My wife and I recently spent a week in Manado diving at the world-renowned Bunaken Marine Park. We had booked a dive package with Thalassa Dive Centre (a PADI 5* dive centre and possibly one of the best-run outfits in Asia) and we were given a choice of three different accommodations. We could either stay on-site at Hotel Santika, or we could stay nearby at the 4 Fish or at Bahowo Lodge. After consulting the respective websites and, more importantly, the other reviews on tripadvisor, we were convinced that Bahowo Lodge provided us the best value for money and would be the best accommodation by a long shot.

To summarise briefly, Hotel Santika was essentially like any other hotel you'd find around the world and we were told that the 4 Fish did not even have air-conditioned rooms. By way of comparison, not only did Bahowo Lodge come with all the mod-cons essential and conducive for comfortable travel (good air-conditioning, hot water, clean rooms, fresh sheets), the food at the Lodge was also fantastic, with a mouth-watering spread laid out for us every evening.

Upon arrival in Manado (after a 3 hour delay from Jakarta), we were greeted by Tom, Phil and Paula's ever-smiling driver, and ushered to the waiting car. The Lodge itself is located some 15km away from the city but due to the appalling road conditions, the journey can take between 40-50 minutes by car. As our flight from Jakarta had been delayed by 3 hours, we were concerned that we would not be able to get dinner (it was 9pm at the time). However, our fears were allayed upon arrival at the Lodge as there was food available and Phil wasted no time in bringing out the nasi goreng (fried rice), chicken sate (grilled chicken skewers) with sweet peanut sauce and some stir-fried vegetables.

The room that was prepared for us was also very comfortable and clean, with a firm queen-sized bed and fresh sheets laid out. Most importantly, and as alluded to above, the rooms were made up to Western standards, with all the mod-cons required. A short word on the hot water though. Although there was hot water available for our showers, we found that the hot water did run out after some time. As we were the only guests in residence at the time, there was still ample hot water for us to use, but we wondered how this might have been different if the Lodge was at capacity. Nevertheless, as we had been informed of this by Phil and Paula in advance, we were conscious to be a little bit more judicious and expedient in our showers.

As we had come to Manado primarily for the diving, we spent the bulk of the day away from the Lodge. Each morning, a simple breakfast consisting of home-made toast and eggs (done any way you like it) would be prepared for us. Although we would have liked more variety in our choice of breakfast, we were nevertheless satisfied by the quality of the food overall. In any event, we usually found ourselves downing our food quickly in order to get to the dive centre in time for the 8am dive! After breakfast, Tom would be waiting by the car to chauffeur us down to Thalassa Dive Centre.

The dive centre is located in the next village, approximately 10 minutes away by car. As transportation to and from the dive centre were provided for readily, we were therefore unconcerned about staying "off-site" from the dive centre. In the evenings, Tom would again be waiting at the dive centre to take us home after we had completed our diving for the day. We found this arrangement to be very flexible and accommodating. All we had to do was to indicate at the start of the day the number of dives we were expected to be doing, and Tom would be waiting at the dive centre for us upon the conclusion of our activities.

Upon arrival back at the Lodge, we would almost always be greeted very enthusiastically by Phil and Paula's two very adorable golden retrievers, George and Poppy! A previous reviewer had mentioned that a love for dogs was essential when staying at the Lodge. Whilst we are unsure as to whether this would indeed be the case for all guests, we would add that George and Poppy certainly helped to make our stay extra memorable, and playing with the dogs was undoubtedly a most enjoyable way of unwinding at the end of a long day.

Dinners were always a treat for us as well. Sultje, Phil and Paula's wonderful miracle-worker cook, would prepare the most amazing spread for our dinners, from freshly caught groupers or chicken sate to stir-friend papaya leaves and aubergines. And to complement all this, her very own home-made sweet peanut sauce and dabu-dabu (take in small quantities only!) Evening meals were always wonderful and, with Phil and Paula joining us, we also thoroughly enjoyed the conversations around the table - especially the stories of how Phil and Paula came to be living in this tiny, remote corner of the world, and the sort of work they are doing in the village.

For those of you concerned by a lack of activities to be had apart from diving, we can say that there was never a shortage of things for us to do whilst at the Lodge. Phil and Paula's extensive library of books and DVDs (Downton Abbey ftw!) kept us occupied in the evenings and, for the non-divers amongst you, we were told that various tours to surroundings areas such as the Minahasa highlands or Manado city itself could very easily be arranged through Phil and Paula.

