Dive Review of Siladen Resort in
Indonesia/Bunaken National Marine Park

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Siladen Resort, Jun, 2013, by Eric Eckes, CA, US ( Contributor 18 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 7214.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was our second trip for Margi and me to Bunaken National Marine Park. The first trip took place in 2008 and during that trip we stayed at a resort on the shores of Manado. This trip we opted to stay within the heart of the marine park. Siladen Resort was recommended by Mike Hoppe with Reef and Rainforest who booked our travel. The resort is located on the tiny island of Siladen which consists of a village, Siladen Resort, and one smaller dive resort. The first thing that impressed me was the interconnected relationship between Siladen Resort and the village. The village consists of 300-400 people and a substantial number are employed by Siladen Resort. Siladen Resort does more by also providing the village's electricity and some infrastructure including the village's church. The village seems to benefit greatly by this relationship as evidenced by the number of modern homes being built. I've traveled all over the world and have not seen a better example of a dive resort helping improve the lives of the neighboring villagers. Our dive guide for our four full days of diving was Danny. Danny was incredibly attentive to our needs and critter wish list. He was supported on the dive boats by Vence, Patriot, Sakty and Vanny. The boats were spacious and we found they generally limited capacity to eight divers per boat. Water entry was via backroll and they had sturdy ladders supporting re-entry onto the boats. We took advantage of available nitrox as we did four dives each day. We had mixed experiences diving since our visit five years ago. We did several dives around Bunaken Island with critter favorites being the tiny pygmy seahorses at Lekuan and the Mandarinfish dive at Johnson Point. The reefs seemed relatively healthy and there was a nice variety of sea life. My favorite dives though were in the muck off Manado. I remembered Tiwoho being a favorite site in 2008 and it didn't disappoint in 2013. On one dive alone we saw Ornate Ghostpipefish, Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Schooling Catfish, and all varieties of nudibranchs. One day we opted for a day trip to Bangka Island. In 2008 we saw all kinds of interesting sea life with Harlequin Shrimp being a favorite. The mythical Dugong (relative of the Manatee) was rumored to live here but once again we were shutout. Overall the sealife on this day was pretty disappointing. We had planned to do three dives here but opted to leave after two dives. Our third dive was a house reef dive off the island of Ganggka. This dive made the day as we saw a Juvenile Reef Shark, Blue Spotted Rays, Frogfish and Leaf Scorpionfish. Finally, the waters off Siladen Resort are shallow and full of coral. Because of this there is no shore diving at this resort. The one disappointment with the dive operation was the inconsistent dive briefings. More often than not we did not get a descriptive explanation of the sites we were diving. The resort was amazing. They have a variety of bungalows and we chose one on the beach. The room was spacious although internal lighting could be greater at night. The restroom/shower was outdoors concealed behind high walls and was very nice. The rooms were clean and housekeeping was very attentive. There were many high points during our visit and the restaurant and food were at the top of the list. Recognizing that they receive divers from all over the world, every night was a different themed dinner. One night Japanese, the next night Italian, etc. Dinner was served buffet style with so many choices there was always something for everyone. Some nights lunch/dinner was served within the hard walls of the restaurant and other nights meals were served right on the beach. Specialized romantic dinners are also available. Earlier I mentioned the interconnected relationship between the resort and village. One night we observed a young man working a pasta station. He was wearing a formal chef's shirt and you could tell he took his job seriously. Next to him was his little brother watching every move his older brother made. You could see the pride in this young chef. The resort grounds were immaculate and they have a very nice pool and common area with bar. Free internet is available in the common areas although it was painfully slow. During our five night/four day stay we were treated like royalty. Service was second to none and I look forward to returning to this wonderful resort.
Websites	Siladen Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Red Sea, Raja Ampat, Komodo, Fiji, Truk Lagoon, Palau, Yap, Galapagos, Cozumel, La Paz, Yucatan Peninsula (Cave Diving) Malaysia, Philippines, Florida Keys, California Coast
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-90 Ft/ 18-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	None
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Siladen Resort does not have a dedicated camera room. Being a five star PADI resort they are required to have a four-walled classroom and this room serves double duty as the camera room. Aside from providing power strips and a scuba tank for compressed air there were no additional amenities in this room. Outside the room they had two dedicated camera rinse tanks which were constantly refreshed with clean water.

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Dive Review of Siladen Resort in Indonesia/Bunaken National Marine Park

Siladen Resort, Jun, 2013,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Siladen Resort in
Indonesia/Bunaken National Marine Park