Blue Shark Divers Bunaken

This review is about diving only I didn't stay to sleep.

Dion is very nice owner, very welcoming. We wanted to go to Mandolin and Lekuan 2 and he arranged us a boat to go their as the other divers went to an other diving site. So thank you very much for this.

The price are very fair : 900k for 2 morning dives.

We went with Jeffrey, he is a very good dive master. Friendly, knowledgeable and he cares a lot about safety. We felt safe during our dives thanks to him.

The diving gears are good.

I really recommend this diving center

The homestay is just off the beach. Rooms are new, with AC. The food is as amazing, big breakfasts including fruits, super tasty dinners, each day a different dish. Drinking water, coffee, tea available anytime for free, a fridge with soft drinks and beer for sale.

Diving with Dion and was great. I completed my PADI open water diver course. Dion was very friendly and helpful. The diving equipment was good. I saw many turtles and some reef sharks during my dives. I will recommend him as a dive master to my friends.

My Partner Morgan and I stayed here unfurtnally only for 2 nights

We did 5 dives in total and all of them where great.
We had bad luck with the weather but Dion found still the right places to give us a good dive.

Also it was very nice to Dive with Geoffrey the Divemaster. Morgan and I are both Instructors so we had our own guide. He did really long dives with us between 60-80 minutes! Can't complain as we know sometimes you get send out with a full tank after 40 minutes. So we where really happy!

Also the food was amazing. I'm vegetarian and always had really tasty sides, from fried eggs to tofu and and and

We would love to come back and we wished we would have stayed longer.

Thank you so much

We stayed at Blue Shark Divers for three nights and had the best time! Duon sorted us out with transport and welcomed us. Food here is great and the location is prime with beautiful snorkelling and diving spots just from the beach 30 meters away. We did a day of diving with Jeffrey which was stunning. Can really recommend and will go back!

We did the PADI Open Water with Dion and his staff and everything was perfect. The team is very nice. We are thankful to Dion and Merfy for the instruction, he was a really professional and good teacher to help me to enjoy diving in safety conditions.
We completely recommend this place for fun dive and even more for the diving course.
Hopefully we come back to dive on Bunaken !

The experienced and laid-back guides at Blue Shark are a highlight. Their decades of expertise shine through as they lead you through the breathtaking underwater landscapes. They're not only skilled but also incredibly helpful, ensuring each dive is a safe and memorable experience.

What sets Blue Shark apart is their unwavering customer-first mentality. The flexibility and variety of dive site choices provided by Dion and the team are outstanding. They go above and beyond to make sure your diving experience is personalized and exceptional. From first contact to goodbyes - the whole customer journey was great.

In summary, if you're seeking an unforgettable diving adventure in the heart of Bunaken's natural wonders, look no further than Blue Shark. It's a diver's dream come true, where every plunge into the crystal-clear waters reveals a world of marine marvels.

When I arrived in bunaken, I was wondering if I would dive since I never did before and was quite afraid of the ocean (the deep blue).

I still wanted too see the famous corals and life underwater of Bunaken (especially the turtles 🐢), so I decided to go for a discovery dive.
I think it was the best decision I could take : Dion took the time to explain to me all the basics skills of diving before going only the three of us (my boyfriend made a refresh dive so he enjoyed the course I had).

Dion is a very good teacher, makes sure you understand everything and are okay before/during/after the dive, he will show you many things underwater and particularly the ones that you wouldn't see by yourself. During this dive, I felt so comfortable that I finally ended up taking the whole Open water dive course. In 4 days I dived 8 times and was learning the theory parts in the afternoons. Dion always dived with me and, as I was the only one taking this course, it was a particular one ! 😁

I fully trusted in him and my fear of the deep blue kind of faded away as I progressed in the course.

