Happy Gecko Dive Resort is a small dive resort on Bunaken Island, only about 1,5 hours away from Manado Airport. It’s owned by Jerry, born and raised on Bunaken, and his Dutch wife Willeke. They live on the premises with their two kids. The resort has only five bungalows, so each guest gets a lot of personal attention from the owners and staff… if they want to.

Getting there

It’s very easy to reach the resort. From the airport get a taxi to Manado harbour and for an added fee Willeke can arrange a transfer directly to the resort. You can get there by public ferry too, but you get dropped off at the village and have to make your way to the resort yourself by motorbike taxi. There are no cars on Bunaken.

The accommodation

The bungalows are quite basic, with only a ceiling fan and no air conditioning. But they are spacious and comfortable, and each bungalow has a balcony with an unobstructed, breathtaking view of the ocean. We had a bungalow with a double and a single bed, so perfect for the three of us. The bathrooms are large too, with running water, a western toilet and a shower. The only downside is that there is only cold water.

Electricity and WiFi

All electricity on Bunaken island is generated by solar panels during the day and diesel generators at night and electricity cuts happen often. When we were there they never lasted very long though. And of course the resort has a back up generator in case of longer power cuts. Happy Gecko Dive Resort has a very decent internet connection with free wifi in the restaurant area. We stayed in the first bungalow and also had wifi on our balcony (which we were very happy about, because our son was still napping after lunch and one of us stayed at the bungalow when he was sleeping).

Food and drinks

Included in the price at Happy Gecko Dive Resort are three meals a day and unlimited drinking water, tea and coffee. Soft drinks and beers are available at very reasonable prices. Breakfast is ‘western’, with bread and eggs and both lunch and dinner are hot meals. The food is really nice, different Indonesian dishes every day with chicken, fish, veggies, fresh fruit and of course rice. The meals are served in the restaurant area at set times in the afternoon and evening. Every bungalow has their own table, but because you’re all eating at the same time this is a great opportunity to meet the other guests.

World class diving

Bunaken National Marine Park is among the top diving destinations in the world, one of the reasons we really wanted to go there. It offers amazing biodiversity that rivals Komodo and Similan (West Thailand). A big plus is that it’s possible to dive all year round with sea temperatures of 29 – 30 degrees Celsius and great visibility (20 – 30 meters). The dry season is May til October. Most dive sites are wall dives and we saw the most amazing critters there. Happy Gecko offers an on-site dive center, located on the ground floor. So it’s extremely easy to organise some great divg. Jimmy, the local guide at Happy Gecko was a genius at finding lots of exciting macro stuff. Check out some of our underwater pictures of Bunaken.

Liang Beach

There are two major beach areas on Bunaken, Pangalisang Beach and Liang Beach. Happy Gecko Dive Resort is located at Liang Beach. It’s situated on a pretty steep hill, so each bungalow has an unobstructed view of the ocean. It’s a bit of a climb to get to the bungalows, but there are well maintained concrete steps everywhere in the small resort. Liang Beach isn’t a sandy beach suited for sunbathing. When the tide is high the water comes all the way to the front of the resort and there’s a long shallow stretch which is perfect for kids to swim. At low tide you have to walk a fair bit to reach the water, but it’s much easier to get to the snorkel sites. The travel guides mention that Liang Beach has a rubbish problem, but sadly that’s the case with all of Bunaken. Rubbish from the mainland washes to shore on either of the beaches when the winds and the currents are unfavourable.

How family friendly is Happy Gecko Dive Resort?

Of course, our most important requirement was that the resort was suitable for our two-year-old. On beforehand we talked via e-mail with Willeke, the owner, and she assured us it was safe for him. The steep steps obviously aren’t safe for a toddler to wander around on his own, but the restaurant area was big enough to keep him occupied. He also loved swimming with us in the shallow water right in front of the resort. If your kids are a bit older and know how to swim they can easily entertain themselves there at hight tide. The water only comes to mid thigh and you have to walk quite far for it to get deeper.

Our child is not a fussy eater and he loved the food at Happy Gecko. We did bring some crackers to tie him over, as he was still used to eating five times a day instead of three. The kitchen staff were really sweet and gave him some fruit when he was hungry too. I think most if not all resorts are all inclusive on Bunaken and there aren’t too many stores to buy stuff. All supplies come from the mainland. So if your child requires anything special (diapers, formula, any kind of special food) I would bring it with you. There’s a large supermarket close to the harbour in Manado.

