Peter and I just got back from ten marvellous, amazing days of Indonesian diving. (Some of Peter's marvellous pictures -- and one of mine! -- are posted on our website.) The short version is that I would recommend the resorts we stayed at and the dive operator we went with without reservation. The long version:
The resorts
We started at Tasik Ria, on the Bunaken side of Sulawesi. The resort is very pretty and has TWO swimming pools, neither of which appeared to be used by anyone except locals. The rooms were large and air conditioned, which was actually nice (although I generally loathe air conditioning) because it was hot. Filtered water is provided in the rooms, and there's a tea/coffee service in the room as well. Meals were taken in a large, airy dining room. The food was okay. There is also a pool bar which serves a limited menu (and pretty good pizza), and a restaurant/bar at the end of the jetty, which was a lovely place to sit and watch the sun set. The resort is a good half hour's drive from the city, and there is nothing within walking distance, but it didn't matter to any of us because we were doing three or four dives a day, and all anybody wanted to do at night was play a few hands of poker or look at the day's photographs.
The second half of the trip was spent at Kungkungen Bay Resort, where we were pampered out of our minds. This place is also very beautiful, with lovely landscaping. The rooms are individual houses made of polished wood (we were told the trees that had to be cut to build the resort were used for some of this) with beautiful stone floors in the bathroom, and showers built of the same stone (again, this came from the blasting to build the road into the resort). Some rooms were air conditioned (ours was), but we could have done without it, as it was cooler on the Lembeh side and there was almost always a breeze. Meals were taken in the main dining room, which is built out over the water. The kitchen is open 24/7, and all food, coffee and tea (iced or hot) was included in the package. The food was VERY good, and I miss the spicy fried noodles for breakfast . . .
In addition to the basic housing and food, we were treated to hot drinks and cookies as we came back from every dive, and after the last dive of the afternoon, the waitstaff took our dinner orders as we got out of our wetsuits. For night dives, and when it rained, they had hot chocolate on the boats for us, even though the rides were very short.
This resort is only about five or ten minutes out of town, and I know a couple of our group went walking into the village. Most of us were content to sit on our butts and enjoy the view, those who weren't night diving, anyway. Several tours are available from the resort, including a village tour, a shopping trip to Manado (two hours away), and a drive into the hills to a nature preserve where we saw Macaque monkeys and the Spectrum Tarsier, one of world's smallest (and CUTEST) primates.
The staff at the resort was shy but very, very nice and ready to help us with absolutely anything. KBR also had internet access -- They provided one computer in the lounge, but there was a WiFi network you could sign up for which was much cheaper, although signal strength in the far rooms was pretty low. (Tasik Ria also ostensibly provided a computer, but it always seemed to be out of order when anyone wanted to use it.)
Overall, both places were very nice, but KBR is special and I sincerely hope I have an opportunity to go back there at some point.
The resorts
We started at Tasik Ria, on the Bunaken side of Sulawesi. The resort is very pretty and has TWO swimming pools, neither of which appeared to be used by anyone except locals. The rooms were large and air conditioned, which was actually nice (although I generally loathe air conditioning) because it was hot. Filtered water is provided in the rooms, and there's a tea/coffee service in the room as well. Meals were taken in a large, airy dining room. The food was okay. There is also a pool bar which serves a limited menu (and pretty good pizza), and a restaurant/bar at the end of the jetty, which was a lovely place to sit and watch the sun set. The resort is a good half hour's drive from the city, and there is nothing within walking distance, but it didn't matter to any of us because we were doing three or four dives a day, and all anybody wanted to do at night was play a few hands of poker or look at the day's photographs.
The second half of the trip was spent at Kungkungen Bay Resort, where we were pampered out of our minds. This place is also very beautiful, with lovely landscaping. The rooms are individual houses made of polished wood (we were told the trees that had to be cut to build the resort were used for some of this) with beautiful stone floors in the bathroom, and showers built of the same stone (again, this came from the blasting to build the road into the resort). Some rooms were air conditioned (ours was), but we could have done without it, as it was cooler on the Lembeh side and there was almost always a breeze. Meals were taken in the main dining room, which is built out over the water. The kitchen is open 24/7, and all food, coffee and tea (iced or hot) was included in the package. The food was VERY good, and I miss the spicy fried noodles for breakfast . . .
In addition to the basic housing and food, we were treated to hot drinks and cookies as we came back from every dive, and after the last dive of the afternoon, the waitstaff took our dinner orders as we got out of our wetsuits. For night dives, and when it rained, they had hot chocolate on the boats for us, even though the rides were very short.
This resort is only about five or ten minutes out of town, and I know a couple of our group went walking into the village. Most of us were content to sit on our butts and enjoy the view, those who weren't night diving, anyway. Several tours are available from the resort, including a village tour, a shopping trip to Manado (two hours away), and a drive into the hills to a nature preserve where we saw Macaque monkeys and the Spectrum Tarsier, one of world's smallest (and CUTEST) primates.
The staff at the resort was shy but very, very nice and ready to help us with absolutely anything. KBR also had internet access -- They provided one computer in the lounge, but there was a WiFi network you could sign up for which was much cheaper, although signal strength in the far rooms was pretty low. (Tasik Ria also ostensibly provided a computer, but it always seemed to be out of order when anyone wanted to use it.)
Overall, both places were very nice, but KBR is special and I sincerely hope I have an opportunity to go back there at some point.