The blue shark divers' staff are really kind, they equiped us, washed our masks before every dive, offered us coffee/tea and biscuits after the dive ... They make sure you're comfortable and help you whenever you need it. 🥰

I don't regret my decision and will remember this experience every time I go for a dive.
Terima kasih banyak Dion and the blue shark divers' team !! 👌🏻❤

Diving with blue shark divers was a great experience. Dion and his team were professional and equipment was in good condition. This is a family run operation out of Dion's house with friends and family contributing. There are plenty of dive companies to choose from on Bunaken but few are owned by locals. If you're looking to support a local dive shop, this is where I would go. Plus you can't be the price. Rooms were clean and comfortable and air conditioned (most importantly). Food and snacks were included and very good as well.

This review refers to my diving and stay at Blue Shark Divers in April & May 2023.
Blue Shark Divers is a PADI Divecenter and Homestay with two double rooms, family owned and operated by Dive Instructor Murdiono "Dion" Mayo. The Divecenter targets mainly backpacking tourists that stay in the homestays on the island of Bunaken.

When I first visited Bunaken in April 2023 I stayed for 10 nights at "The Village Bunaken" but selected Blue Shark Divers as my divecenter of choice because of the good rating on google and the more attractive pricing. Dion reacted very quickly on my first contact through WhatsApp and I was very pleased that he also offered me to take care of my transportation from the Manado Airport to Bunaken by a driver and his boat crew and also a motorbike which I wanted to rent for my entire stay.
Both pick up from the airport and boat transfer as well as the motorbike rental was fine and as promised.

The Divecenter is located at Dions private house which is just 20 meters away from the beach. He has his own compressor room directly at the beach where his dive boats are moored.
I rented the full set of equipment which was already included in the rate for diving (except the dive computer which cost extra). The equipment (Aqualung Jacket and Regulators) was in very good condition and I learned that Dion takes much care for the maintenance of his regulators by himself.

Diving at Blue Shark Divers was perfectly organised. Once I had selected the right size of my gear, the dive crew took care of it. When I came to the boat in the morning (2 morning dives starting 08:00 am with 1h interval and return around lunchtime), all my equipment was already on the boat, set up and ready to dive. Also after we returned from the diving I could just leave the boat with my personal items. All gear was carried and rinsed with freshwater by the boat crew and the Divemasters. There was always a captain on the boat, one additional crew and at least one Divemaster as a dive guide. Even when I was the only single guest diving (!) With more guests there was always more Divemasters and sometimes also Dion himself was on the boat but he mainly focus on managing his business and doing the OWD / AOWD courses. There was always water / coffee / tee and some cookies or sometimes yummy banana pancakes on the boat. It is worth while to mention that my girlfriend who is not a diver but just loves snorkelling, was always welcome on the boat at no additional cost. While I was diving she enjoyed snorkelling and the excellent reefs and even when the current was strong, the boat crew always looked after her and picked her up when she came a bit off too far. Excellent service!!!!

The diving itself was great. I loved to dive the steep walls of Bunaken. The underwater landscape is absolutely gorgeous. Divesites like Alung Banua, Celah-Celah, Muka Kampung but also Siladen will always be my best memories. My Divemaster during my first stay was Fenly and he was a great guide, always trying to find the small creatures, nudibranchs and stuff in the reef. But also Jeffrey, who was my Divemaster during my second visit, was a great guide and it was a great pleasure to dive with him. As a CMAS*** with may dives in my logbook both Fenly and Jeffrey "allowed" me to go a little deeper as I liked it and the dive time was always 60+ minutes.
Regarding the underwater life I don't want to write much. You have to experience it. It's awesome.

We had PADI open water course with Dion. We were sleeping at Panorama Backpackers and he came every morning with his boat and equipage to pick us up. He was such a good instructor, helped us to get familiar with dive techniques and to understand the theory concepts. He was very precise in every step, from preparation of the equipment, dive exercises. He took care we learned everything the best we could. Also perfect pick of the diving sites, so many turtles and fishes and wonderful coral reef.
He is really friendly and can also tell you many things about this area of indonesia.
Highly recommended to do the course or dives with him!

