Atauro Dive Resort

Great location. Excellent dive team and hotel staff.

Food was included, 3 meals, serviceable but plain. Homemade icecream was a nice touch.

The staff were a particular standout. Knowledgeable, friendly, responsive and anticipated all our needs during our stay. The facilities are basic but very comfortable and exactly what one should expect on a remote tropical island but certainly excellent value for money and kept clean to an excellent standard. The perfect location to relax, explore the most amazing underwater world I have ever seen and contribute to the local economy. Fantastic!

The location is absolutely stunning, right on the water. You can walk straight from your room into the sea, with reef only around 50 metres offshore. Most guests seemed to be there for diving, although I wasn't, and I still really enjoyed the setting and experience. I stayed in one of the more basic rooms with a shared bathroom, including a simple shower and drop toilet in a thatched structure. The room itself was basic and somewhat dated but perfectly functional, with a good mosquito net provided. The shower was cold water only, although I understand some of the other bungalows have private bathrooms. I really appreciated the included meals. Portions were generous, there was always something a little different and often local, and the communal dining arrangement provided a nice opportunity to meet other travellers. Some of the staff were fantastic, particularly the German owner and the international mix of staff and dive instructors gives the resort an interesting atmosphere.

The property and some of the accommodation are showing their age, although this wasn't a major issue given the remote island setting. Staff engagement was also a little inconsistent — some were extremely friendly and helpful, while others seemed less interested. I hired a scooter for the day and unfortunately had an intermittent problem with the wiring/battery connection. I reported the issue but didn't feel it was taken particularly seriously. The scooter stopped near the top of the island and thankfully some very helpful locals worked out the problem. It could be temporarily fixed by hitting the base near the battery connection but obviously this is something that should be properly repaired before the scooter is hired out again.

Staff is very friendly, diving was amazing, place has great potential.

3 Roosters running around and crowing every 7 seconds as of 4 in the morning every single day make it impossible to rest. Even airpods with noise cancelling didn't make it. Either you do business that is client oriented or you live in henhouse - hard to combine both.