guided at such high ratios so that you get an individual guide to show you all the tiny critters like pygmy sea horses and crinoid crabs that wouold otherwise go unnoticed. The biodiversity of the Bunaken marine park is remarkable and there was so much to see - dives typically last an hour - you don't use much air when drifting with the gentle currents. They also have en excellent instructor who taught 6 of our group to PADI Open Water standard - they were in very good hands indeed.
The village nearby is a gem - we visited the school (even thought they were on holidays they all came in to meet us!) and we learnt (since forgotten) how to count to 10 in Indonesian.
I cannot recommend this place strongly enough - if anyone finds anywhere better (or even as good) then please let me know. I have travelled at least once a year to dive resorts for the last 20 plus years and this is my new favourite. I now have the tough job of finding somewhere as good next year!
Loved it and will go back!
Wiggsy, your report sounds great! My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon from late Jan to early Feb next year. What would the weather, visibility, sea conditions be like around that time? And what marine life did you see? Any chance of seeing whale sharks or manta rays around Jan-Feb?
I would expect Jan-Feb to be fairly hot and humid....only been there once. Suggest you look up one of the websites on the area. The North SUlawesi Dive Association has some good information. It is meant to be the rainy season then, but Siladen and Bunaken are offshore and much drier. Regarding Marine life, if you sent me a private message I can send you the text of a pertty comprehensive article I've just writtne for "Sportdiving" magazine. We had a great batch of dives - turtles on most dives; the odd shark (whitetips); Napoleon and Bumphead Wrasse...so quite enough of the larger lifeforms around to interest anyone. But also heaos of nudibranchs; crinoid crabs; squat lobsters; robust ghost pipefish; orangutan crabs and pygmy seahorses. It really is remarkable diving - certainly "world class" (whatever that means). But damned interesting and varied. Not quite the soft corals of fiji, but then there's more of the smaller critters than Fiji or Palau. I saw things at Bunaken I'd never seen before anywhere in 30 years of diving, so I rate it pretty high.
Similar threads
