The resort is immersed in nature, which could be a good thing if done properly. However, the walkways from the restaurant/beach to the rooms are made of concrete and there is no landscaping whatsoever. Everything is pretty run down, the rooms feel old and have stained, scratched sinks/toilets. Apart from the rooms there is very little public space: a tiny restaurant (quite charming, at the water`s edge), a really depressing, small swimming pool, and the beach. The beach gets very very narrow at high tide, and it is impossible to swim from it (water is too shallow and full of sharp coral). One can go snorkeling from the jetty, which can be fun. Be prepared to live as if you were camping: the service is almost non-existent (in several occasions we could not find ANYBODY to ask about scuba diving, and when we finally located the right scuba person he told us we should have booked a day in advance). Often, at the restaurant and elsewhere, you are temped to just go and do it yourself. You might want to bring your own food: on our first day, the resort was out of fruit (any fruit), out of bacon, ham or sausages. On the second day, they were out of tomatoes, squid, and chicken. On the third day, they were out of potatoes and milk! This makes it very difficult to order your meals. And when the food does come, it is bland at best. If you do bring your own food, be careful where you put it: we found a rat in the room going through our supply of rice crackers. If this is the kind of nature you like, you`ll find plenty of it, including lots of bugs which pestered us (especially our daughter, who still has about a hundred bites on her body—I am not exaggerating).
If you must go to this place because you like the idea of the natural park, make sure you do not pay the full rate, which is incredibly overpriced for what you get. In fact, there are much better options (nicer, more spacious, swimmable beaches, better food, lower price) on the mainland in front of menjangan island, which will still allow you to go snorkeling or diving in the park—it`s just a 20 minute boat ride.
- Waka Shorea Hotel
