Siladen Resort & Spa

“Beautiful resort with amazing food”

I have known the resort for several years but we never came here. Finally we booked our second diving trip in north sulawesi region and chose this hotel. We have visited Indonesia now for the eighth time and I can say that among all the Indonesian diving Hotels that we visited so far, Siladen Resor… more

I have known the resort for several years but we never came here. Finally we booked our second diving trip in north sulawesi region and chose this hotel. We have visited Indonesia now for the eighth time and I can say that among all the Indonesian diving Hotels that we visited so far, Siladen Resort served the best food regarding quality and variety! It was very, very good and we were always looking forward to go for lunch or dining. But from the beginning: We had a transfer to the jetty with the siladen bus for approx. 30 minutes and 15 minutes by boat. We got a cold towel and a water bottle. We arrived in the evening, got a very warm welcome and a super welcome drink. The staff was so friendly from the very beginning! We booked a garden bungalow because there was no beach bungalow available (but I would recommed the beach bungalows, as you have a private „garden“ with sunbeds and beautiful views; the price would be worth it). There was everything you needed, an additional chair or small board would have been fine. There are plenty of sockets to charge batteries and a clothes rack on the terrace of the garden bungalows. Breakfast: There is all you need! Fresh fruit, self baked good bread, an egg station, even home made fruit jam! There is also ovomaltime, every morning something different like eggs benedict, acocado toast with poached egg… unfortunately I could not eat so much for breakfast as we went diving shortly after breakfast every morning. Breakfast starts at 7:00 and meeting time for diving was 7:45. Because we had our bungalow at the other end of the resort, it was „a bit stressful“ to go back to the room to brush teeth and get your stuff and be on time for diving. Probably one of the few things that could be changed to move the meeting time to 8:00 in the morning (or start with breakfast „officially“ at 6:45 - lots of guests came before 7:00). Diving: We have already dived in Bunaken in 2016 and saw a lot of other areas in Indonesia since then. Bunaken is not the best of it, but still offers beautiful diving with lots of turtles and plenty of fish while enjoying the wall dives. We had some white tip reef sharks, hundreds of turtles, some really amazing top reefs full of healthy corals and also macro stuff. Our experienced Guide Stenly found lots of critters we would not have spotted without him. He wrote down the names of the animals we saw after every dive and knew even the latin names of the most nudibranches we saw. On the boat there was a hot face towel - how I loved that! I do not have to mention the tea, water, cookies and cakes and fruits…. One thing to improve for Diving: once we were 10 divers plus guides on the boat and that was too much. There was not even enough space for everyone to sit on the bench. That should be limited to 8 people max. Back after a two tank dive there was lunch (buffet) either on the beach (so beautiful below the trees) or in the restaurant, depending on the weather. In the afternoon at 14:45 there was the third dive or you could go on a night dive (no additional charge! Nitrox is also free of charge) around 17:30. For dinner there was either buffet or a menu served with enough options to choose (meat, fish, vegan/vegetarian). There was an Italian night with great pizza and an Indonesian night with people from the village playing music and singing. They even sang the maluku song I wished :-), so nice. Bar: Supergood cocktails, our favourites were Passionita and Siladen Gin Tonic. Yes they have their price, but it was worth it! To „fill“ the bar with more people, they could think about make a happy hour maybe twice a week before dinner. Snorkelling: Is recommended from the boat or from the old jetty, 5 minutes walk. You get a surface marker buoy from the Diving center. Be aware of currents and ask if you are not sure if its the right time. For the staff we would like to name some of the persons we remember, especially for the Service in the Restaurant Diana, Lisner, Sintia (good yoga lessons!), Marlin, Lefti from the Bar and also Riri, and Monika from the reception. Lots of them helped me practising my Indonesian skills when speaking to me. There were so many others.. all of them are so friendly, really exceptional. And they know your name after the first day! Spa: We enjoyed a 75 minutes massage for approximately 30€ - that was very good! Spa area beautiful with garden and fountain. Pool: located next to reception and restaurant. Will be renovated next year, but still very nice. Water a bit warm on hot days ;-) Beach: Beautiful white beach, enough sunbeds and shadow. beach shoes are recommended. Evening program: two times per week yoga. At one evening there was a nudibranch presentation by Dimpy, in our opinion that could be a bit longer with more pictures. In total we had a great time in Siladen and met nice people, ate very good food and enjoyed the beach and pool and the diving and the super service! Besides the smaller points I mentioned there is not much to improve. Thank you very much and we hope that Siladen and the dive sites will stay like this for a long time to come. Angie and Joe from Austria

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“Beautiful Resort, Good Diving”

We spent 9 nights in September at Siladen Resort. From the moment we were picked up until we waved goodbye at the airport everything was perfect. All the staff were genuinely thoughtful and helpful, and made us feel very welcomed. It is okay to swim in the sea in front of the resort but be careful… more

