Dive Review of Bastianos Bangka/Same in
Indonesia/North Sulawesi

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Bastianos Bangka/Same: "Nice resort, but you have to push for the good diving", Feb, 2020, by David Hill, MA, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11429 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	Banka Island sits off the north point of North Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is an hour and a half ride from Manado airport and a 15-minute boat ride to the island. Bastianos Bangka is the newest dive resort on the island, having been open less than a year. It has set a new standard for luxury dive resorts on the island, and some of the other resorts are scrambling to update and catch up. Bastianos Bangka has several levels of accommodation, ranging from beach-front bungalows to somewhat smaller units scattered up the hillside. The lovely pool and airy dining room also stretch up the hillside and overlook the water. Food is good but not spectacular. There is always a choice of entrees on the buffet. Bangka has some excellent diving, but it can be a challenge to get the local dive staff to take you there. Apparently because the resort has gone higher end, it attracts more couples and persons for whom diving is only part of the vacation plan. Many of them are content to do a couple of dives in the morning and then hang out at the pool for the afternoon. As a result of this clientele, the dive staff will try to take you on every dive to four or five dive sites close to the resort that are easy dives, have little current and offer enough to entertain the average diver. It took a couple of days of harassing the dive staff before they finally took us one afternoon around the corner of the island to where there is plenty of current and consequently lots of fish and healthy soft coral. But the three other people on the boat other than our group of three did not like the dive at all; “Too much current!” The next afternoon it was just the three of us on the boat and we went back to the same area. The current was even stronger at this site and the fish and soft coral even better. It was quite a ride. A couple of warnings: When we arrived we were picked up on the beach in a wet landing, wading through waves and boarding a bucking boat. At departure we were told we would be landing at a dock but went back to the same spot in even larger waves and blowing, hard rain. There was no way to stay dry from either salt water or rain. The other warning is if you have any mobility problems. There are a lot of steps to get anywhere at the resort, and many are uneven.
Websites	Bastianos Bangka
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Trobriand Islands, Santa Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati, Tahiti, Florida, Caymans, St. Martin, Bonaire, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Seychelles, Red Sea, Tanzania, etc.
Closest Airport	Manado	Getting There	You can fly to Manado from either Singapore or Jakarta.
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy, rainy	Seas	surge, currents
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-70 Ft/ 12-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	60 Min. limit
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Bastianos Bangka/Same in Indonesia/North Sulawesi

Bastianos Bangka/Same: "Nice resort, but you have to push for the good diving", Feb, 2020,

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 Bastianos Bangka/Same in
Indonesia/North Sulawesi