Dive Review of Dive Center Thalassa/Hotel Santika in
Indonesia/Bunaken

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Dive Center Thalassa/Hotel Santika, Oct, 2007, by James T. McKnight, MA, USA ( Reviewer 5 reports). Report 3695.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The hotel is a comfortable and clean facility with pool, spa etc.. The service and food were good, but english was very limited. The hotel accepts credit cards, but had some trouble with American Express. Make sure you arrange in advance if you want to use AmEx. The dive center is on the grounds of the hotel and is able to efficiently service a large number of divers. We made 8 dives in three days. Dive sites included Bunaken, Bangka Island (90 minutes north) and sites near Thalassa. The nearby dives had 8 divers on board while the northern trip ($20 extra) had 6 divers. There was one divemaster per 4 divers. All dives were drift dives with some strong currents and surges. Picture taking was dicey in the strong currents. The northern dives had wicked currents. The walls offered beautiful soft/hard corals plus tons of tropical fish, but nothing big. My only negative comment concerns the boats. The first boat was a local hire and not from the dive center. It didn't have a head and was a bit crowded with 8 divers and camera gear. The second should have been comfortable, but had a fuel system problem which resulted in strong gasoline fumes. Even the divemasters complained. The third was the "speedboat" which had no head & was overcrowded, but the trip was short. Overall Santika/Thalassa is a good value and offers a nice experience for non-divers. The more hard core UWPs will prefer Lambeth Strait.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Truk Lagoon, Bikini Atoll, Thailand, NC, Lake Ontario, Caymens, Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Try to keep dives to about 1 hour & no gloves
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	There was no camera table and the boats were crowed, but no serious problems. An AC room is provided at the dive certer for photo equipment.

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Dive Review of Dive Center Thalassa/Hotel Santika in Indonesia/Bunaken

Dive Center Thalassa/Hotel Santika, Oct, 2007,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive Center Thalassa/Hotel Santika in
Indonesia/Bunaken