We spent 9 nights in September at Siladen Resort. From the moment we were picked up until we waved goodbye at the airport everything was perfect. All the staff were genuinely thoughtful and helpful, and made us feel very welcomed. It is okay to swim in the sea in front of the resort but be careful where you step because of sharp critters such as sea urchins hidden in the sea grass. There is a nice reef around the jetty for snorkeling about 10 minutes' walk along the beach. It is advisable to sign-in at the dive center and borrow a surface buoy to be visible as the jetty is in regular use. There are also paddle boards and kayaks for guest use. The Luxury Villa we stayed in is very spacious and comfortable. It has direct access to the beach and an unobstructed view of the ocean. Attention to details in the room include a plugin mosquito repellent in the bedroom and bathroom. The only slight issue we had was sometimes there was no hot water in the shower, although it could be coincidence but turning the lever back and forth several times seemed to remedy it. Dinner was a la carte twice a week and buffet the rest of the time. Meals were served on the beach instead of in the restaurant weather permitting. Food was delicious and had enough varieties. Once a week there was a singer and band providing entertainment before and during dinner. At the tree house there were yoga sessions twice a week and a weekly marine critters presentation. The spa is large and very well appointed by dive resort standard and the therapists were very professional. We spend 7 days diving. The diving was very well organised, we did not see mixing of divers on air and Nitrox in the same group as mentioned in another review. We visited dive sites around Bunaken island as well as on the mainland side. When there were enough snorkelers there was a separate snorkeling boat. All the dive staff were super helpful, considerate and safety-conscious. Apart from drinks and snacks on the boat, the warm aromatherapy face towel provided after each dive was a really nice touch. Like all the dive guides our guide Abner was very keen-eyed and managed to find many of our favorite critters. We went on the Dolphin Tour one morning and were lucky enough to be treated to a show by the resident dolphin pod swimming around the bow and somersaulting. We have had a very enjoyable diving holiday at Siladen Resort and would consider returning.

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“Little piece of paradise in North Sulawesi”

We stayed 4 nights at Siladen as part of a 2-week North Sulawesi diving holiday. Siladen was by far the best of the 3 resorts in terms of facilities, services and setting. We look forward to coming back soon. - Room: We stayed in one of the beachfront rooms, which offers very good privacy, nice a… more

We stayed 4 nights at Siladen as part of a 2-week North Sulawesi diving holiday. Siladen was by far the best of the 3 resorts in terms of facilities, services and setting. We look forward to coming back soon. - Room: We stayed in one of the beachfront rooms, which offers very good privacy, nice amenities and plenty of space. - F&B: The food offering exceeded our expectations in every way, from breakfast to dinner, there is a very good selection of high quality dishes, one can tell how much effort and love management has put on this. - Setting: Siladen has a very long private beach, with amazing view of the volcano and sunset. The resort ground is very well maintained. - Diving: This is the reason why most people come to North Sulawesi. We had a private boat for 3 days which offers full flexibility on schedule and dive sites. We always tried blackwater and night dives there, the blackwater dive was definitely the highlight! Special thanks to Ana and Miguel for the amazing stay and pleasant conversations, we cannot wait to seeing you again in the near future!

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“A great dive resort with an amazing future ahead”

We had never been to Siladen previously and heard the corals and wall diving in and around the Bunaken protected area were incredible. We were not disappointed! First, the resort - We were warmly welcomed by the staff and 'gonged' aboard as we arrived. We met with one of the new managers, Belle and… more

We had never been to Siladen previously and heard the corals and wall diving in and around the Bunaken protected area were incredible. We were not disappointed! First, the resort - We were warmly welcomed by the staff and 'gonged' aboard as we arrived. We met with one of the new managers, Belle and given a tour around the resort. This is another boutique resort catering mostly to the diving set, however this one is also more family oriented. There is a lot going on at Siladen resort as they are making some impressive changes to the resort and it's all underway under the direction of the new managers Belle and Mike. This power couple of the diving community are very new to the resort and it is very obvious they have things well in hand. There is a lot on their plate and a massive amount of work going on in the background, however the vast majority of that is invisible to the guests. These two were working full-speed all the time, and always had a moment to spare for a chat or to receive feedback on how things were going. Very impressive and I feel like this resort will become even better in the relatively new future under their expert guidance. The dive center is a PADI five-star center under the direction of Dimpy - She was very attentive and checked in each dive day to ensure we were happy with the facilities and the dive guide we had been assigned. We are a tough pair to guide as we are always swimming off in one direction or another to find out own critters. The guide we had, Fanny, was excellent at pointing out the occasional critter we had missed and generally keeping us safe and focused. The center provided us 15L tanks and nitrox was the norm. 32% The dive boats were well set up and the captains and crews excellent at providing a great dive experience for all skill levels. The dive center also has a dedicated camera room which provided individual space for each photographer. The charging system was well set up and there were no issues for me with my TG-7 full setup. The pool at the resort has been recently re-vamped and there is more on the way. I was able to take two included yoga classes that were far and away superior to any yoga class I have attended at other resorts - real, solid practice instead of gentle - I loved it. The restaurant is nice with improvements coming very soon - the chef and staff kept providing miracles using the temporary kitchen as the new kitchen was being fitted out. The bread and pasta were completely amazing and the other offerings superb. The meals are all buffet style with a station for the custom offerings of the meal at every meal. Egg station for breakfast and typically pasta and/or fish for lunch and dinner. Weather permitting we would be moved to the beach for meals - which was an amazing view and treat. The restaurant staff were attentive and helpful. We did sample the spa treatments with massage and facial and pedicures - all performed well with professional staff. The diving was excellent - with over 50 sites to explore, it would be easy to spend two weeks here and not see it all. Two morning dives with an afternoon option and weather permitting night option. The first night we did the blackwater - which was interesting and different from what we have experienced in the past. They tend to alternate between wall dives and mainland 'muck' style dives to approach all desires. Some of the walls were truly amazing and the guides checked the currents each time to ensure safety. The corals are very healthy and we did see some napoleon wrasses and other large fishes as well as the macro critters we so adore. In the end this was a great experience - family friendly and catering to divers and non-divers alike. They are also directly associated with the Coral Eye resort on Bangka.

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