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Dive Review of Minahasa Lagoon Resort in
Indonesia/Bunaken/North Sulawesi

Minahasa Lagoon Resort, May, 2014,

by Michael J. Millet, CA, US (Top Contributor Top Contributor 96 reports with 61 Helpful votes). Report 7604.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments I made a timely transfer at Manado airport from the Gangga Island Resort to the Minahasa Lagoon Resort. The ride to MLR took about 1 1/2 hours. I was greeted nicely upon arrival and shown about the resort. The rooms are quite large with lots of storage. There is good lighting in the room and bathroom. The electrical outlets in the room are a bit limited so a squid extension unit came in handy. The rooms have AC, ceiling fan and a mini-bar. There is a nice large porch with table and chairs and lounge chair. I had an ocean-view room that is not directly on the coarse, dark sand beach.

There is a nice pool with a bar. The resort faces north so there is not much in the way of sunsets. There is an open-air dining area that is OK but can be hot and visited by flies. The food is tasty and plentiful. Breakfast is made-to-order featuring eggs, pancakes and french toast. Lunch was served on the dive boat and usually consisted of a chicken or fish dish with white rice and fruit. Dinner was ordered off a menu that included both European and Asian food. The resort offers a full bar at the typically high Indonesian prices.

The dive boats are spacious with lots of dry space and a head. At low tide, divers must wade out to boat otherwise boarding is dockside.
When diving Bunaken Marine Park, trip out takes about 1 hour with 2 tanks at the park. After a lunch on board and a return trip to the resort, the PM dive is at a North Sulawesi site. Every other day, all diving is at North Sulawesi sites with 2 AM dives, lunch at the resort then a PM dive.

The dive guides are very friendly, helpful, know the dive sites and are excellent at finding critters. Diving both Bunaken and N.Sulawesi, there are photo ops for both large critters and macro stuff. Lots of cuttlefish, clownfish, pipefish, leaf scorpionfish,octopus and nudibanchs.

I had some dive gear issues, and the resort was right there with some loaner equipment. I didn't miss a dive.

Should I return to North Sulawesi to dive, I would seriously consider another stay at Minahasa Lagoon Resort.
Websites Minahasa Lagoon Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu,
PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 82-85°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No Deco
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 3 stars
UW Photo Comments Minahasa Lagoon Resort has a nice camera room with good lighting, several stations, lots of electrical outlets and soft cloths. The dive boats have large camera rinse tanks. The dockside facility had camera rinse tank that was usually need cleaning. In spite of several requests on my part, this rise tank was not cleaned. On more than one occasion, I used the shower in my room to rinse my camera gear.

The dive sites offer a nice variety of larger critters (schooling fish and green turtles at Bunaken) and smaller creatures diving the muck and coral gardens of North Sulawesi.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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