The owners have a four-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, both are really sweet and polite. They enjoyed playing with Jace. Jace was at ease at Happy Gecko from the moment we arrived and Willeke even offered to babysit him two mornings so that we could go diving together. We wouldn’t normally leave him with a stranger, but we immediately liked Willeke and Jace did too. He was happy to stay with her and we were very happy we got the chance to dive together for the first time in over three years. It was incredibly thoughtful of her to offer this of her own accord, we didn’t even think to inquire if babysitting was an option.

Our judgement of Happy Gecko Dive Resort

Everything you need is at the resort, so you can spend your days relaxing, swimming, diving or snorkelling and enjoying the stunning views. If you’re not into diving, the resort also offers dolphin watching tours and trips to Siladen Island. Compared to many of the other options on Bunaken Island Happy Gecko is very affordable. We paid €24 per person (August 2015) for two adults and we didn’t have to pay for Jace (who was just over 2 years old at the time), even though we had three beds and the food was plenty for the three of us. The resort is small, not because they can’t afford to expand, but because they don’t necessarily want to. Willeke and Jerry are lovely people, who go to great lengths to make sure their guests have a fantastic stay. All in all we would really recommend a stay at Happy Gecko, for families as well as couples or groups of friends.

http://www.happygeckoresort.com

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Our first plan was to go to Dumaguete and dive from there, but people told us Dumaguete wasn’t such a nice city (turned out later we quite liked it…). Also if we wanted to dive Apo Island it made more sense to go to Dauin, a town about half an hour from Dumagete and stay there. So while researching Dauin resorts and especially Dauin beach resorts, I came across Liquid Dumaguete’s website, which looks quite professional and very inviting. Of course as a diver you’ve got to love their slogan ‘Eat, sleep, dive… live’!

Liquid Dumaguete dive resort

I was lured in by the phrase that they are a budget resort for flash packers. ‘Comfort on a budget’ is what their website promises. This made me believe that the pricing, even if a bit higher ranged, would still be within our budget limits. Turns out that wasn’t quite the case, but more about that later.

Update: Liquid have changed their website since we stayed there. It now reads ’boutique dive resort’, which is much more fitting (but would have probably meant we wouldn’t have gone there…) and they’ve added a number of more luxury cabins with aircon, hot water showers and cable TV. They’ve even added a massage cottage with a hot spring bath (with water from their own hot spring!). The only luxury facility missing is a hydrotherapy spa

Comfortable cabins, great atmosphere

The resort is amazing, very nicely landscaped area, beautiful bamboo huts and buildings, great pool and great atmosphere. Very relaxed and tranquil, lovely owners and the staff are all very professional. They really take good care of you. Even though the huts only have a fan and no a/c they were comfortable enough for our son’s naps during the day, with a nice balcony to sit outside for us. Almost all the buildings are either fully made out of bamboo or have bamboo finishing, very nice use of materials. And our little one absolutely adored the pool. He was in there at least 4 hours every day and never wanted to get out of the water. Which was good for us too, because it was easy for one of us to entertain him while the other went diving

Update: the Liquid Dumaguete website now says that the ‘basic’ cabins have only cold water showers. This wasn’t the case while we were there. They’ve also updated the price. We paid Php1600 when we were there, but they’re now Php2000 per night. Baby cots are still free of charge!

Well trained dive crew at Liquid Dumaguete

The diving was managed very well too. They have a big bangka boat, with enough seating space and even a toilet. Dive staff takes care of everything, from putting your equipment on the boat and setting it up to taking if off the boat after the dive and rinsing it for you. All you have to do is listen to the briefing, get on the boat, gear up and enjoy your dive. And unlike some other places where we’ve dived the boat crew are well trained to help you get out of the water too, should you need any assistance. What we really appreciated was that, since Mau had some health issues when diving earlier, they said not to take any chances and gave him nitrox at cost price. My only comment is that even though there is water, tea and coffee on the boat, you only get offered one cup and need to ask if you want more. I think on a dive boat, the crew should encourage you to hydrate, since it’s both important for diving and to avoid sea sickness.

Great diving, but quite expensive

Unfortunately diving in this area can get quite expensive. The base price that Liquid Dumaguete charges (1500 pesos per dive while we were there, lowering to 1300 after 6 or more dives) is not the highest we’ve seen (definitely not the lowest either….), but with the government imposed marine fees, camera fee and Liquid’s own add ons for day trips, a day of diving at Apo or Siquijor can get quite costly. Of course this isn’t such an issue if you’re on holiday, but can take a big chunk out of your budget if you’re traveling long term like us. But diving tends to do that anyway That being said we actually enjoyed diving the Dauin coast more than going to Apo Island, lots of weird critters and heaven for macro fans (see pictures in our post Diving in Dauin). So we could have saved ourselves the 600 pesos for the day trip there. But of course we had to see for ourselves to know that and Apo was still nice.

