Manado Safari Tours
North Sulawesi Tour Planning, Hotel & Scuba Diving Package Reservations - Manado, Bunaken, Lembeh Strait, Gangga & beyond
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Manado Safari Tours
is a member of the
North Sulawesi Tourism Organisation
North Sulawesi
Tourism Organisation

Testimonials 2008-2010


I just want to thank you for your fine service on my package to the Murex Dive Resort. You were able to set up the travel from my ship at Bitung and return for an early hour on Sunday which I valued much since it allowed another nights stay.
As a crew member of the Okeanos Explorer (a US NOAA exploration ship), it is a pleasure to know that your company is there to arrange everything for a relaxing getaway for the weekend. Since I only had a couple of days and contacted you at the last minute I was relieved how smoothly it all went.
The stay at the Murex Resort was pleasant and comfortable too. My thanks to Gracia at the office and Ino the driver too. You are both truly dedicated professionals. Many other crew members on board are quite pleased with your service too.

Jack Standfast, Crew member of the Okeanos Explorer
July 2010
(Murex Dive Resort, Mainland)

Terima Kasih Gracia atas semua bantuan dan pelayanan yang telah diberikan selama kami ( Saya dan isteri ) menjalani bulan madu di Manado.
Perjalanan yang sangat mengesankan dan menyenangkan yang sangat indah untuk dikenang dan terlalu sulit untuk dilupakan. Terima kasih sekali lagi atas semua keramahan yang diberikan.
Salam untuk Pak Freddy dan Inoy kiranya Tuhan membalas semua kebaikan dan keramahan yang diberikan. Dan sukses selalu untuk Safari Tour.

Welly Polly dan Hartati
June 2010
(Cicak Senang Resort, Hotel Minahasa, Manado City Tour, Minahasa Highland Tour, Tangkoko Nature Reserve Overnight Tour, Gardenia Country Inn)

Dear Safari Tours,
We want to thank you for all your planning, support and follow through with our recent 6 weeks vacation to North Sulawesi. You were right there for us every step of the way. The planning stage went smoothly thanks to your prompt communication with us through email and skype. It seemed any question or concern was quickly researched and answered.
The resorts, Kungkungan Bay Resort, Lembeh Resort, Gangga Island Resort and Minahasa Lagoon were quality resorts that certainly met our standards and expectations. We enjoyed the diving, housing, food and staff at all 4 resorts and will hopefully return to them at a future date. Each resort offered a different variety of diving, yet the accommodations were of a high caliber and represented a variety of Indonesian experiences.
The ground transportation was incredible. You were always at the appointed times and places all along our journeys. After our initial meeting with Jeremy and Gracia at the Manado airport, we never had a concern about ground transportation, you were there for us, thank you. If we had questions or concerns during our vacation, we could easily contact you and we felt the support from your staff. It seemed at our vacation was your number one priority.
We look forward to working with you again, since Indonesia is a vacation hot spot for us. Thanks for all you help and well wishes.
Warm regards,

Judith Crews & Judith Kendall jcwildchild [at] msn.com
July 2010
(Kungkungan Bay Resort, Lembeh Resort, Gangga Island Resort and Minahasa Lagoon)

I had great pleasure travelling with Safari Tours during a 6 day stay in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Safari was able to organize tours to Bunaken Island, volcanoes in the Tomohon district and to Tangkoko Nature Reserve. These could be pre-arranged from Australia, or organized on arrival in Manado. Thanks to their efficient and cheerful staff, Fenny (in reservations) for her excellent work. Also to driver Ari Susanto. He had endless local knowledge and was a very safe driver. He was patient to stop for photos, some shopping and the village restaurants. Ari spoke excellent English, but was also able to help me learn more of the local bahasa language. Safari have connections throughout the Indonesian islands and are most reliable. They take the worry out of travelling in these places. I would recommend them to any traveler visiting Indonesia.

Frank Moxey fmoxey [at] ingal.com.au
Brisbane, Australia - May 2010
(Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Mt Mahawu, Bunaken Island)

Many thanks for your organisation and services. Our trip to Sulawesi has been fabulous: everything were absolutly perfect and we'll keep a marvelous mind of this country. We'll not forget to recommand you to all our friends, divers or not. We really spent very good holiday!!!! Best regards.

