Name: Happy Gecko Dive Resort
Address: Liang Beach, Bunaken, 95122 Bunaken, Indonesia, Manado, Manado, Manado, 95122, Indonesia
Rating: 9

Garden

Terrace

General

Laundry

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Restaurant

Meals

Internet access

Internet

English

Languages Spoken

Library

Recreation

No parking

Parking

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Diving

Snorkelling

Sports

Massage

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the resort

Sam Ratulangi International Airport

Happy Gecko Dive Resort

We had an awesome stay at the Happy Gecko Dive Resort. The Bungalows have everything you beed and the food is great. We made 9 dive which all were breathtaking beautiful!
We can only recomend this resort. 
Last but least every Bungalow has an ocean view!

We stayed for a whole week, everything was wonderful.
Before noon diving, in the afternoon the obligatory massages. Ask for Meifi Gosal.
The food was fantastic, unfortunately
The houses are furnished basic, but each of them has a magical view
In practice, you don't need anything extra.

The kindness of the owners and staff,  the professionalisem and knowledge of the Diving Masters and Instructurs stole my heart. Cottages are basic, but very nice and clean. They fit in the place where they stand. Would come again and again and again. 
Food is the best we had in all Indonesia and we did travel some. 

What I love about the Happy Gecko is the relaxed and friendly atmosphere and the accommodating and helpful staff.   Word is getting out how great the Gecko is, and it was busy during my entire two week stay in August and early September 2023. Consider yourself lucky if you are able to reserve a cottage.

I really appreciate that everyone looks out for me, since I am older, but still allows me the freedom to swim out to the reef and drift with the current for a couple of hours, examining and photographing the amazing corals and sea life in Bunaken National Marine Park. I always pull a yellow buoy behind me to be seen by boats, and so the staff can see from a distance that I am ok.  

I have been to the Happy Gecko three times, once pre pandemic (2019), and now twice post (2022 & 23), for a total of six weeks+.  I am a snorkeler/free diver, but I am always invited out with the dive boat, and get to see many varied reefs and dive sites around Bunaken and Manado Tua that way.  My favorite time in the sea is during the full moon low tides, when I swim out the boat channel at Liang and along the outside of the reef (with yellow buoy so I am seen). At those extreme low tides the edge of the coral is above your head and sunlight shimmers on the undersurface of the water.  It is magical.  Another top experience on this trip was the two times that Yan took me over to the other side of the island with his smaller boat, and followed me as I drifted with the current the whole length of Timur.  

The reef at Bunaken is in very good shape, with only minimal signs of bleaching so far during the current El Nino.  Turtles are plentiful, and the currents & countercurrents deposit an abundance of marine larvae near the island, which is why there are so many fish of different kinds.  Another big plus for the Happy Gecko is how easy Manado and Bunaken are to get to from Jakarta and Singapore.  I am already thinking about my next visit.

If you are looking for a small family run friendly dive place on Bunaken, Happy Gecko is perfect for a laid back friendly experience. It is excellent  value, located on the quiet side of the island.  Food was plentiful and tasty and the cute bungalows are no frills, but very functional with a nice view, balcony with hammock. 
The diving was excellent, mostly wall dives with a great diversity between sites with beautiful healthy coral and many large turtles and even a huge pod of dolphins one day. Jimmy, the dive guide was lovely, and Willeke, the owner, is delightful and helpful. I just emailed direct to make an easy booking.
I hope to return one day 

Bungalows built up the face of the hill catch the breeze and enjoy beautiful sunset views. Host family, a native of Bunaken and his Dutch wife are excellent hosts, facilitating dives and full of travel tips and suggestions for other areas as well. Accommodated my vegetarian diet with many tasty dishes. Facility accurately described - No mosquito nets but coils provided. Bungalows roomy with good ceiling fan and en-suite bathrooms; cold water only not really a problem on the equator. Expect to pay in cash or a bank transfer in Euros which was a little inconvenient for us in US dollars. Set up Wise.com

Happy Gecko is a great place to dive, eat, sleep, relax and watch beautiful sunsets. Diving is fantastic, very diverse and the staff ensure it is safe and adapted to your level. Food is all local, always different and super delicious. Fruits will mainly come from their garden. Bungalows are spacious, bright, clean and comfortable. All have a seaview and a balcony. The owners, Willeke and Gerry are great hosts. They will take the time to discuss about the life there. They will help you with travel tips and will make sure that you enjoy your stay. We felt so good, that we stayed there longer than we had originally planned. 
As HG is located more or less in the middle of Bunaken, it is easy and very nice to take a walk on both side to discover other aspects of this safe and friendly island. 
People keep coming back, so may we. !


Very nice small resort with 6 bungalows with view over the sea. We stayed there for snorkeling (7 days), enjoyed good food, joined the diving boat for snorkeling, and relaxed on the terras of the restaurant or our bungalow.
Run by friendly Indonesian/Dutch couple.

Highly recommended!