Overpriced food

Now for the costs and this is why we weren’t completely happy with our stay. The cabins are fairly priced for what you get, we paid 1600 pesos for our nice fan hut, with a free child’s cot. Of course that also gave us access to the great pool, so no complaints there. But the one thing that got to us were the restaurant prices. They serve great food, very tasty and freshly made. But… it’s expensive. We loved the idea of a family style dinner, but not at 350 pesos pp or more. On pizza night I think it was even 450 for a pizza and desert, wow… A refill for a 1 liter bottle of water was 25 pesos (compared to 4 pesos in the city at a filling machine in the street).

Fairer priced options on the bar menu

We did figure out, and other people who stayed there longer did too, that there were a few items on the bar menu that were a bit fairer priced and could serve as a meal, such as the quesadillas for 195 pesos and the nasi goreng for 150. But eating the same every day gets a bit boring. One other thing is that the portions weren’t the same each time, so one day we would get a big glass of fresh juice in the morning, the other day it was a smaller glass. And the same for the food portions. The selection was really good though and we loved the home made cakes and muffins that were available in the restaurant. But for a resort that claims to be ‘budget’ the prices really were too high.

Other options for dinner

Of course the high prices are what happens when there is no competition from other places to eat nearby. If you wanted to go outside the resort for dinner, you first had to walk 10 minutes on a dirt road before getting to the main street and from there you could catch a jeepney or tricycle to either Dauin (we didn’t try this) or to Dumaguete. Of course if you’re not traveling with a child it’s a bit easier to do. One more thing to note is that even though the resort is right on the beach, swimming in the ocean (or snorkelling in front of the resort) isn’t free. There is a government fee of 50 pesos per person. This isn’t Liquid’s fault, but we didn’t know this on beforehand and were quite disappointed when we found out.

Review Liquid Dumaguete – our verdict

All in all we would recommend a stay at Liquid Dumaguete and wouldn’t hesitate to return. Jace was clearly at ease from the minute we entered the resort and loved to play in the pool. We had a really good time there. Everyone at Liquid was incredibly friendly and professional, the atmosphere was really good and the diving, especially at the Dauin coast sites, was excellent. Just be prepared for the high food prices, which, if you’re on a vacation instead of traveling long term like us, might not be an issue for you.

Interested? Check availability & rates of Liquid Dive Resort.

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Spectacular diving

We were getting a bit spoiled about diving, having been to so many great dive sites on this year long trip. Diving at Panglao and Moalboal was nice, but not amazing. But I have to say, my first two dives off the coast of Dauin were quite spectacular. So far we love diving in Dauin. We went to Masoplod South and Sahara. Great dive sites, very healthy corals, amazing macro life, large schools of fish… I really enjoyed it! And I really hope we will be back here one day!

Creatures we spotted while diving in Dauin

• 3 sea horses
• a ghost pipefish
• a tiny clown frogfish
• a few other frogfishes
• lots of shrimps
• a giant cuttle fish (it was HUGE) and a tiny one
• a big patch of garden eels
• a massive grouper
• a school of Yellow Snappers
• ….. and so much more…

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At 8:30 we left for our first dive at Pescador Island South where we saw some massive turtles and the second dive was a wall dive along the coast, where the colours were amazing. The coral is very much intact here and there are some really cool walls, which makes diving at Moalboal a pleasure.

Diving with a toddler

Wondering how we’re managing our diving with a toddler in tow? We’re taking turns! I did two dives yesterday, while Mau was staying with Jace and Mau did two today. Of course, it’s much nicer to dive together, but at least we get to dive this way. When we’re somewhere a bit longer or have a really good feeling about it (like in Bunaken) we’ll leave Jace with a sitter so we can go with the two of us. But that’s not the case here, so we’re taking turns. The great thing about diving is that there’s always a buddy to dive with

Diving at Moalboal: pictures speak louder than words

Instead of a big story, I’ll just show you some of the pictures I’ve taken here and you can see for yourself what the underwater world of Moalboal looks like. My camera kept fogging up because of the huge temperature fluctuations underwater, so they’re not my best pictures and unfortunately I couldn’t photograph the ghost pipefish (but I did see it!) but they’ll still give you a good first impression.