Nelly Chastagnol & Serge Gancarski nelly.chastagnol [at] yahoo.fr
April 2010
(Gangga Island Resort, Lembeh Resort, Gardenia Country Inn, Tangkoko Day Tour)

Sincere thanks to Safari tours for arranging yet another awesome vacation in Manado. The driver, Meidy, who picked us up was pleasant and courteous. Santika Resort is very strategically located to Bunaken. We could go back to our comfortable room between morning and afternoon dives. Thalassa dive center certainly deserves its 5* rating. We have wide selection for renting regulators and BCD. Our dive master Joddy was patient and assuring, helpful as my last open water dive was 12 years ago. I enjoyed the night dive very much.
As for Murex at Bangka Island, it feels like home. The boatmen remembered us and even asked about my kids who did not go with us this time. Daisy, the manager, has kept our room for us as promised. Improvement is noticed on the food and beverage. It tastes even better than previous visit. The new deck by the dining room is nice for lounging. We will for sure go back there again.

Melina Jonas & Spouse melina.jonas [at] gmail.com
March 2010
(Hotel Santika Manado, Thalassa 5* Dive Center, Murex Bangka Island)

I'm well back into the swing of things after a great holiday in Sulawesi. I was very impressed with the service of Safari Tours and my tour guide Freddy. I was also most impressed with the Gardenia Country Inn, it truly is a beautiful resort with great service. With regards to tours, I most enjoyed the Tangkoko tour.
Thanks again for a great holiday and a very good service. I will definitely recommend your agency to any friends that would be interested in a holiday in North Sulawesi.

Petra Bos
January 2010
(Gardenia Country Inn, Tangkoko Overnight and Minahasa Highland Tour, Mahawu Volcano Trek, and Murex Dive Resort)

Hi Jeremy and Team,
Our kids just left yesterday tired but happy.
Yes we had a great time in Manado and Environs, and that is thanks to Safari tours. The selection of activities, the accomodation, and the logistics all went smoothly. This allowed us to enjoy everything and make the most of our time there. We look forward to making another journey with Safari soon and will recommend you to others.
Sampai Jumpa Lagi,
The Feit Family

Liz Feit thefeits [at] mail.com
Balikpapan - December 2009
(Gardenia Country Inn, Gangga Island Resort, Minahasa Highland Tour, Mahawu Trek and White Water Rafting)

Hi Jeremy, Ninny, I am happy with your service and don't mind receiving your e-mails.
The one thing I truly appreciate from you is the ability to fit the package to my need. Although it is done electronically, I still feel that I am dealing with someone who understand my need. Thank you.

Martin Hadinata martin_hadinata [at] ch.ibm.com
November 2009
(Tasik Ria Resort and Divers Lodge Lembeh)

Dear Safari,
We were delighted with the service provided by Safari Tours and Travel. Gracia had great patience as we formulated our itinerary, Freddie and Donald, the drivers, greeted us with a warm smiles, the resorts at Minahasa Lagoon and Gangga Island beautiful and all travel arrangements went very smoothly. We would be very happy to recommend your company to anyone thinking of a fun holiday of scuba, white water rafting and nature treks in the Land of the Smiling People. Northern Sulawesi was even more magical than we had anticipated.
Thanks again,

Kate Budge & Family
August 2009
(Minahasa Lagoon, Gangga Island Resort & Spa, Tangkoko Overnight, WW Rafting)

Thank you very much to the team of "Safari Tours and Trave" who helped us a great deal in planning our trip to Sulawesi from home. Because we had less than two weeks to visit Sulawesi, Safari organized our transfer to the Togian Islands from Manado in a less than 24 hours trip (including car and boat), which definitely gave us a lot more time to enjoy these beautiful islands. We were impressed by the quality of their service both in planning the trip and during the trip itself, and especially it was great to have people perfectly fluent in English to talk to as unfortunately none of us spoke Indonesian. Thanks again for everything.

