默克斯潛水度假村飯店(Murex Dive Resort)

After months of planning, we finally arrived at Murex for our 2 week diving adventure - "Passport to Paradise" a.k.a. three island tour. We stayed at the Murex Manado and Murex Bangka resorts, and also at Lembeh Resort. We dove with Murex dive staff at all three resorts. Our rooms were lovely at both Murex resorts and all staff were incredibly friendly and went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed our stay. The ocean view from Bangka (which is an island and so a bit more rustic than Manado) was spectacular. We enjoyed our Murex Manado divemaster, Jhun, so much we requested him as our divemaster at Bangka and Lembeh. The diving was at times challenging due to strong and changing current directions, but it was all spectacular and great fun. It was a wonderful diving adventure and we look forward to a return visit at some future date!!

Plusses: comfortable bed, excellent anti-mosquito setup, good air con and ceiling fan, excellent food, nice (though not extremely efficient) staff, attractive grounds, nice pool though hard to get in and out of it, good boats for snorkeling excursions. Minuses: terrible wifi: usually non-functional in the room, when functional is slow. Electricity went off several times and water once. Hot water insufficient. Sink doesn’t drain. "Ocean view" is a lie - the rooms look out on the garden. Not all-inclusive: you pay extra not only for beer (which is reasonable) but for half the food choices on the menu (not reasonable). Most disappointing of all, the snorkeling is much worse than billed. The “house reef,” touted as "packed with beautiful corals and a variety of marine life,” is in reality practically nonexistent. At many excursion sites all a snorkeler sees (aside from turtles) is extensively bleached coral and a few tiny fish. The only sites with halfway decent snorkeling are on Siladen and behind Bunaken.

Set in a private bay with a view of Manado Tua, Murex Manado is a wonderful place for a beach retreat. The spacious and comfortable rooms are well-spaced with lovely flora, including water lilies, active with butterflies and avian life. The staff are warm and hospitable, remembering the names of the guests and attending to every request as best they can. Meals, especially dinners, are a highlight because of the variety of tasty dishes. Diving is fuss free and the sites at Bunaken and Manado Bay offer different reef-scapes. The house-reef is a fascinating site with lots of macro-subjects. Manado Murex is a comfortable and pleasant place for divers and those looking for a quiet and unhurried beach holiday.

This place is an absolute treasure. I almost don't want to write an amazing review because I want to keep it all to myself :) Every single member of the team was genuine and welcoming and we loved spending time with them as well as taking in everything the location had to offer. It is primarily a dive resort so if you are not a diver/snorkeller then this may not be the place for you but if you are either of these things then you will experience an underwater adventure that few places in the world can rival. The sheer number of sea turtles alone is breathtaking, not to mention pilot whale and dolphin sightings, Starry Night octopus and bobtail squid on a night dive (this was an absolute rare treat), Eagle Ray, Stingray and more fish than you can count. Truly wonderful. Our thanks to Bas, Dimas, Reynald, Raymond, Feibe, Rein for some amazing guiding, Marchos and Jecky for a smooth journey and of course to David for the singing :) The resort itself is amazing with spacious rooms for a family with a small toddler. Varied ala carte and buffet food options at the chef's discretion (you must try his Bamboo barbecue fish it's phenomenal) as well as some of the best sea side dining views over towards Manado Tua and the Bunaken. Thank you chef for amazing food every day and night. They also offer tours of the area on those dry days. The Highland tour was particularly awesome and the local market offers a unique insight into how the people live. They also offer babysitting facilities if you and your spouse wish to dive together on any given day and the house reef is one of the best I've ever seen. Our thanks to Bryan, Billy, Tasya, Elsa, Iman, Ping and Sharon (both of them). And a special shout out to Henry whom my son formed a special bond with during our time there "Fist Bump, Boom!" Finally thanks to Angelique, Lexy and Danny. I know you work very hard to keep the balance between luxury resort and local hideaway and I think it's absolutely perfect. I would recommend Murex Manado, to singles, couples, families and everyone in between. If you love diving then this is the place for you.

This resort is beautiful, amazing staff that create beautiful community where I felt heard, loved, taking care of, and where I could rest and enjoy beautiful diving. Food was great, diving places gorgeous, wonderful.Totally recommend.

The rooms are excellent, clean and comfortable. The dining area was nice, open, and spacious. The diving was great. The guides were knowledgeable and friendly and safe. The boats were comfortable and snacks were good. The food in the restaurant was pretty good. There is a good breakfast buffet.

Our trip to Murex was beautiful. The service was very nice. Food was great. Dive boats were easy to use. The crew was very helpful. Crew helped us with dive gear on & off the boat. Andreas Gave exceptional service, everyone has good attitude, very inviting.

We enjoyed our stay at Murex Manado. The hospitality is unprecedented. All employees know everyone by name and also know what your preferences and interests are. The rooms are fine as is the food. With diving there are great guides who will look for what you would like to see. Your belongings are also well taken care of and everything is labeled. We lacked nothing.

My partner and I went together, and we loved the variety of diving - reefs, wall and some muck. The wall diving was spectacular, and saw so many turtles. The corral colors were beyond spectacular. Like a mosaic painting. The guides were so helpful and knowledgeable.