El Arca

A really nice relaxing few days

Pros: Very tranquil place, very few people when I stayed so it was very relaxing. The plankton tour is worth doing and the food is pretty good considering how remote we are, fresh caught fish.

Cons: Only one of the staff speak english, but why should they? It was good for me to practice my Spanish anyway.

Fantastic stay, recommend 10/10

Pros: Very clean, beautiful property with great amenities! Great ambiance too :) The host and the employees are super friendly and know how to treat guests. It's a private island so you will also be secluded from the main island life, which creates an extremely relaxed, chill atmosphere. Perfect for relaxing and disconnecting after a busy voyage. The activities available are also splendid and priced well. Kayaking around the islands and doing the plankton tour are definitively a very big recommendation. I will be coming back.

Pros: Amazing location! Rooms were clean with air conditioning. Food was simple but good!

Cons: Showers were very weak

Wonderful

Pros: Location, location, location Nice hammocks with mosquito nets

Cons: Dorm floor wasn’t swept a single time and was very dirty

Nice place to spend one ore two nights

Pros: The hostel is the howl island. You can snorkel around. It has a nice place to go in to the water. When I was there it had nearly no one else. It is avoid place to chill. Nice sunset.

Cons: No water for free. There was always music. Would be nice sometimes just to have silence.

Beautiful paradise with a couple of things that need improving

Pros: Absolutely gorgeous slice of paradise. The swimming areas and hang outs spots are heaven. The hammocks are great to sleep in, nice and big and there is a breeze at night. We enjoyed our stay, however, there are a few things that we think need improving which I will mentioned below. Despite the few issues it’s still definitely worth going!

Cons: You are not able to bring your own food or drinks onto the island, which is totally understandable. However, unfortunately we found it to be overpriced for what you get. Especially the breakfast which is 30 000 for a very small portion of basic breakfast. We also found the activities to be overpriced for what they were. We opted for the snorkelling which is 50 000 for 40 minutes. It would have been great, however the snorkel equipment is broken. The snorkel does not attach to the goggles and the mouth piece is missing. Therefore you can’t really use the snorkel. We kindly mentioned this to the staff on our return however we were ignored and the subject was changed. There is no atmosphere at the hostel, which was fine for us however if you are looking for a social vibe then it may not be for you.

If you know what to expect, then you'll have the best time

Pros: Very good price, good location near other islands and attractions. Nice clear water beach accessible in less than 1 minute walk, which is nice so you have peace and quite near the rooms

Cons: As off Sep 24' the hostel has some renovations going on. There is no running water so you shower only once a day with a bucket. Also no kitchen and drinking water only available for purchase in small portions. Electricity runs only at night and sometimes fails...

Island paradise for a steal

Pros: The location is insane - the beach area is exactly as in the pictures full of exotic fish to see and is great for snorkelling. The staff were amazing taking us on an incredible boat tour of the islands for free, we had such a blast playing football on the beach and drinking wine with the staff which ended with a swim amongst bioluminescent plankton in a mangrove forest under the stars. They had great volunteers, like Will, who went out of his way to make us feel welcome and part of the group.

Cons: The aircon in our room didn’t work and there is of course an electricity blackout during the day, however understandable considering the remoteness of the island. Breakfast isn’t included and price is not listed on the menu so we were surprised to end up paying 30,000 per day for it at the end. The food is a bit greasy but altogether not bad.

Pros: The staff were incredible! Made so much effort in making sure we had the best time

Pros: Chilled and secure magic place 💎 Definetly coming back. Hidden Gem. Meditation Ocean. Coming back to your true self. True Island experience.