Thibault Peyronel & Sarah Pinto
August 2009
(Togian Islands)

Dear Safari Team,
Please share this with everyone-well the dust settled and would like to give you feedback on the process – which in a nutshell was GREAT! So here goes:
I never take the time to write a review on line, but I feel after my experience with Safari Tours that I simply had to say something, because their service was so outstanding. It started from the very beginning with a very professional and informative web site. Excellent service continued while we were setting up arrangements in Sulawesi. The staff was particularly helpful in making practical recommendations and accommodation suggestions even to the point of calling us in America. Additionally they helped coordinate things with the flights. But that was just the beginning, once we arrived we were greeted by our charming driver/guide, Freddie. Within minutes of getting off the airplane he had handed us a cold bottle of water. He was extremely informative, prepared, professional and accommodating. The trip went amazingly well and everything that the team had promised and provided was wonderful. The only surprises were all the wonderful encounters with the wildlife and extreme scenic beauty. The facilities they recommended were all excellent and we wish we had more time at each of them. The nature walks at Tangkoko were just what we wanted – a combination of a real hike and excellent spotting with an excellent and enthusiastic local guide, Eddie. The diving at Kungkungan Bay Resort was professionally and efficiently run and turned out to reveal all the exceedingly strange beings that we had hoped for. Tasik Ria was an absolute pleasant surprise. It was much more luxurious and plush than we expected (or their web site at the time revealed). Again the diving was very good and professionally run.
Even when a family emergency came up in the steps the staff at Safari Tours was available to help us deal with it as best as one could from 12,000 miles away.
Needless to say we were extraordinarily impressed. Impressed to the point that we would highly recommend using them and do so ourselves again!
Happy travels,

Alan Stewart, DVM, ACVIM
USA - July 2009
(Kungkungan Bay Resort, Tasik Ria, Tangkoko Nature Reserve)

Dear Safari,
We had a super time at Murex Dive Resort.....friendly, helpful staff, and beautiful natural surroundings at the water's edge with views over to the island of Manado Tua and Bunaken. The food was good and plentiful (delicious breakfast smoothie!) and especially thoughtful was the provision of fresh fruit and tea and coffee throughout the day. Our room was spacious and equipped with all necessities (the mosquito coil lit every afternoon was a great idea) and we enjoyed sitting on the patio watching the wildlife - including a visit from the family parrot. We spent one day on a Safari Tour to Minahasa Highlands where we were well looked after by our guide Novita, and the airport transfers were equally efficient.
We will return!

Margaret Dunckley & Leslie Gonella (thedunckleys [at] hotmail.com)
EXPATS living in Surabaya - May 2009
(Murex and Land Excursion)

Dear Safari Team,
We had a very pleasant stay in Manado and was very grateful on the hotel that you have suggested to us. We were a bit worried about the hotel condition because there is limited information on Minahasa Hotel. To our surprise it was a very comfortable hotel, our room is a detached house type which was situated on a hillside and they even have a pool which has a great view of the city. Mr Ricky who picked us up from the airport is very nice.

Jarica Yum (jaycamy [at] yahoo.com)
April 2009
(Hotel Minahasa)

Dear Jeremy and Ninny,
The trip to Manado was great and we certainly enjoyed the stay in Tangkoko Park. We were also fortunate to see the animals we had hoped to sight:) Much as we would like to stay longer in the forest, we had to cut our trip short since we had a plane to catch in the morning.
Ricky (Safari Guide)was prompt in fetching us from Bitung port and proved to be a good and patient guide. Well done!
Thanks again for the seamless arrangement of our trip.