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So far:
We traveled by plane, train, car, bus, boat, motorcycle, scooter, horse carriage and becak, 
visited 5 countries,
went to 16 destinations,
took 11 flights,
and stayed in 20 hotels, apartments and bungalows and 1 night on a boat.

And some more general things we love about this trip:
being able to spend so much time together as a family
discovering new places together
watching Jace try loads of different types of food and loving most of them
meeting lots of new and inspiring people
being outside so much and seeing Jace run around and play with everything he finds
watching our little boy grow and learn and seeing him so at ease wherever we are

Of course it’s not always easy. Like all young parents we struggle with raising a very active and stubborn toddler, but we’ve added an extra hurdle by doing it while traveling. Also we’re still adjusting to this new way of traveling as a family. If you’ve read our post about traveling with a child, you’ve noticed that there’s quite a few things that change when it’s not just the two of you anymore. That being said, we’ve had so many amazing experiences, met so many fantastic new people and seen so many great places, we wouldn’t have missed that for the world!

Jace is generally a very happy child and it’s a lot of fun to watch him discover all these new places, new people, new tastes, new animals… He smiles a lot and is constantly running around checking out his new environment. He loves to go exploring with us We know he won’t actually remember this trip, but we hope this sense of discovery, the idea that anything is possible, all the impressions he gets and the foods he tastes will stay with him when he grows up.

We’re very much looking forward to our next 6 months on the road!

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Also read:
10 reasons to visit Dahab Egypt
You won’t be bored in Dahab

With 30+ dive sites to chose from, both beginners and advanced divers can enjoy the fascinating and colorful underwater world Dahab has to offer. Most dives are shore dives, but a dive safari with camels or a boat dive can also be arranged. And if you have time, try an overnight camping trip in the desert.  Just like the rest of life in Dahab diving is also very relaxed.

Here’s a list of our 5 favorite dive sites

1) Canyon

Next to Blue Hole Canyon is one of Dahab’s most famous dive sites. It’s usually pretty busy, but definitely worth it. Underwater you’ll find an impressive, beautifully coral covered canyon that is created by volcanic activity a long time ago. You descend until at about 30 meters you reach the sandy bottom. Take a dive light to see all the colorful corals on the canyon walls! Tec divers can leave the Canyon via an exit at 52 meters deep.

2) Islands

Islands is the most Southern dive site within the city’s checkpoints. This is one dive you definitely shouldn’t miss! The impressive reef of hard corals forms an underwater labyrinth. During the dive you get to discover this fascinating underwater landscape that looks unlike any other dive site in the area. Besides the usual reef inhabitants you will also find a big school of yellowtail barracuda’s.

3) Gabr el Bint

One of the most colorful dive sites of Dahab. You can reach it by zodiac from Wadi Gnai or, for the adventurous divers, on the back of a camel. This site is a bit more ‘off the beaten track’. Because less divers frequent this site, there is an abundance of live and beautiful hard and soft corals. The dive site is a bit further away, that’s why you normally do two dives when you go. It’s worth the effort!

4) Three Pools

The name of this dive sites is derived from the three naturally formed underwater ‘pools’ that you swim through at the beginning of the dive. The pools are about 4 meters deep, so it’s also a great place for to snorkel. It’s like swimming in an aquarium, with numerous colorful fish and corals You can combine this dive with a dive at Golden Blocks, Moray Garden, Caves or Umm Sid. Spend your surface time relaxing in one of the Bedouin restaurants at Wadi Gnai.

5) Blue Hole

For its fame alone Blue Hole has to be on this list. For tech divers it’s a very interesting dive because of the Blue Hole’s depth. Fun divers will discover that there’s not a lot of life in the Blue Hole itself. A great dive however is to drift over the beautiful coral garden from El Bells to Blue Hole, ending the dive with a safety stop in the Blue Hole. While waiting at 5 meters in the blue, you will often see freedivers training along the walls. The advantage of staying in Dahab is that you can dive the Blue Hole early in the morning, before the crowd from Sharm el Sheikh arrives. Often the dive at Blue Hole is combined with a dive at Canyon.

Bonus! Our secret favorite: Dutch Reef

At Asssalah Beach, the closest beach to our holiday house (3 minutes walk) you will find a dive site we named Dutch Reef. It’s not an official dive site, so it’s still very pristine and amazing. To enter it has to be high tide, because you have to swim about 50 meters over the reef top to get to the drop-off. It’s a bit of a swim, but well worth it! Please, only do this dive at high tide and make sure not to damage any of the coral on the reef top!

So, these are our favorites. Feel inspired yet? Or, if you’ve been to Dahab do you agree with our choices? Which dive sites do you think should be on this list?

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