“Ora Beach Resort”
Reviewed January 01, 2016We visited Ora in February this year & it truly is heaven on earth. It didn't matter how many photos we took pictures cannot do justice to this place.
We spent 6 days here for a honeymoon with a difference & it was fantastic.
To get to Ora was an adventure in its itself. We flew from Perth, Australia to Bali, Makassar then Ambon (spend a couple of days in Ambon if you can, we loved it!). Then it was a 2 hr boat ride to Masohi followed by a 3 hr car ride. We decided to get the package that included transfers from our hotel in Ambon, the boat ride & the car transfers to Saleman village. It was very handy having the transfers included however, all drivers expected a tip to the point where the transfers in the price defeated the purpose & to be honest we found this extremely frustrating.
Once we arrived at Saleman it was a 10 min boat ride across to Ora, this is the only way to get there as there is no road access to Ora at all. We were greeted by staff on the jetty (the short boat trip was also included in the price but a tip was expected), we were shown to our bungalow over the water then the staff member left us to our own devices. This was actually amusing to us as the staff speak very limited English, if at all, therefore communication was a tad tricky at first. We had no idea when or where meals were or anything about the place. After talking to the people in the next bungalow we worked out meal times & discovered the electricity comes on at about 6pm & stays on til sunrise. There is only 1 power point so take a power board if you need to charge several items. There is no hot water at all in the bungalows & the rest of the accommodation is very basic. If you want 5 star luxury this is not the place for you. I am one of these people who doesn't like staying in anything less than 4 stars but even I enjoyed this basic style of living. We took snacks & drinks with us as there are none available (they usually have water for purchase but that's not guaranteed) & the only shop is back across the water which will cost you about $10 return. There is no fridge in the room so keep this in mind when taking food over.
My husband took a folding fishing rod over with us & some squid as bait that we had purchased in Ambon. He was able to fish straight off the balcony of the bungalow which was fantastic. If you can ask for one of the very end 2 bungalows as they are directly over the coral and watching the different fish all day long is phenomenal. At one point a giant fish swam past but unfortunately the rod wasn't ready. Snags on the coral can be a tiny bit of a problem but my husband just jumped in & unsnagged the line. The snorkelling is amazing, make sure to take your own flippers & snorkel from Ambon as there are none available to buy or rent. If you have a GoPro be sure to take that as well. We saw giant starfish, coral & fish of all shapes, sizes & colour. If you're not a good swimmer sitting on the balcony watching various sea creatures casually swim by is enough in itself. I took a first aid kit with us as there is no hospital nearby, some of our neighbours ended up using it for coral grazes.
The meals are served 3 times a day & lunch & dinner usually consists of fish cooked different ways. An afternoon snack is also served. The food is nothing extravagant but it was certainly nice enough. We mentioned to Mama how much we loved her banana pancakes so on the last day she made them for us again & we were thrilled-yummy!!
My husband is a very friendly man, loves a chat with everyone so even though there was a language barrier, most afternoons we had lots of the staff & other guests on our verandah fishing & trying to chat with us. This is not something that would normally happen with other guests but for us it was great as we felt part of the family.
We took a short boat trip, which was also included but with tip expected, around the cliffs & to a fresh water stream that runs into the ocean. Again the scenery was amazing & we snorkelled in a different spot.
Including all transfers, meals & over water bungalow we paid about $1000AUS for 6 nights. Our stay was fantastic and we would definitely travel there again. Be sure to take the afternoon trip back over to Saleman Village to watch thousands of tiny birds fly off over the ocean, the birds apparently fly off at dusk and return the next day. It is a natural phenomenon & is certainly something you must see.
This place is unspoilt by tourism so far & it is spectacular. The people are friendly & enjoy a laugh. Australia has travel warnings for Ambon that are based on religious fighting several years before, however, never ever did we feel any concern for our safety, in fact we felt extremely welcome & couldn't recommend a better place to visit!
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