Li Li (tohlili [at] gmail.com)
Malaysia - January 2009
(Tangkoko Nature Reserve)

Hi at Safari Tours,
We just wanted to write back for the great service we had from your part in North Sulawesi.
Welcome at the airport, transfer to Gangga and back was run smoothly and seamlessly by Ricky (probably not the most invisible minibus in that part of the world where zebras are getting scarce nowadays... :-) ). Miraculously, Safari Tours with the help of Gaspare from GIR managed the rain to stop instantly for our week stay. Gangga island resort team and their commitment for making diving easy and interesting are simply amazing (I am grateful they sailed a dive boat to Lembeh for only two divers, on our demand), truly one of the best and most professional dive center we have ever experienced. We also had the chance to meet at Gangga the Safari Tours wonder-girls Fenny and Gracia who handled our bookings efficiently from the beginnings (best regards to you). All in all a very pleasant stay we would repeat anytime (unfortunately too short). For divers lesser known Gangga/Bangka area is really on a par with its prestigious neighbors Lembeh and Bunaken, only with less dive pressure.

Patricia, Luna and Ludovic Galko (ludovic.galko [at] club-internet.fr)
February 2009
(5 days in Gangga)

Dear Jeremy and Ninny,
Many thanks for having arranged our recent holiday in Manado, we had a lovely time. We received a wonderfully warm welcome at Murex, within minutes it seemed that the entire staff knew our daughter's name and that she was there to get her Open Water Certificate. Needless to say, I was a little nervous at the idea of my 12 year old in the open waters of Bunaken island, but we could not have had a better, more reassuring or helpful instructor. By the end of the second day out daughter was certified and we were able to dive together as a family, however Eden continued to have one on one guiding which given the depth of the water was much appreciated. The flexibility of the guides regarding where were went and what we saw was much appreciated as were the photos which were given to us by fellow guests at the end of our stay.
Our three nights at Froggies was also lovely, the lack of mod cons was more than made up for by the live music provided by the security staff as we ate, and the education imparted by Christiane over lengthy meals. Again Eden had her own personal guide, the delightful Jimmy, who sought out nudibranch, scorpion fish and other hidden treasures and who provided her with cheerful reassurance when a sea snake swam in front of her and a shark underneath (not fortunately at the same time). The food was good at both resorts and we were especially pleased to see the attention paid to safety!
Again, thank you for having put the whole trip together.
Once again I enjoyed the great hospitality of Indonesia and the friendliness of it's (smiling) people! I am looking forward to my next visit, all the best for you and your team,

Linnet
Singapore - January 2009
(Murex Dive Resort & Froggies Divers)

Dear Safari Tours & Travel
Thank you so much for making my visit to North Sulawesi such a fantastic experience! Travelling Indonesia has never been easier with you taking care of my flights and hotel arrangements. On my previous visits I made all bookings myself and was never sure if things will work out in the end (they sometimes did not). This time I did not have to worry about missing flights or "lost" hotel reservations and that made my trip a lot more enjoyable!
I had a great time diving Lembeh Strait and around Sahaung Island with Blue Bay Divers. Transfers from/to Manado Airport and the hotel (Hotel Sedona Manado) were always on time and the flights to Sorong (Raja Ampat) and back were too.
Once again I enjoyed the great hospitality of Indonesia and the friendliness of it's (smiling) people! I am looking forward to my next visit, all the best for you and your team,

Björn Kapoor (bjoern.kapoor [at] gmx.net)
Frankfurt/Germany - December 2008
(Blue Bay Divers/Sahaung, Hotel Sedona Manado, Domestic Flights)

We had a pleasant stay at Tangkoko Tarsius homestay, Pulisan beach resort. The food and service at these two were wonderful. Pulisan is a wonderful place, rustic and very private...wonderful romantic beach holiday. Will definitely visit the resort again. The operator Katrin is doing a wonderful job and very helpful.
Tangkoko park was excellent for bird watching, homestay was good and cheap. the owners were very friendly. I find the bird guides Fan and Yunus to be good and professional. Birding was challenging especially outside the park areas; not many birds to be seen. One comment I find is that the park entrance of 250,000 rp per person to be excessive. Hope you folks can influence a better rate.
Safari Tour were excellent in planning the logistics and drivers were very good . The whole tour planned by your esteemed organization met above my expectaion and a job well done. Many thanks for coordinating all these for us. Highly recommend visitors to use Safari Tours.

