Hi Joseph,

We had a very nice diving and snorkeling vacation in the North Moluccas, Indonesia. We stayed at the Kusu Island Resort, a beautiful small-scale luxury resort with a maximum of twelve to fourteen guests. The eco-resort is a gem in terms of wooden construction. The owners, an Austrian/Australian couple, along with their entire team, are 100% there for the guests. The bungalows are spacious and very luxurious. Each bungalow has a very spacious terrace and has enough privacy from the other accommodations. The resort is an oasis of tranquility. Do not expect noisy or exuberant "apres-dive" moments. The entire resort (and island) is a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life and where peace and quiet are held in high regard. Surely we have had quite a few diving vacations in Southeast Asia over the past 20 years in different areas of Indonesia. Halmahera certainly stands out. The corals are exuberant, lush, diverse and colorful. The number of fish species is huge and the quantities are enormous. What we found super is the way the resort treats snorkelers. Those who wish to snorkel are given the same attention as that given to divers. If necessary, the dive sites are co-determined by the snorkelers who may be present. This was super! We have never been to a dive destination where snorkeling was so beautiful. In addition to corals and large numbers of smaller fish, encounters with blacktip reef sharks, humphead parrotfish and turtles were commonplace during snorkeling. During night snorkeling, an encounter with bizarre nocturnal creatures and epaulette sharks (walking sharks) was an almost certainty every time. The diving also left nothing to be desired. There is a dive guide assigned per bungalow which is unprecedented. They work with very experienced dive guides. The captain and his help on the boat are local people with great knowledge of local currents and dive sites. To conclude : We will definitely go back ! Kusu Island Resort seems to me very well combinable with for example Siladen resort. A diving and snorkeling vacation of one week at Siladen Resort and then, after a short domestic flight to Halmahera, another week at Kusu Island Resort would be great !

Greetings

Geert and Els