Misool Eco Resort: Worth The Cost And Time?

[reubencahn]

My wife and I have a Banda Sea cruise booked for October into early November. From the time we're off the boat until we need to depart (from Jakarta) we have another 9 days. We can just make a trip to MER work, but it's significantly more hassle and money than other options such as NAD in Lembeh or Papua Paradise in northern RA. We've stayed at both these before and like them both. We dove Misool a few years back on the Indo Siren, and I remember it being good but that's the extent of my recollection. I've always heard raves about MER but can find nothing recent on the resort and am wondering if it's worth the extra effort and cost. Any feedback, especially from those who have stayed there in the past few years, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Diving Dubai]

My wife and a couple of friends stayed there in Feb 16.

For some perspective, we travel extensively for diving, but have great local warm water diving at home which we can partake in every week. We are therefore somewhat spoiled, and what some might consider great diving we may consider no better than home.

I must finish my trip report. Okay the resort is great, small (max 40 guests) the rooms are rustic, but comfortable. The staff are attentive but not over powering.

We stayed in the main area rather than south beach and loved it.

So the diving. It is fabulous. We didn't' always get amazing vis but it was never less than 20m. The fish life was amazing as were the corals.

There are 4 dive boats normally 4 people to a guide. The guides are quite relaxed and go at your pace. Some mornings you have what is known as a 2 tank trip, where after the first dive they take you to a secluded beach for breakfast - which we loved.

Once they get to know your capabilities they allow you to have some say in the dive sites. Magic Mountain is a favorite obviously for the Manta's. We preferred more current and bigger schooling fish rather than muck diving and that's what we got.

We took the unlimited dive package and chose 3 dives per day plus one night dive and an evening dive. we could have dived much more (we had 35 dives in our period rather than the 48 possible)

The house reef is great and the board walk round the reef always has life - at our time there were 9 baby black tips swimming around each morning and evening

They try very hard to co-ordinate with the liveaboard's to ensure that only one group is on a site at one time. Unfortunately not all liveaboards play the game. The advantage though is Misool have a number of great sites the liveaboards don't know.

When we visited there were about 30 guests. Only 10 were first timers which must say a lot.

Certainly it is one of a very small number of places we've dived that we will go back to. They also have some 40cf tanks, we left 2 slings so you can use them as redundant spares if you like.

I hope that helps feel free to PM me if you want more info

Video of the area and resort

 

[reubencahn]

Thanks. This is very helpful. I do have a few more questions if you don't mind. Do I understand that you could have done more than four dives a day had you wanted? Also, do they limit dive times to 60 minutes? Did you do any muck/macro? How was it?

 

[Diving Dubai]

Hi @reubencahn

The dive schedule and sites is posted on a board at the dive centre each afternoon, where you get to choose which dives for the following day you wish to do. Some people only chose a 2 dives per day package. At the evening meal they also come round if you haven't signed up.

You are put on a specific boat at the start of your stay and generally stay with that group - but if only 1 or 2 pole wish to dive the guide still takes you out.

Night dives are offered and go if people want them. The normal routine is a dive at 8am, 11am and 3pm then ND around 6pm after sunset. You could if you wish go out on the house reef - we were happy to lounge on the deck and chill. You can snorkel at anytime - each villa has steps into the lagoon (depending on tides)

Generally yes the dives are 60 min dives (or minimum gas) When they get used to you and your times this may change. On one dive the guide left myself and my wife to surface on our own DSMB and that was a 90 min dive (the others surfaced perhaps 10 mins before) Again depends on your competency in the eyes of the guides.

Our boat choose not to go muck diving as we were all over 50 - the guides did take us to Boo Window and tried to show us the 3 types of pygmy sea horses, and other site there was plenty of soft coral to nose around in (I surprised myself and the guides by finding a couple of frog fish and leaf fish). I'm no expert on muck diving but it was an order of magnitude better than mooching around the sand and odd bit of coral in the Philippines

From what I understand Misool because of it's location is more oceanic and pure muck diving is done in other places. But they do try to cater for everyone. Most of the guides come from Lembeh so they can spot a tiny critter easily - plus they have a good idea of what critters reside at each site

 

[large_diver]

I returned from a RA liveaboard about a month ago, and we spent some of the trip diving in the Misool area. The diving was fantastic...so much so that I put MER on my list for the next trip. Gorgeous reefs and soft corals and very dense fish life.