In search of some great diving (obviously a must do in Bunaken) we found Blue Shark Divers online and easily made reservations with Dion in advance via WhatsApp. He is very helpful and organized and answered all of our questions on prices, rent gear and safety professionally, as soon as we met him.
Their boats are in good shape, providing shade and plenty of space for gear and passengers. We had hot coffee and tea and even a small trip to Siladen Island during our surface intervalls. The crew was very attentive, from carrying all the tanks to helping with gearing up, even cleaning all masks before every dive. The rent gear is excellently maintained!
Also, our guide Martin is so good in spotting the little hidden macro gems in the walls. We got to see a pygmy seahore, leaf scorpion fish, orang utan crab and tons of different Nudibranches. We had great fun, see you next time!

We spent 5 incredible days at Blue Shark Divers and would 100% recommend homestay and diving. The owners are super nice, the meals delicious and the dive instructors very professional! Thanks again Dion for our Open Water experience, we're going to have some great memories. Hope to see you again
Léa & Seb

Me and me girlfriend did our open water course there. For a first diving experience we needed a safe instructor, good equipment, great learning environment and we found it !
Dion was so professional (funny also) ! We were just us with him and he make sure that we understood everything (theory and practice)
The place we've been for diving were also amazing (many turtles, corals, Napoléon and even a manta ray but from the boat)
One time I had to go up to the surface (I started to panic because I had a lot of water entering my nose) I signaled him and he has reacted in a safe way and trying to calm me
We didn't stay at his guesthouse but many friends said that it's great too!
Absolutely recommended 👍🐢🤿

I had a wonderful 3 days of diving with Dion, his team and his family. The shop is in the heart of the Bunaken village, which is very cute and filled with nice people.

The room was super comfy and had both AC and fan. The home cooked food was delicious, and plentiful. I never managed to finish half of it.

The average dive time was a bit over 60 min (mostly limited by my own air consumption) and the rental equipment felt above average. Our dive guide was nice and was always pointing out interesting things.

If you want to try Bunaken and not feel stuck inside a resort, I highly recommend!

I couldn’t have been happier with Blue Shark. Highly recommend. Dion is an excellent instructor and good guy. Although from the mainland, he has been on Bunaken for 18 years. The homestay is good value, the facilities are new and the homecooked meals are tasty. There are plenty of resorts on the island, but Blue Shark has a relaxed feel and the benefits clearly go to the locals. Besides that, the diving is very good. The walls have a lot of fish, some rays and reef sharks, several sea turtles, nudibranch, and I even saw the very strange creature that is the frog fish.

Such an amazing dive center, small groups, insane dives with so many turtles. My girlfriend did her advanced OW in 2 days and it went really great. I can only recommend Dion and his team if you look for a place to dive in Bunaken!

Dion and his family are extraordinary! Rooms are clean, food is delicious and diving here is a must
We will come back for sure! Thanks for all

Perfect place for diving! Had an amazing time with Dion and his family. The food is so delicious! We did 11 dives and never went to the same spot! The rooms are comfortable and clean. 100 % recommended, just perfect!

We stayed three nights in the homestay. The rooms are comfortable with AC, the bathroom is basic but good enough.

The highlight was the food, the best we had in our 5 week trip throughout Indonesia!

The diving equipment and the boats are in good condition. I did two dives the first day, and I did not enjoy the experience. It was my first dive after 4 years, the dive master knew but he never actively briefed me on anything (luckily there was another experience diver doing the fun dive with me, and he helped me). During the dive, the dive master was completely focused on his own dive so it didn't feel safe for me. I don't recommend doing dives to anyone in a similar situation as mine, but if you are experienced it should be fine.

Due to that we spent the rest of the days snorkeling, the boat captain knows the good sites and we had a lot of fun!

Amazing place!
They only have two bedrooms so you should definitely book it before. The bedrooms are comfortable (altought only twin beds) with fan, AC and private bathroom.
Also, they have two dogs who can be very curious and affectionate - not the best if you are afraid of dogs!
We did 4 dives with Jeffrey who was an awesome dive master, showing us so much wildlife from tiny nudibranches to a large white-tip shark passing below us!
Last but not least, the guesthouse is just in front of the arrival / departure of the fast boat which is very convenient.