Perhaps most importantly, we were especially heartened to see for ourselves the work that Phil and Paula are doing in and amongst the 110 families of Bahowo village. From setting up a local clinic to sponsoring the children's education at the local primary school and organising various activities for the whole village, we have come to realise that Phil and Paula are an integral part of village life in Bahowo and an important source of employment for the team (made up primarily of locals from the village) working at the Lodge.

For this reason alone, we believe that Phil and Paula deserve all the support they can get and we would strongly recommend that anyone desirous of a holiday to these parts should eschew the other run-of-the-mill establishments in favour of Bahowo Lodge. In our opinion, this necessitates no sacrifice on the part of the guest at all as, for all the reasons proffered above, the Lodge is run to a very high and efficient standard, with Phil and Paula's personal touch giving it that extra something you will not find elsewhere.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and were glad to have been able to meet Phil, Paula, George, Poppy and the rest of the team at the Lodge. We look forward to returning there the next time the diving bug bites again.

Situated on the mainland of north Sulawesi 15 km away from the capital Manado (because of the partly narrow roads and the traffic in the city a car needs around 30-45 min. to the town center) facing the islands of the Bunaken National Park the Bahowo Lodge is located directly in the small village Bahowo. The lodge is a two storey buliding with many balconies and teracces,where you can sit and relax, a very nice garden with a swimmingpool and sunloungers. Our room was big, tastefully furnished with AC and a bathroom with a hot shower. The whole house has a little bit of a colonial style. We and another couple where the only guests at this time and we enjoyed our privacy very much (i think there are 7 guest rooms in total). On hightide the ocean reaches the walls at the front of the premises but there is no beach and because of the mangroves there is only seaview from the upper balconies.The food was very good, always served very nicely outside. One day we asked for some seafood and in the evenning the cook, Sultje, provide us a delicious dinner with many different kinds of seafood including lobster. We also loved the dabu-dabu , a very spicy chilli paste.There is a dive center 5 min away which we did´t use but we heard only good things about it from the other guests who were using it daily. Besides that you can play with the three friendly golden retriewers , walk through the village and the nearby countryside (nice views to Mandado Tua Island and Bunaken) or go on a day trip, e.g. to the Minahasa Highlands.
All in all very pleasant but, what makes it so special are the people. At first Paula and Phil, the owners who moved from britain in 2003 to built the lodge and to live with the village people. They make us feel at home from the beginning and we spend many hours with them talking about quite everything. And there are the nice, always smiling people from the village, the children you can visit in the school, meet at the streets or in the lodge, Raymond the driver and tour guide who told us many things about his life and this part of indonesia and and so many others.
For us it was a very special expierence and we are looking forward to our next stay in the near future.
Paula and Phil wrote a very entertainig book „Bahowo lodge - an Indonesian Affaire“ with many interesting and entertaining stories how they found this wonderful place, about their life in a foreign country, the annoying bureaucracy in indonesia and of course about the people in the village and their culture, all combined with a lot of general information about North Sulawesi.
So, there is only one advise: read the book and go there!

I stayed here on my own for good on two weeks in September of 2011. I would recommend this place to any type of traveler; be it someone traveling alone, a honeymoon couple and or anyone in-between. Paula and Phil, the proprietors, will go out of their way to make you feel at home. Words that come to mind when remembering my stay here are; genuine people, delicious home-style cooking, stimulating dinner conversation, friendly and efficient staff, and a homey, heartwarming atmosphere. Would I go back to the same place again? In a flash. Highly recommended.

We spend more than 10 nights at the lodge and enjoyed every minute of it. Phil and Paula are perfect hosts to make you feel comfortable and so nice to chat with. Good spacious rooms and so much other places for the guests to sit or rest. Dinner at various places near the house or the garden. And the swimming pool was good to cool down if the temperature got too hot. Very good also for divers as alternate for the bigger hotels. Free ride to and from the dive base Thalassa. And not to forget the small Bahowo village with wonderful nice people and everybody always wanted to say hi. Esp. the children are a must see and visit their school. The book Phil wrote about their settlement in the village and starting up the lodge is worthwhile reading every page. When after the live aboard we stayed at a big hotel, but returned for a BBQ to the lodge and it felt a bit like “coming home”. Special thanks to the excellent cooks for cooking us such delicious meals, only eating the big crab was a challenge! Absolutely recommended for a stay near Manado or Bunaken.