Mohd. Rafi Kudus (mohdrafi.kudus [at] exxonmobil.com)
Malaysia - September 2008
(Pulisan Jungle Beach Resort/ Minahasa Hotel as well as the tour - Tangkoko Day Tour)

Dear Safari Tours and Travel
We would like to express our gratitude and complete satisfaction with our recent Sulawesi trip that you organized for us.
Jeremy organized a fantastic split diving trip for us between Bunaken (Cha Cha Resort) and Lembeh (Kasawari Resort). After responding to countless Email requests and questions he put the perfect package together. We had a wonderful time at both resorts and all the arrangements were seamless. Even the customized transportation between Cha Cha and Kasawari was arranged with no fuss. It was a very comforting feeling to know that help was just a phone call away if needed.
Full marks to Jeremy and his team!

Andre and Heila Smith (dresmit [at] shaw.ca)
Canada, August 2008
(Cha Cha Nature Resort and Kasawari Lembeh Resort)

It was really interesting to explore Safari's website. We have been recommended to Manado by a friend and wanted to know more about the place. Safari's website provided the most relevant info and variety of accommodations and tours. Info correspondence via email was fast and efficient with Safari. We were also very comfortable on the arrangement with payment. Although, I would think that credit card payment would be a lot more secure and convenient.
Well, we finally decided to book our land contents with Safari and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.
On arrival, we were met with a welcome from Safari and transferred to Gangga Island a beautiful place. Highly recommend it! The food was great with great menu options available everyday. It is a safe and peaceful environment.
After spending 4 days on Gangga, we transferred to the Gardenia Country Inn. It was a nice change to a cooler environment. On the way there, we took a day tour up to Kali Waterfall which is near Gardenia Country Inn. The stay at Gardenia Country Inn was fabulous. Fine dining and cozy cottage style and amazing view at the gazebo during breakfast.
During the second to last day, checked out and move to town area. On the way, we took a tour to MT Mahawu and had a great time. The view at the peak was spectacular. Our 4 years old son enjoyed it very much too. It's a nice soft adventure day for us. After the tour, we checked into town at Hotel Minahasa. The room was not that great and furthermore, water supplies were cut most of the time. On the day of our departure, we got a call from Safari informing us that our flight back to Singapore was delayed. Since we had a full day ahead, we wanted to make a trip to Bunaken and Safari was able to arrange that on short notice. The day turned out to be fabulous as we were able to get some last minute snorkeling at the best dive site in Manado. It was a great end to a wonderfully arranged vacation for us by Safari Tours & Travel. Many thanks!

Joseph, Lynette & Neal Chia (joelynette [at] mac.com)
June 2008
(Gangga Island Resort, Gardenia Country Inn & Hotel Minahasa as well as the tours - Bunaken Tour, Kali Waterfall & Mahawu Trek)

Dear Safari Tours,
The welcome at the airport and the check-in at the Santika went well and without a hitch. That was - however - no more than what we expected. What came as a very pleasant surprise was on the day of our departure. Our flight back to Singapore was delayed by 5 hours - and the agent at Safari Tours managed to get hold of us even though we were at the pool at that time to tell us of that fact. This was so much over and above what we had expected especially as we had not even arranged with Safari Tours for transport to the airport.
Cheers

Yap, Siew Leng
June 2008
(Hotel Santika Manado)

