Ora Beach Eco Resort

Great location Simple but effective resort Attentive staff Nice food

Heaven on earth! I have no other words to perfectly describe that it is one of my fave places. Tranquil, serenity, and the landscape are just some of the reasons. It took a long trip from Ambon to get here (different transport modes too: car, boat, etc). Spend 4 days, swimming, island hopping, meditation, yoga, and plenty more.

The most positive phrase I could use to summarise our stay here is that Ora Beach has real potential. First the positives: The setting is stunning: huge cliffs tower above the water; you can see hornbills, cockatoos and cuscuses in the forest; and there are some excellent tours available in the local area. More on the tours: we did an excellent trip up a river where we saw a crocodile, sago production and bird life. On this same tour we went to a scenic spot by a huge limestone cliff where we had lunch and did some snorkelling. Didn't see much but we were there during windy weather so visibility wasn't great. We then stopped at Air Belanda, where there is a nice beach with food and drinks. We did another tour to Saleman village where it was interesting to see Kampung life, but we also went to see the Lusiala birds (bats) come out a cave in a murmuration at dusk. It was pretty spectacular. The hosts are very friendly, in particular the chef who spoke good English and was keen to make our stay as positive as possible. The food was prepared excellently, but it's important to know that it is very isolated so ingredients have to be sourced from a long way away. Luckily we speak a bit of bahasa Indonesia so we could communicate with the hosts but it would have been a real challenge if not. Now the negatives, and hopefully they are areas for improvement as it could be a really stunning hotel and resort. This is not a resort, this is an expensive home stay. The room is basic: cold showers, average towels and not well-kept. There is no WiFi and the electricity only runs from 7pm-7am. Even though everyone is friendly, other than the chef, the hosts did not appreciate that their guests might want to know what we can do at Ora. There is no list of activities available, luckily there were other guests staying who we could ask for tips. There is a huge jungle in and around Ora Beach, but no trails to explore - a real shame. The cost of return transport to Ora from Ambon was astronomical: 4,000,000 rupiah!! This factors 1,000,000 for the the 2h journey from Masohi to Saleman - comparing with other transport costs on Seram and Ambon, this is unreasonable. What is most important to know is that the resort suffered serious damage from a storm, so the stilted rooms on the water are no longer there. We did not know this in advance and had to double check we were staying in the correct location. The pictures advertised all over their WhatsApp details, Instagram and website are not up to date AT ALL. We enjoyed our stay in the Ora Beach area, due to the range of activities available. However, if we returned we would definitely not stay here as it was extremely expensive for what is unequivocally a homestay.

The Ora Beach Eco Resort does not deserve it's name, as the service, cleaning and condition of the accomodations is unacceptable. The quality is resembling a homestay rather than the fancy accomodation it claims to be on the internet and that the price is indicated (highly overpriced). The food was basic and local. Fish, vegetables and rice almost every day. The cook was the only staff that was truly helpful, spoke English and was curious about our feedback on how to improve the resort. The managing lady however seemed to not like us, since we asked for beer in the resort. She didn't clean our rooms for 3 days, only started after we asked her to and repeatedly forgot things we were asking for (that we should not even be asking for in a resort), such as new towels. The rest of the staff were friendly but seemed to have no motivation whatsoever. The staff also tried to charge us for using snorkeling equipment and a kayak after using it without telling us beforehand, that there is a price for it. This was a very disappointing experience as we felt exploited by them for having to pay extra for something that should be included in this price range. The condition of the room, despite it being barely cleaned was underwhelming. We discovered that the lady did not actually clean the room, but just swept dirt under the sink (see picture) We were welcomed by a dead gecko swimming in a wine bottle and it's acrid smell. On top of that there is a giant piece of black, toxic mold above the beds (see picture).

Went for 3 nights end Oct 2021. Unfortunately very disappointing and totally overpriced. The resort is great on pics but not maintained. My room was dirty and full of dead flies. Change only to a minor room possible and no discount request was entertained. Food was average at it's best but absolutely not appropriate for the 1.6 juta we paid per night per person/hut. The area, view, water is great but for that one can better go there for a day trip and leave this place before nightfall. Also bring your own water as the "resort" doesn't even always have water for their own guest, we were usually refilling our own bottles in the resto but even that didn't work one evening. The wrap it up the best time of the trip was when checking-out and leaving.

I was really disappointed with the so called "resort" which is nothing more than a very basic, dirty, dark homestay accommodation. Only that you are charged a resort price. The food was basic but ok, the staff were friendly but hardly spoke any english. We paid a package of 5 nights with tours included but they did not mention that we had to pay for the snorkling equipment even if the tour was a snorkling trip. There was also no price list available. After our first tour we came back under pouring rain and they had no dry clean towels to give us. They did not clean the room one single time while we were there. I felt so uncomfortable that I just left earlier. Any of the other homestays around there and rightly advertised as so seemed cleaner and nicer.

This place is amazing. The resort were surrounded by the sea. When you wake up in the morning you can jump to the sea and go swimming around your room. The sea is clear, you can see many corals and fish so close. You don't need to go deep to see the underwater views, because as you take a look to the sea its barely seen.

The view of the water is so amazing, one of the best view i ever saw in here. There's coral along the shore, and so many small fishes. A clean white beach along the coast and good breeze from the sea.