January 2011    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 26, No. 1   What's this?

Gangga Resort, Manado, Indonesia

reefs, muck and luxury living

from the January, 2011 issue of Undercurrent  

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Dear Fellow Diver:

When the alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m., I thought, “The diving better be tremendous.” I’d already flown 15 hours from JFK to Hong Kong, where I overnighted before a four-hour flight to Bali, then overnighted again. Now, in two hours I was to board a 6:30 a.m. flight to Makassar, Indonesia, with a five-hour layover in a stifling terminal, then fly another 90 minutes to Manado, where it would require an hour ride to the dock, where, at last we were to be greeted and taken for the last 30-minute boat ride to Gangga Island Resort. (Yes, there are a lot shorter ways to fly here, but our itinerary wasn’t one of those.)

Well, my buddy and I made it to the dock, but were greeted by no one. As dusk approached, a boat finally appeared in the distance and we finished the last leg of our journey in the rain. As you might imagine, I was interested in an adult beverage and bed, but as our gear was hauled to the bungalow, we were offered sandwiches and fresh coconut water. Then, off to the dive shop where Hanne Davi, the Danish resort manager, reviewed our c-cards and log books (husband Gaspare runs the Bali operation), collected our release forms and explained many dive details and the dive operation. Two-tank dives departed at 8:30 a.m., returning by 12:30 p.m. for lunch. All day three tank dives left at 8:00 a.m., return at 5:00 p.m. A 3:00 p.m. afternoon dive was available. She would try to accommodate requests for changes in our group, departure times or destinations. Seemed like good service to us.

Gangga Island Resort and Spa lies a few miles off North Sulawesi, smack between the muck diving of Lembeh Strait and the reef diving of Bunaken National Marine Park, making it ideal for those who want to dive both areas from luxurious land-based accommodations. Fifteen two-unit bungalows with a capacity of two adults and two children in each unit, are scattered along a winding stone path leading to the dining hall and lounge. We could enjoy the exceptional sea view from our porch lounges in privacy from residents bunked on the other side of a common wall. If I wanted to snooze beneath a palm tree on the beach, I had a personal lounge with foam pads. At the price of a 10-minute walk from the dive shop, being billeted in the next to last building meant few passersby and no kitchen noise. ...