Prince John Dive Resort

We were recommended by our friends in Palu to stay at Prince John Dive Resort when we told them that we were planning to stay at Donggala on our last night in Sulawesi. Then I look through its website, the place looks great, that I decided to look no other and directly book the resort by phone. We were confirmed that they will accommodate us at their stone houses, near the beach. A single room cost us IDR 600,000 while the ladies room cost us IDR 800,000 with an extra bed. The room price includes three course meal, what a bargain.

When we reach the resort at about 7.30 pm, we were informed that they could only provide the wooden house, and the ladies room was really small that they couldn't provide us with the extra bed. The worst thing was, they didn't record my friends' reservation! Ended up my friends staying at other hotel next door. 

What about the four of us? We spoke to the manager named Alex, we told him how disappointed we were and that we would have to stay at the stone houses located near the beach (as promised). He said sorry that somehow he missed our booking and offered us a 50% discount and that we'll be moved to bigger room, but located 300m from the beach. We didn't have any choice other than to accept Alex's offer.

The next morning we went up early to see the sunrise. Too bad it was cloudy that morning. Prince John Dive Resort has a direct access to the beach. It has also a common area consist of dining room, a bar and of course a dive center.

We waited for the sunrise in the next mroning, too bad we were unlucky that morning, as we couldn't get the picture of the sunrise.

We had breakfast (fried rice) at their dining room, and orange juice. They also provide bread and jam for the guests.

This is the view from the dining area..

Even though we went there not to take the diving course, I must say that the diving center was great, and the people there was really helpful. 

The dive instructor even helped me snorkeling (for the first time in my entire life) that morning. I hold my sony TX10 and took some pictures with it under the water.

Of course it wasn't easy for me to snorkel for the first time, there were many times that I forgot to breathe with my mouth, and went out of the water. At that time I took a picture of the resort from the sea.

The wooden house that we stayed was quiet big. It has no aircon inside, but the resort provided a fan. It wasn't a luxury accommodation, it looks old, and was very dark at night except at the common area.

The stone houses located near the beach and looks better than the wooden house.

Despite the booking problem, actually I like the resort. It's so peaceful at the resort and at night there were many stars on the sky. If you are planning to stay at this resort, ensure that you will get the room which you have reserved by sending the resort email followed by a phone call. Alex told us that "they would prefer to have everything written from the guests" but on the other hand, my reservation through email replied by Alex two weeks after I sent him email. That's why I called the resort to get a faster confirmation. 

Well...sometimes our plan doesn't work well and we just have to enjoy what we got while we are traveling.

written on October 22, 2012