Dear Jeremy,
Before going, I knew little about Sulawesi except that it had some of the best Critter diving in the world. As an experience dive traveller, I had intended to put my tour together on my own, using the Internet. I have long ceased to be a back packer and wanted to have the extra comforts middle age desires so I found the choice difficult. However, during my research on the net I stumbled across Safari's site. The site was an excellent resource showing the different dive sites and hotels available. The people at Safari Tours were extremely helpful and it didn't add to the price of my package so I ended up using them build and book the holiday.
I had a tight itinerary (half term week) and had initially decided to go for the Aggressor live aboard but it didn't run that week. I wanted to maximize my diving but get a good feel for all the diving around Sulawesi. Eventually I plumped for 4 days at Kima Bajo and 4 at KBR hotels and I must say I soon realized that I missed very little by not being on a live aboard (all the diving is close enough to shore). The hotels I chose (with help from Jeremy) minimized the daily boat trips, gave me up to 5 dives a day, provided the level of luxury I wanted but surprisingly didn't cost much more than the lesser quality resorts (because the dive package was so good) and considerably less than Aggressor.
I had considerable concern using a Bank transfer to pay but all the hotels know Jeremy well and where happy to confirm he had made provisional bookings and pass on a reference. Safari Tours quickly sent me vouchers of all aspects of the trip and I had absolutely no problems.
I can't image how my trip could have been any better- except for maybe having the extra week to dive Bangka Islands (but that's next years trip).
The Diving in Bunaken was beautiful (long colourful drift dives on massive walls) but Lembeh was truly amazing diving. So weird every dive.
Safari Tours also arranged the transfers, stopping between hotels to see the Tarsier. Well worth missing the afternoon dive for. I also went into the Highlands on my final day, staying at Gardenia (whilst I de-fizzed). The roads where a little wild but the place was beautiful and Freddy (my Safari tours guide) was excellent. Sulawesi is a fantastic place. My Week there was some of the best diving of my life (and I have dived all over the world).
Jeremy runs an excellent organization and anyone travelling to Sulawesi, on any budget, will benefit from their assistance. Once again “Thank you” for organizing all this for me.

Gregory Mellish (Greg.mellish [at] barclaycard.co.uk)
May 2008
(Kungkungan Bay Resort & Kima Bajo)

Smiling People : la gente che sorride. Mai definizione è stata più giusta per definire un popolo e le persone che ho trovato a Gangga Island Resort hanno pieno merito di definirsi tali. Abbiamo fatto una vacanza stupenda, nonostante la pioggia sia stata una compagna molto assidua, facendo immersioni. Siamo stati assistiti in modo stupendo : abbiamo consegnato l' attrezzatura all' arrivo e non ce ne siamo più preoccupati fino al momento di rifare i bagagli quando c'è stata riconsegnata lavata e perfettamente asciutta. Il soggiorno è stato tranquillo e rilassante. L' ospitalità e la qualità alberghiera è stata all' altezza della situazione con pasti alla "carta" e con le camere sempre pronte ed efficaci. E' una vacanza che consiglio a tutti coloro che cercano relax, fare immersioni o snorkeling, magari leggere un buon libro senza l' invadenza delle "animazioni" che spesso si trovano in altri posti di vacanza. I miei complimenti a tutti ed alla professionalità dell' intero staff.

Arturo Fiocca (3 persons) (arturofiocca [at] tiscali.it)
April 2008
(Gangga Island Resort, 11 nights)

Dear Safari
Terima kasih atas pelayanan & panduan staff anda selama kami berlibur di Manado.
Kami senang sekali atas ketepatan waktu dan keramah-tamahannya. Setelah Highland Tour di jalan pulang kami boleh melewati Tanggari (tempat kelahiran papie/opa) dan bisa melihat Waruga di Sawangan. Snorkeling di Bunaken adalah pengalaman pertama yang sangat mengesankan, dipandu ke 3 tempat yang taman lautnya indah sekali. Kami sudah merekomendasikan perusahaan anda kepada saudara2 di Jakarta dan akan merekomendasikan juga kepada teman2 di Jepang.
Salam,

Marisa & Carolien Haruta (haruta_sami [at] yahoo.co.jp)
April 2008
(Manado Tour Package 4D 3N, Mahawu Trek, Highland & Bunaken Tour, Accommodation in Hotel Ritzy)

Dear Jeremy
Just a note of thanks for taking personal interest in arranging our tours & stay at Manado during our week of 11-16 Feb 08. Gardenia Country Inn is really something!
Your tour guides did a marvellous job for all our tours, we had a great time. It was well organized, coordinated and well executed,we could not be more pleased.And certainly impressed at the quality of friendly service.We have also recommended you and your Manado Safaris Tours to relatives and friends. We'll certainly return for more.
May you and your business continue to prosper in its success.

Casper & Juliana Liew (casper_liew [at] hotmail.com)
Singapore, February 2008
(Gardenia Country Inn, Highland Tour, Whitewater Rafting)

Testimonials Archive: Testimonials 2002-2007

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