Cocotinos Manado A Boutique Dive Resort & Spa

Lovely small resort with local ambience. Staff were brilliant, great restaurant and comfortable room directly in front of the water. Staff were super helpful in liaising with the airline/airport when our luggage (along with many other guests'!) did not make it to Manado on the same Scoot flight as us. With a few days' wait for the next flight from Singapore to bring our bags, the Manado shopping mall was busy with foreigners picking up a few basics to tide them over! Do try to pack a couple days' clothes, meds and provisions in your hand luggage just in case as things such as sunscreen are hard to come by.

Genuinely love the sounds of the local mosques (it was Ramadan during our stay), however did not enjoy the loud, throbbing music which travelled across the bay from evening to late night from another resort/club. Such a shame as this is not at all Cocotino's fault. They were very apologetic for it. Snorkelling trips and tours were a bit sporadic during our stay. We ended up booking the Cocotino's boat and crew privately with another couple in order to fit in a trip to Bunaken during our visit.

We liked everything! Very friendly stuff, beautiful room, very big bed, nice pool, good food with lovely decorations, stuff always helped with everything, very quiet place. We would come back anytime!

There is not really a beach for swimming and the food is expensive.

Fantastic place great food jacky our driver was exceptional with an encyclopedic knowledge of the area honest and very trustworthy man love cocotinos

Everythibg was great nothing too complain about here

Fabulous world class staff! Spacious, simple but immaculate rooms and facilities!

Litter in the beach! The staff worked so hard to clean it up but every high tide brought more! So sad! Wish we could have swum off the beach!

Easy to reach from the airport.Diving center well organized with experienced stuff.Access to great diving sites (I managed to see hammer head shark for the first time!)

The beach outside the resort is not the best

I visited mostly backpacker places on my trip but on the last day I treated myself to this resort. It has a great view of the ocean, clean pool, excellent food, massage service, and a very friendly staff. Everything you need to unwind.

Rooms and room cleaning service is good. Views from the room are good. We stayed for three nights.

TLDR- food was bad, had ants in my soup. Food is basically a deal breaker because this location is soooo far that you need to have dinner at the hotel. But since food was bad, even though other facilities are good, there is no way I will book this place again because I cannot eat dinner here. I actually skipped dinner on my last day because of the fiasco (read below)Food was such a downer. 1. First day, we ordered potato wedges and they had fried it in oil which had fried fish previously. I actually got a piece of fish!! in the dish. I don’t mind fish but I don’t want potato wedges tasting of fish, ewww2. Second day, I order a soup which had ANTS INSIDE IT. There were at least TEN ANTS floating in it. It was so unappetizing. This is unforgivable. 3. We had taken a breakfast box in the morning from them since we started at 4am on one of the days. I wish they had given a fruit or something for fibre. It felt incomplete. It was just two slices of bread and condiments. They had given two breads, two slices of cheese, two small butters and jam. 4. My husband’s dishes were okayish and not super tasty but he could eat them.

The relative quiet of this location - After coming from Tomohon it was such a relief. Very nice room - really gorgeous. Sea view and so nicely done.

The kitchen/food was poor. The weak link of this place. The rooms are gorgeous - we got the one with sea view (worth it).The food was just not good. They really need to get a decent chef as then this will be a very top place.

The resort was amazing, services were well priced and enjoyable, food and drink was delicious! And all the staff were incredibly friendly and attentive. We throughly enjoyed our stay at cocotinos and we will be back!

The only thing I could recommend is allowing for extra staff to help clean up the beaches surrounding the resort, naturally it is not as easy task and not the fault or responsibility of the resort or its staff however it would be nice to see the locals implement a trash plan for this beautiful little village.

Good service, good access to diving and snorkelling sites, after that always some free snacks at tea time :)

Meals were a bit expensive and it was not so easy to go to other restaurants

we love the quietness of this remotely located resort! The swimming pool, garden and the jetty are nice... The staff are kind and helpful.The bathroom is unique and the room is big enough for our family of 3 people. They set the sofa into a bed for our teenage boy and he loves it! :)

Dive and staff very friendly

Il mare non permette di fare snorkeling

The staff in Cocotinos was very helpful, we liked the level of service. Very comfortable rooms. We spend the New Yera's Eve there and the dinner was very pleasant and tasty...

There is no nice beach around. People not used to living in Indonesia might find the morning prayer from nearby mosque to be too loud.

Stayed twice - once at the start of the visit to North Sulawesi, and again when plans changed and we needed a last-moment place to return to. Cocotinos was an easy place to want to book again - super super friendly staff, clean comfortable rooms, a nice small environment. We used the spa once (excellent), and went on several dive and snorkeling trips with the friendly and competent and safe team at the dive center. Food is good with both Indonesian and international favorites.

One small challenge is getting to Manado city or elsewhere - the resort is in the middle of a small and basic village, which is charming in its own way. The hotel can arrange a taxi or driver to come and so it's possible to explore the area, visit the city, etc, so this is a solveable thing. But Cocotinos seems best as a place to stay, to dive, to enjoy being there, and if you're thinking of it as a base to explore, it's not really what it's set up for.

Amazing setting with pool & beach, nice restaurant in the middle and very comfortable rooms! Staff was very friendly and the check in with juice and sandwich was appreciated :) Great stop before or after going to the islands.

The quality of the food was not too good, especially considering the higher price.

We adored our time in Cocotinos, so much so that when a different part of our North Sulawesi trip fell through, we immediately went to book again at Cocotinos. The food is good and varied (Western, Indonesian, everything is well-made and available), the staff are sweet and polite and thoughtful, the dive shop and crew are solid, and the grounds + garden + pool + beach + rooms are all clean, in perfect shape, and welcoming.

The 'cost' of being on the shore optimized for diving at Bunakan island is that it's a bit of a slog to get to and from Manado city or any other places -- it's a fairly backroad journey, passing through the village of Kima Bajo. Taxi or car to and from the city can be arranged with a bit of notice though.

We really enjoyed our stay. The staff both on the resort and diving center were extremely helpful, and provided a professional service with a smile. The bungalows are tastefully decorated and in good condition. The garden, restaurant, pool area... everything works well. The diving in the area is as good as it gets. Even snorkling you can get really close to the marine life.

The beach in front of the resort is beautiful, bit the water is s bit too shallow for swimming. You need to book a trip to the nearby snorkling and divespots.

It’s a great place to stay, very comfortable. Friendly staff. The Indonesian dishes in the restaurant are top quality, and the portions are larger than one would expect.

It’s a good place. No complaints.

Great holiday destination! Best staff ever- we were spoilt from beginning to end. Food is great too! Lots of choices and top quality. Our house was fantastic- stylish yet traditional and sustainable. All facilities you need and the staff will always go an extra mile to help you. This stunning location is right in the Kima Bajo village and right on the beach, facing the stunning Bunaken National Park. Highly recommended.

The location is perfect for diving and not too far from the other things to do.Good variety of food.Beautifully decorated place, very relaxing.