Lumbalumba Resort - Manado — Hotel in Sulawesi

This is my fourth visit to Lumbalumba and every guest here during my visit is a return visitor. One couple have come here 11 times !!!! This is an exceptionally well run diving and boutique resort operation. It is small (just 12 guests) and the majority of the staff have been here since my first visit in 2005. All of these things demontstrate just how well run, personal and friendly the atmosphere is at Lumbalumba.

The villas all have a lovely verandah overlooking the Bunaken Marine Park and (dormant) Volcano. The rooms have both a/c and fans with generous storage and comfortable beds. They are also spotlessly clean.

The gardens surrounding the resort are magical and have clearly been a labor of love. At night it is possible to wander on lit pathways and smell the magical scent of night blooming tropical flowers. There's a breathtaking infinity pool to laze away a non diving day with a magazine and cool drink or two.

The meals are a highlight. The kitchen team go out of their way to accommodate special dietary requirements and the food is all based on fresh local tropical ingredients, frequently prepared in traditional Minhassan style but where necessary adapted for Western tastes and fewer spices. The homemade icecream (which comes in varying seasonal flavours) is utterly delectable.

Many guests bring their own duty free spirits for the barman to mix up a post dive afternoon cocktail and a bowl of "morish" Indonesian peanuts as they gather and share stories with fellow divers about the day's adentures.

And what adventures they are !!! Bunaken Marine Park is one of the most beautiful places I have ever dived. There's some astonishingly colourful, healthy and vibrant coral wall ecosystems to enjoy as a diver with some big drop offs where you encounter pelagics and the odd shark. But it's the massive turtles that stole my heart. And never fear if you're a macro enthusiast there's some great dives such as "Critter Circus " waiting for you. And when you do dive at Lumbalumba the local dive guides are fabulous, with a strong focus on safety and responsible eco tourism . Not to mention friendly, funny and a heap of fun making the boat trips to dive sites extremely enjoyable.

Having dived with five other operators in Manado I can also recommend their dive boats which are large, comfortable, well maintained, spotlessly clean and well equipped.

And unlike many outstanding dive resorts Lumbalumba is very accessible being only a 3.5 hour flight from Singapore. Manado has, thus far been spared the natural disasters of other South East Asian dive destinations, having been entirely unaffected by the 2017 an 2018 earthquakes and tsunamis which engulfed the Gili Islands and Eastern Sulawesi.

It is worth noting Manado is one of the few predominantly Christian regions of Indonesia which ensures a more relaxed approach to many western sensibilities.

No review of Lumbalumba would be complete or accurate without noting the exceptional customer/guest focus demonstrated by the resident owner operstors Roel and Ude. Building this little piece of paradise has obviously been their vision and their dream which has been executed to perfection. You arrive as a guest and leave as a friend! They are wonderful ambassadors for Bunaken and in my view, provide the most exceptional value for money experience you could wish for.

If you are thinking of diving in Indonesia and Manado in particular I would not hesitate to recommend Lumbalumba. Oh and in case you were wondering, I received no commission, payment or discount whatsoever for...

With a whole world to see, there isn't really a need to visit a place more than once. Unless it's Lumbalumba...I first stayed here in 2005, and this recent trip was my 4th visit. The small resort here was imagined and built by Roel and Juud. The cottages are set in the most amazing tropical gardens - if you aren't a diver I think that the gardens alone could keep you well entertained. Each cottage has its own verandah which looks out over the ocean, and I think that it's my favourite view in the world. The day starts with breakfast. A casual affair with tropical fruits, eggs and pancakes. I'm a diver so I wander down to the dive boat and at around 8.30 we head off to the days dive sites. Often there are dolphins to spot on the way. The diving here is very relaxed and the dive guides (Aldhy, Rico, Maxi and Kres) are very knowledgeable, friendly and just make the whole experience perfect. If you love turtles then this is a great place to dive! But also if you love macro diving then there is a lot to see, on my first day of diving Aldhy found a beautiful seahorse just hanging out in the sand. I have also seen pygmy seahorses here too. Lunch on the boat is whatever you ordered from a menu of Indonesian favourites or sandwiches. My favourite is the fried rice with vegetables. After diving there is plenty of time to relax in the hammock or look over the underwater pictures that you have captured that day. I like to head to the pool just before sunset as it is a truly spectacular view every single night. Then it's time for dinner, buffet style with the other guests and Roel and Juud. I eat plant based and my dietary requirements were very well looked after. In fact I ate some of the best vegan dishes that I've ever had. Thank you Revel and the kitchen team! I really want to get my hands on the recipes for some of the fresh soups that are served every evening. If you aren't a diver or don't want to dive every day there is the beautiful infinity pool (probably the best pool in all of Indonesia) and trips can also be organised. This is definitely a place where you can forget about the stresses of the world and recharge your batteries. Lumbalumba really is "diving with a difference" Every member of staff, from the wonderful people that look after the gardens, to the dive guides, to the people that make your room spotless everyday - they all care and they all make you want to come back and visit again. And so now I'm back in the UK, wondering when I might be able to plan my next trip here and when I'll get to see...

Lumbalumba is a gorgeous small dive resort just south of Manado, Indonesia, with direct access to diving in Bunaken National Marine Park. The nine-unit resort sprawls up a stunningly landscaped hillside overlooking the sea. The cottages are spacious and comfortable, the food excellent and the staff friendly and helpful. The owners join the guests for dinner every night, and the diving conversation around the table is relaxed and congenial.||Lumbalumba operates two dive boats as needed, and it is about a 45-minute run from the resort to Bunaken and other islands in the heart of the marine park. There are additional dive sites along the shore closer to the resort, and the house reef is available any time.||The dive guides are excellent at spotting sealife and pointing it out to divers. There is wonderful wall diving around the islands, usually with gentle current. The coral is stunningly healthy and varied. There is an assortment of nudibranchs, scorpionfish and general tropical species.||One of the most remarkable features is a huge population of sea turtles around Bunaken Island. It was not unusual to see 12-15 in a dive, and they are totally unafraid of divers. They hang our sleeping in niches in the wall or casually brush by a diver as they paddle on their way. I had a youngster swim up and try a small nibble of my camera, not out of aggression but out of pure curiosity. He decided it wasn’t edible and swam off looking for other entertainment.||For those interested in more small critters, the dive sites along the shore nearer the resort are more productive.||About the only negative about Lumbalumba would be its vertical nature for anyone with mobility issues. It is on a steep hillside, and there were 81 steps just from my unit to the dining room. But the staff is more than happy to ferry people down to the boat dock and...