Palambak Paradise Resort Pulau Banyak

- 50% for single travelers If you are alone, you only pay 50% for the bungalow. - Own good private bathroom, which other bungalows of the same price do not have. Some only have a shared bathroom. - Bungalows are located directly on the very long sandy beach. - Comfortable double bed - Quiet No mosque, no chickens to be heard in the morning from my bungalow. I was the only guest for 7 days. - Mosquito net without holes - Manager speaks good English. - Friendly manager named Mr. Deni. - The manager organized the transport from my bungalow to Lake Toba. - Free WiFi at the restaurant - Electricity from 6 p.m. to about 10 p.m. - Diving mask for rent But I had my own goggles and diving fins. - Fish and corals were OK, but I had to swim about 400 m into the open sea for them. The manager can take you there. - Free drinking water, tea and coffee 24/7. - Pick up in Balai When I arrived with the local boat in Balai on Pulau Balai, a gentleman was waiting for me and took me to the second boat. - Good food whenever I wanted But you should bring enough snacks. Dinner was more rice than I could eat, lunch was OK, but for breakfast there was only a very thin banana pancake. On the way to Singkil I bought waffles, marshmallows, cookies, chocolate cookies, small breads with cheese or chocolate for 25 EUR. I was not hungry and I did not lose weight. - Some useful information 2 flights per week from Medan to Singkil with Susi Air. The manager recommended a good, quiet and cheap hotel in Singkil called Alviya. Private taxi from Medan to Singkil 1,500,000 IDR. The local boat to the resort runs every day between 10 and 11 am. You can get the ferry schedule from Mr Darmawan from Banyak Island Travel, Darmawan Singkil <dmawan_skl76@yahoo.com> or from Customer Service ASDP <cs@asdp.id>. Private taxi from Singkil to Lake Toba 1,200,000 IDR organized by the manager. Boat from Balai to the resort 350,000 IDR.

- In my bungalow the only power socket was broken. But there was another power socket at the restaurant. - It takes a whole day to get there with 2 boats from Singkil. - You can't choose your food from a menu. The manager will suggest something he has. I always said ok. - You should bring the following with you as you can't buy anything on the island. There is only one other resort and nothing else. Any medicine you might need. Flashlight with spare batteries Sun hat Sunscreen Lots of different snacks, especially if you like chocolate like me. 2 large water bottles for refills.

The cabin house was nice and that’s it

Living like in prison cause no activities, no tour guide and nothing organized by the owner . Seems like the owner accept booking and then let the people leave after the first day . No juice just water tap . You’re are in an island and the only thing to do is to swim . Rats . No ballon to play, no kayak , nothing to really untertain any guest and that’s why when we arrive we were the only two guest , that mean his lying on the booking cause we took the last 2 remaining or when we arrive 5 house was completely empty. I will not recommend people to go there and just pay a bit more to go in the north of the island and get a real resort with good people here to make your stay good and always present to give you activities , good food and good house . With a lot of people so it’s better .

Bungalows are well distanced and cozy, right in front of the ocean. We loved the beauty and quietness of the place. Danny and his staff are very caring and discreet at the same time. They cooked delicious fish for us, fished daily. The strength of this accomodation is its small size, which allows you to stay away from crowds and to truly enjoy this remote tropical island.

We liked only the view.

First, when we arrived the host did not welcome us well without any information about the accommodation. The place doesn’t look like the picture on the website. Indeed, the “room” is not very clean. We saw some animals like rats, big fly bees and ants on the toilet. The host was not pleasant and spoke about personal drugs stories that is not correct at all for the guests. The food was in a small quantity and even if you don’t eat you need to pay anyway. (150k per day and per person) One last thing, the bed sheets gave us allergies all over out bodies. During the night it was impossible to find a correct sleep because of the heat and the lack of a fan.

After a gruelling journey to get to the island, involving a plane (or 10 hour drive), a taxi and boat, we appareaed to arrive at Paradise. The island is beautiful and the colour of water is turquoise. However, very soon it became clear that paradise was in fact a prison!!! Dani (owner and maniac) gave us zero information upon our arrival and we to discover all the fatal flaws of this resort ourselves. 1. RAT INFESTATION. You are guaranteed to be sharing your room with rats. We found rat poo on top of our mosquito nets and a dead rat in our room. We saw rats every day and night. That is one piece of local wildlife you are guaranteed to see. 2. YOU ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON HIM. He cooks very small meals three times a day for 150.000. There are no options to get food anywhere else so bring snacks. You also have no cold drinks. Everyone we spoke to on the island had lost weight during their time there. 3. NO WI-FI and no mobile signal apart from very unreliable hotspot (again dependant on Dani). This isn’t a problem for most but we were not told prior to arriving and we were unable to book our onwards travel. If this is the case he needs to be upfront about it. 4. Very dirty mattresses and black mouldy pillows, there was an overpowering smell of BO coming from the mattress when sleeping. 5. Intimidating owner when confronted about the rats… post the discovery of a dead rat next to our bed (see photo attached) we voiced our upset about this issue. He was not pleased about us telling him how we felt about the situation In summary if you want a Robinson Crusoe moment on a gorgeous paradise island this is it however heed our warnings and be cautious of Dani the owner and far too friendly rats that reside here.

The cabins

The restaurant

The name of the the Resort says it all: it is a paradise. The best place to disconnect, relax, eat healthy and enjoy the remote way of living. On top of that Dani is an awesome host and facilitates great meals🫶

We travelled with our kids (1,5 and 3 years old at the time of travel). The location is great: on a remote island, nestled on the side naturally sheltered from the wind. During our stay (mid-February), there were a few strong night storms, but they were pleasant and caused absolutely no problems or damage. The rooms are spacious, the bathroom is nice, and the mosquito nets are wide, new, and without any holes. We loved the remote feel of the location. We typically spent our days at the resort or on the beach just around the corner - this beach ranks among the top three best beaches we have ever seen and is completely deserted. With palm trees on white sand and shallow water at around 30 degrees Celsius. We particularly enjoyed the dinners - we had fresh fish every evening (we mentioned our love for fish upon arrival). Deni went fishing every afternoon and prepared fresh fish each evening, along with really tasty vegetables. The owner, Deni, is very kind. He is a great cook and made our boat excursion truly memorable - we saw a manatee and many turtles. He arranged our transportation, promptly replied to all our messages, and truly deserves recognition for his outstanding hospitality.

We would love some more variety for breakfast (excellent banana pancakes every day). The rooms are really hot during night, making the sleep a bit uncomfortable.

Great island. Great resort. Basic wooden hut with toilet and shower. Even without a fan (there is electricity from around 6 to 10 PM) it does not get too hot. Lovely, clean garden/beach area. Not too many mosquitos. There is Wifi (not everywhere, but it works). Good food, great host (Deni - contact him with whatever question you have, f.e. transport to/from the island). Enjoy the turtles, the fishes, the sand and the coconut :-).

Nothing. It is indeed a paradise.

Perfect place to spend a time in natural tropics! Deni and staff - cool friendly guys, who make your rest the best as far as possible on a desert island

Nothing!