Bunaken 1 degree Nature Resort

The price doesn’t feel fair for what we got, and I’d rate the place at about half what they charge. It could suit someone happy to stay in the room, read, and enjoy the sea view without needing activities, but it wasn’t a good fit for us. We’re here for a week in a sea-view, one-floor cottage. The bed is comfortable and the cottage is okay, but the air conditioning only runs from 6 a.m. to midnight, so it gets quite hot overnight. They gave us a fan, which helps a little. The shower water is salty. The resort grounds are small, with no garden or beach. There is access to the water for snorkeling if you bring your own mask and fins. The pool was empty and dirty during our stay, and we were told it might be filled in about two months. The room price includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By our fourth day, we’d been served chicken, rice, and the same kind of fish every day for lunch and dinner. Breakfast was very basic: one fried egg, a tomato slice, two cucumber slices, two pieces of bread, and fried rice or noodles. There’s a plate of one kind of fruit after each meal. We had enough to eat, but there was almost no choice. There wasn’t much to do. Diving and snorkeling are the main activities on Bunaken island, but you need a way to reach a dive center. The hotel can arrange a taxi, which is a three-wheeled motorbike, and that’s better than nothing. We heard you can rent a motorbike in the dry season. Right now, the rainy season and poor road conditions make driving difficult. Getting the room cleaned was also a struggle. I had to clean the shower myself when we checked in because it was dirty. Our room was cleaned a couple of days later, after we asked. The young boys doing the cleaning didn’t seem very professional. The only English-speaking staff member wasn’t at the hotel during our stay, so communication was difficult, though the staff did their best to help.