Murex Dive Resort Bangka
The Murex Passport to Paradise with it’s 3 resort locations, allows guests to experience the entire North Sulawesi dive areas of of Manado, Bunaken, Bangka and Lembeh without missing a dive day or needing to pack up your dive gear or disassemble your camera. Your seamless transfers include dives along the way to your next resort.
I began at Murex Manado where after a delayed flight, and patient transfer driver (even stopped for me at an ATM and SIM card provider), arrived to a light midnight supper before retiring to my large air-conditioned garden facing room, noted for plenty of outlets to recharge my devices. The next morning I was greeted by a lush garden with its own river and water features and met the owners Danny and Angelique. Breakfast was a huge buffet of fresh fruits, juices, cereals and pastries, with eggs cooked to order. The team were well organised and incredibly friendly, all coming to see me and the other guests off for our 2 dives and transfer to Murex Bangka.
The boat transfer from Manado to Bangka takes about the same time as an airport transfer by road and then boat, but during the 2 hour boat transfer, you can enjoy a couple of dives. We had one dive on the mainland over sloping sand looking for critters and then the wind came up and were diverted to the protected side of Bangka for my favourite dive of the trip, Busabara 1. I discovered that Bangka diving includes both beautiful coral reefs and critters.
Arriving at Murex Bangka we were greeted by Danny and dive manager Ross. While given a short tour, my luggage, dive and camera gear were delivered to their respective destinations, including a new, well appointed camera room and dive centre. After a quick freshen up, a buffet lunch of Indonesian fare was served on the beach, under shady trees. My dive buddy arrived later in the afternoon and we enjoyed a fun briefing with Elina over Margaritas.
The accommodations are a choice of standard beachfront bungalows or newer hillside deluxe oceanview bungalows. New beachfront bungalows are being added early 2024. The deluxe bungalows are large and well laid out for sharing. The beds are surrounded by mosquito net curtains, and had a huge desk and work area with plenty of outlets and a fresh water dispenser. The shower room was partly outdoors, with an adjoining indoor wardrobe and vanity area. There was a safe, night lantern and umbrellas available. The rooms did not have a fridge or tea and coffee making.
The next days were a routine of a buffet breakfast, eggs cooked to order; 2 morning dives, back for lunch on the beach, afternoon and night dives offered and then dinner on the beach, unless bad weather relocates dinner indoors. Wifi is currently only available in the dining room, so the bar is kept busy with pre-dinner drinks.
The diving is well-organised with a guide ratio of 1:4 divers and 70 minute dives are allowed NDL and air permitting. The boats are comfortable, with shelter, dry areas and marine toilets on board. Snacks, hot drinks and towels are offered after dives. Dives were planned to go to different sites each day and I only repeated one dive site, which happened to be my favourite. There is a good house reef for afternoon or night dives weather permitting, reported by others to have pygmy seahorses, so you may want to use a guide!
