Harmony Bay Resort and Dive Center

We had a fantastic stay at Harmony Bay. The bay itself is absolutely gorgeous, the bungalows are spacious and I could spend a year chilling in the hammock on the veranda. Valentina and Rock took great care of us even though they had literally just returned from Europe and came on the same boat we did to the resort. The beach was soft and incredible and our kids loved playing on it and in the ocean. The sunset views were spectacular and we loved the shady resort area and the food. They even went out of their way to help us spot some endemic owls since they saw I was enjoying looking for birds around the property. This is a simple place, there is only electricity in the evenings and not even fans but the breeze and the jungle tend to cool down the bungalows and the chill atmosphere lets you immerse yourself in the surrounding beauty of nature. It's a wonderful place to go off the grid for a few days which is becoming increasingly harder to find in our interconnected world and the snorkeling on their coral garden is incredible. You have to swim out a way over the shallow ledge to get to the reef but when you do it's like swimming into another world full of colorful coral and fish, it's absolutely magical! Days spent reading in a hammock and snorkeling that reef will be some of the best days of your life.

We had high hopes for Harmony Bay, and we were not disappointed. The setting is pristine and isolated - exactly like the pictures. Yes, it is worth it to spend a slight bit extra to get a waterfront villa. You are just a stone's throw from the water, and the front veranda with both chairs and hammocks are large enough for two or more. The veranda is where we spent most of our time, just enjoying the beautiful bay and surrounding lush jungle views. During our stay at HB, there were only a couple more guests, and the peaceful feeling with the beautiful sunsets and waves lapping in front of our bungalow was just hypnotic. The bed was a bit firm, but adequate. Yes, there is only electricity from dusk until 11:30pm, so if you want to charge your phone or other electronics, you time it appropriately. And no, there isn’t any cell service or wifi, though Yang Yang, the manager, does have the ability to communicate out if needed. Overall we were very comfortable, but if the breezes die down, it can get sticky without any fans or air conditioning. You need to take your own heat tolerance into consideration. We enjoyed the family style meals with the other guests. They cook eggs to order in the morning, or can provide other breakfast options. There is also always a morning fruit bowl, and there are thermoses of hot water with tea bags and instant coffee on the table throughout the day (we were happy that we had brought our own creamer). The cook includes a lot of fresh vegetables for lunch and dinner - a real treat when eating on a rather remote island. We ate a lot of fish which we really enjoyed, but when a family arrived with children, all of a sudden there were pasta dishes and other foods that were more kid friendly. And their afternoon snacks are absolutely delicious! However, my husband’s favorite was having young coconuts, kelapa mudah, freshly cut down from the top of the trees right in the compound. They cut off the tops of the coconut, and then you drink the coconut water straight from the coconut. It is refreshing and full of healthy electrolytes. Then you can have it cut open further, and use a spoon to scoop out the tender flesh. What a treat! Yang Yang, the onsite manager, was quite helpful arranging whatever activities we wanted to do for the day, whether it was going to the jellyfish lake, snorkeling, or out to explore local fishing villages. His English is quite good, and he was able to give us great advice to help us match our plans to the weather. We had some windy days which kept us closer to the island, but we were still able to kayak to the next harbor where there was even better snorkeling than in our own bay. We also took a jungle walk behind the resort which let us experience what it is like on the inside of the island, and visited both a nearby resort as well as found the other way to get to the bay next to us. We were advised to look for the man who was boiling down palm sap to make the local delicacy,