 

[dirtfarmer]

My wife and I have a Banda Sea cruise booked for October into early November. From the time we're off the boat until we need to depart (from Jakarta) we have another 9 days. We can just make a trip to MER work, but it's significantly more hassle and money than other options such as NAD in Lembeh or Papua Paradise in northern RA. We've stayed at both these before and like them both. We dove Misool a few years back on the Indo Siren, and I remember it being good but that's the extent of my recollection. I've always heard raves about MER but can find nothing recent on the resort and am wondering if it's worth the extra effort and cost. Any feedback, especially from those who have stayed there in the past few years, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Sorry about the double post now it won't let me edit the previous one.

I did a Banda sea crossing trip from Ambon-Sorong last Nov and it was epic! Hammerheads! We dove for 3 days in the Misool area and it was out of this world! Amazing soft coral, schools of fish, and Oceanic Manta's. I wouldn't hesitate to spend some more time diving the Misool area.

But... If you liked Lembeh it's always fantastic, I'm a huge Lembeh fan and yes it would be less $.

If your Banda Sea trip leaves from Ambon you could always spend some time diving there ahead of your LOB also. I did a few days ahead of my crossing trip. Get settled and rested from your long journey from the states. It has great muck and reefs dives, but the choices of resorts are only high end or low budget. You might luck out and be one of the few people who have seen the elusive psychedelic frogfish. I wasn't so lucky.

Sounds like you have a nice dilemma on your hands.

 

[reubencahn]

Sorry about the double post now it won't let me edit the previous one.

I did a Banda sea crossing trip from Ambon-Sorong last Nov and it was epic! Hammerheads! We dove for 3 days in the Misool area and it was out of this world! Amazing soft coral, schools of fish, and Oceanic Manta's. I wouldn't hesitate to spend some more time diving the Misool area.

But... If you liked Lembeh it's always fantastic, I'm a huge Lembeh fan and yes it would be less $.

If your Banda Sea trip leaves from Ambon you could always spend some time diving there ahead of your LOB also. I did a few days ahead of my crossing trip. Get settled and rested from your long journey from the states. It has great muck and reefs dives, but the choices of resorts are only high end or low budget. You might luck out and be one of the few people who have seen the elusive psychedelic frogfish. I wasn't so lucky.

Sounds like you have a nice dilemma on your hands.

Good to hear the Banda Sea trip was epic. I'm really looking forward to this and hoping for hammerheads. We are departing from Ambon, and I was thinking of doing a few days there before the trip. But we'd arrive right at the new moon, and the last time I was there the tides made for some very difficult, high-current muck diving. Not ideal, and I'm a bit wary of doing it again. I am a huge Lembeh fan, but I've always wanted to go to MER, and these reports have me convinced. I just need to sell my wife on this plan.

 

[jamesdiving]

My wife and I went to Misool Eco Resort for 10 days of honeymoon in March 2015. Having dived fairly extensively around the world I can say it was definitely the best diving we've ever done. The manta experiences were as good as, if not better, than Komodo or the Maldives, the corals were more colourful, pristine and extensive than anywhere, and the sheer number of fish on almost every site exceeded anything I've seen. The variety and quantity of life is the thing - common species are found in vast numbers and unusual species abound: Raja Ampat walking sharks can be guaranteed on night dives, flasher wrasse and mandarin fish are a daily sighting on the house reef at dusk, and pygmy seahorses are so common a single seafan might contain 5 or 6. Reef sharks are plentiful (we saw at least one on most dives and babies live in the shallows around the resort by the dozen). The house reef in late afternoon is excellent - the light under the jetty makes for an incredible scene.

The resort is beautiful. It's not quite Maldives luxury, but the cottages and villas are very nice, the food is absolutely exceptional (I still dream of their granola, their coffee, and their daily cookies). The staff are very friendly and helpful and Sue and Mark, who manage operations, are exceptional.

As well as diving, other excursions are offered - snorkelling in a jellyfish lake, visiting ancient rock art, sunset cruises, kayaking, or an afternoon on a deserted beach. These are all great ways to pass some time, but for me, if I could spend the rest of my days diving Magic Mountain, Nudi Rock and Fiabacet, I'd be happy.