Diving with Sangalaki Dive Lodge

[Jaevis]

Hi all,

I have been searching and reading on posts regarding Sangalaki, but discover that there are no recent posts. Has anyone gone diving with Sangalaki Dive Lodge recently?

Any advice to share? I have no doubts on the beauty of the dive sites, but the slow responses and not so consistent answers from them is causing me to worry.

Any experiences to share? I hope I've selected the right operator, and since I've already paid in full, all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.

[MacHeath]

Hi all,

I have been searching and reading on posts regarding Sangalaki, but discover that there are no recent posts. Has anyone gone diving with Sangalaki Dive Lodge recently?

Any advice to share? I have no doubts on the beauty of the dive sites, but the slow responses and not so consistent answers from them is causing me to worry.

Any experiences to share? I hope I've selected the right operator, and since I've already paid in full, all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.

I'm off there tomorrow! Will let you know what it was like.

[Jaevis]

I'm off there tomorrow! Will let you know what it was like.
Great!!!... Please let me know and have a great trip!!! ;)

[red-lipped batfish]

I'm off there tomorrow! Will let you know what it was like.

Yes, please please do let us know. Am thinking of either derawan or sangalaki dive resort. Boat ride to Nabucco sounds like a pain...thanks.

[frogfish]

Hi all,

I have been searching and reading on posts regarding Sangalaki, but discover that there are no recent posts. Has anyone gone diving with Sangalaki Dive Lodge recently?

Any advice to share? I have no doubts on the beauty of the dive sites, but the slow responses and not so consistent answers from them is causing me to worry.

Any experiences to share? I hope I've selected the right operator, and since I've already paid in full, all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.

I visited in June 2004 - Rather recent but from a dive resort perspective ages ago !

[Jaevis]

I visited in June 2004 - Rather recent but from a dive resort perspective ages ago !
Care to share your experiences there?

[davidlkh]

I was at Sangalaki, Nabucco and Derawan in June 2005. 3 weeks worth of diving.

Sangalaki is still a great dive site, but response from the HQ is frequently very very slow.

You may get a faster response by getting in touch with one of their agents that is much closer to the Dive Lodge.

This agent also represents Derawan and Nabucco. Narwastu Dive Center in Balikpapan frequently send guest and supplies to those resorts, so is in constant contact with all the resorts.

Narwastu Dive Center
Jalan Jenderal Sudirman 145
RT 26/RW.08; Pasar Baru
Balikpapan
East Kalimantan
INDONESIA

Telephone + Fax : 62-542-420258 and 735997
Mobilephone : 0816200556
Email : senomentik@yahoo.com

I do not work for this guy, but I use them to arrange my trips to those islands out there.

[frogfish]

Care to share your experiences there?

- the island is magnificent: imagine Sipadan with just several bungalows; there is no housereef however and all dives are boat dives
- the diving is fantastic: dive and snorkel with 10s of mantas, great macro life (pigmy sea horses, ghostpipe fish, frogfish, all sorts of nudis, mandrin fish...) , beautiful walls in Kakaban with som pelagics including schooling barracudas and a few sharks, amazing fields of hard corals - There is a jellyfish lake in the nearby island of Kakaban, very similar to the one in Palau
- Bungalows are adequate but nothing fancy; food was an issue when we visited: rather bland and they actually had problems with quantities (not enough :( ) ...
Hope this helps

[davidlkh]

Before I visit Sangalaki, I bought a whole load of food. Fresh fruit, peanut butter... whatever you like at Berau. Quite cheap.

If you do not get enough food imagine the staff? Hence I bring a load of stuff for all.

After that I get very very very good service from ALL.

By the way, sometimes they run out of fresh water to rinse yourself and camera gear too. So bring along a few bottles of fresh water. I refill it with drinking water at the end of everyday to wash my camera gear.

[lin4]

Hi Jaevis,

I hope it s not too late to share my experience.

I went to Nabucco and Sangalaki last year dec 2004. Nabucco was fantastic. I love the resort, i love the staffs, i love the diving. Everything was beautiful. Then I moved to Sangalaki. The diving was nice (that time visibility not very good though). Their coral garden is very beautiful, better than Nabucco of course. Mantas were everywhere too. But I just hate the resort so much. You can also read my other post replying the sangalaki dive report.

Bottom line, if you dont care about the resort, you ll find Sangalaki wonderful. But if you care about the resort, you better off staying at Nabucco.

Lemme know if you need more detail. Good luck.

[Jaevis]

I've just got back from my trip there. Sangalaki is superb and Kakaban is totally awesome! No doubt this is a great trip, but the management of the resort sucks big time!

Communication with them is excruciating slow, they don't listen to you and get details mixed up. They promised day trip to Maratua, but after I've paid up and arrived on Sangalaki, the trip was cancelled with no reason or compensation whatsoever! They even refuse to pick up my calls! Ronald Holland and Aima should put themselves out of business for being so unprofessional. They should do all divers a favour and let someone else manage this pristine dive destination instead. They are simply the worst dive operators I've ever tried. Furthermore, their prices are extorbitantly high, and with that kind of price divers are paying, I would expect better customer services. Resort condition is so-so and definitely not matching the prices you're paying.

Its 5 star diving, 1 star resort, and 0.1 star management and service.

My advice, stay in Derawan or Maratua, and make day trips to Sangalaki instead!

On the day I left Sangalaki, the cook apparently quited his job on the spot and left in the same boat with me. I don't know what happened, but he's uttering "Aima... F#@K!". Also, I was surprise to find an email sent to me on the date I was suppose to arrive on the island, asking me what equipment do I need!!! My god!!! I think I've already sent them my requirements back in June/July!

In summary, management of Sangalaki Dive Lodge is the worst I've ever tried. They should be out of business and let someone else take over. They are totally unprofessional and simply not customer orientated. Communication is the worst and they DO NOT read customers' requests. They promise everything but delivers minimal. It was such a rip off!

Please do not patronize them anymore! They are simply the WORST!!!

[red-lipped batfish]

hi Jaevis, i'll be visiting derawan diver resort soon. I understand from the posts that it's pretty far from sangalaki...have you any idea whether the resort keeps to its representation on its website about 2 dives a day at sangalaki, maratua or kakaban?

[lin4]

Hi Jaevis,

I could not agree with you more!!!

[Jaevis]

hi batfish, i'm not sure about Derawan, but from my niece who visited them in May earlier this year, she did rate them as very approachable and friendly. She did make it to Sangalaki, Kakaban and Maratua from Derawan. I think making trips to Sangalaki/Kakaban/Maratua would be merely more of a weather issue. Rough seas would have prevented such crossings via boats.

[Jaevis]

Hi Jaevis,

I could not agree with you more!!!
Hope the situation will improve real soon. Divers should not be deprived of such a awesome destination by some unprofessional operator. Hope they'll manage to sell the resort off to a more abled and professional organization.