Dive Review of Bunaken Oasis/]Bunaken Oasis in
Indonesia/North sulewesi

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Bunaken Oasis/]Bunaken Oasis: "Bunaken Oasis pairs a flawless resort with Bunaken's walls and more", Apr, 2024, by Rick Morgan, OH, US ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 13256 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	Grafted onto a mountainside, Bunaken Oasis, a 12-year-old resort on Bunaken Island, is beautiful, and affords commanding views over the water from . . . everywhere. The website is accurate, so I won't belabor the many virtues of the resort. On what would have been our day of arrival, we were becalmed in Singapore due to the eruption of Mount Ruang, 100 km north of Manado; the wife-and-husband management team at Oasis worked with our agents at Bluewater Travel to get us there as soon as possible, and extended our stay to account for the day we missed. We arrived to find ourselves the only guests at the resort for several days. There was no scrimping, though--we were treated beautifully. The dive staff is excellent--for example, our guide, Hentje Pontoh, discovered the Pontohi pygmy seahorse. Most of the dives are walls, and the major attraction is turtles, which pop up above, below, and beside you constantly. Of course, it's the coral triangle, so there are plenty of other things to admire along the walls. There are also a couple of good muck sites 15-20 minutes away, where, among some sunken structures, we saw nudis, mantis shrimp, frogfish, ghost pipefish--all the usual suspects, plus Pracock Razorfish, which we'd not seen elsewhere. North Sulewesi offers an amazing trio of underwater diversity in Bunaken National Park, Bangka and Lembeh. Bunaken Oasis lives up to its name, and adds immeasurably to the experience. The day boats are well set up, fast, and easy to kit up and reboard (and they have heads on board). The restaurant bears special mention. All meals were plated, and lunch and dinner were ordered from an extensive menu of western and Indonesian dishes. Once others arrived, we were treated to a chef's tasting, which was exceptional by any measure. The managers were always available, but never hovering. The pool, which was steps from our bungalow, is incredible. Small, thoughtful touches are the norm. By way of coda, we transferred by boat to Bangka. The morning of, we awoke to dark and eerie skies and a snowstorm's worth of falling volcanic ash. Our transfer boat came on time and we were on our way, but Oasis was blanketed in an inch or more of ash resulting in a rough few days of cleanup. Oasis staff moved the other guests to resorts outside the ashfall. A word to the wise, which should be obvious from the website: The resort is quite steep, and you'll climb a lot of steps to get from anywhere to anywhere.
Websites	]Bunaken Oasis
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia; Bonaire; Costa Rica; Fiji; Florida Keys; Grand/Little Cayman; Saba; St. Croix; Galapagos; Papua New Guinea; Bali; Wakatobi; Tuscany; Raja Ampat; Cuba; Lembeh; Bunaken; Bangka
Closest Airport	Manado	Getting There	To Singapore, then through Jakarta to Sorong.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	82-86°F / 28-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-70 Ft/ 6-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
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
UW Photo Comments	The resort has a big, well-appointed camera room. We used the large countertop in our bungalow instead. There were plenty of outlets, although I don't recall there being 110v service. The dive manager is an experienced u/w photographer, and the guides know what you're looking for before you do.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By David Dern in FL, US at Jul 23, 2025 11:07 EST

Great overall review!

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Dive Review of Bunaken Oasis/]Bunaken Oasis in Indonesia/North sulewesi

Bunaken Oasis/]Bunaken Oasis: "Bunaken Oasis pairs a flawless resort with Bunaken's walls and more", Apr, 2024,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Bunaken Oasis/]Bunaken Oasis in
Indonesia/North sulewesi