This was my second trip to The Happy Gecko and Bunaken Island, and I enjoyed it even more this time.  Owners Willeke and her husband Jerry are wonderful hosts, and made me feel very welcome.  I requested a vegetarian diet, and the food was amazing!  On some days I skipped lunch so I could walk to the other side of the island to snorkel.  Their delicious breakfasts and dinners made up for it! The Happy Gecko has several cottages that are reached by a cement walkway up the hill behind the dining area/bar.  All have a patio and a view of the ocean.  Down in front of the open dining area is the beach and some groves of mangroves.  You can walk west in front of the Bunaken Oasis or southeast to the main part of Liang Beach in the evenings to view the sunset over the sea and Manado Tua, an extinct volcano just north from Bunaken.  I am a snorkeler and had an amazing time in the water, usually several times a day.  I also did a couple of night snorkels right in front of the Happy Gecko.  The dive crew was very good at inviting me along in the boat on the dive trips.  They dropped me off at the edge of the reef while they dived nearby.  I brought along an inflatable yellow buoy that I towed with a short rope to be safe on my solo snorkeling adventures - to make sure other boats would see me, and the Happy Gecko boat could easily spot me for the pickup.  Also, my buoy would hold me if I needed that, which never happened.  The colorful coral and fish in the Bunaken Marine Park are abundant and diverse,  the best I have come across in visits to the Florida Keys, the Southern Caribbean, and the South Pacific (Niue Island).  Underwater photography is my hobby and passion, and I came up with enough photos and videos to spend the entire winter reviewing them, inspired by what I saw, and dreaming of my next trip there.  (search ‘journeywest coral seas’ to see more of my Bunaken underwater photos).  Also, Willeke arranged with a local boat owner (Yan) to take me on exclusive trips over to Siladen Island and the Leukan sites on the south side of Bunaken.  I expected that Yan would drop me off and then pick me up later, but he stayed nearby the entire time I was snorkeling, which was several hours.  I gave him extra rupiahs because of how boring that must have been for him.

Full Disclosure:  Like all of Indonesia, trash often washes up on the waves and the tides.  The locals on Liang Beach are very quick to clean it up.  On a couple days of my 11 day stay at the Happy Gecko it rained VERY hard.  This caused enough runoff around the island to cloud the reef the next morning, making for very poor photographs and videos.  On the flip side, there were several days that the sea was so calm that it was almost like a lake.

Happy Gecko is exactly that - happy. Thank you Willeke & Jerry for welcoming and making me feel at home. 

Excellent local food, a small honesty bar, lots of books and a view to kill for. 

And of course diving, wonderful diving. That’s why you’re there. Everything was easy from start to finish with very quick and clear communication. 

Dive in the morning, after lunch take a walk in the nature or through the small village, read a book or have a siesta or go snorkelling. Dinner is early at 18:30 so you’ll be asleep by 22:00. Fully refreshed for the next mornings diving. 

Lovely people in a lovely place.

Manado

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

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shared-bathroom

10-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

park access

Would come again and again and, would even stay

Happy Gecko is the Best!

Happy stay at Happy Gecko 

The Happy Gecko

A place to coming back.

Perfect Dive and Snorkeling Vacation

Simple. Happy. Lovely.

We had a great experience with Willeke and Jerry at Happy Gecko. Indonesian tourism is slow to return to normal, so we were the only guests at the resort. I got sick for the majority of our stay, and Willeke was kind to bring me medication (free of charge!) My spouse was able to dive without me. 

Bunaken has a few villages, but there are not really restaurants nearby. This is why most of the resorts in the area serve 3 meals a day with your booking! The food was delicious; we were served a different Indonesian dish for each meal. We were asked about our dietary needs before we arrived. 

I highly recommend this place for divers who are looking to stay at a small resort without having too many divers per outing (there are only about 12-15 total beds at this resort). Keep in mind Bunaken has inconsistent power supply, so the electricity will go out for a few hours each day. If you are looking for basic accommodations with really kind people, this is a great place. 

I suggest booking directly with them -- the pandemic has been hard on Indonesia, and we wanted to make sure they weren't charged fees from booking websites.

We loved our stay at Happy Gecko

Our party of 4 booked our stay well in advance and communication with Willeke leading up to the trip was excellent.
Our transfer arrangements from the airport to Bunaken Island worked to plan and we were quickly made to feel very welcome at the resort.
Diving on the nearby sites is fantastic (especially if you’re a fan of turtles!) and the operation, managed by Jeremy, is carried out safely and professionally. 
The meals provided are tasty and filling.
Definitely be prepared for the short but steep walk to your bungalow, and pack a torch for when you’re heading to bed after those post-dive beers!
We highly recommend the Happy Gecko.

Great times at the Gecko!

We had our best stay in Indonesia at happy gecko!
Bungalows are nice and private, all the meals are delicious and you can enjoy snorkeling just in front of the resort.
Dives spots are the most incredible we had in Indonesia and happy gecko team and gear are great! 
Willeke and Jerry are the nicest host, very helpful and kind it was a real pleasure meeting them.
We definitely recommend happy gecko and will come back for sure!

Happy Gecko Dive Resort

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