Flores, Indonesia

Happy Dive

Retreat

Exploring the Flores Coast Since 1998. We offer accommodation, diving, PADI courses and a stress-free experience.

What We Offer

Restaurant

Our restaurant serves a variety of local and western food, including appetizers, soups, salads and a choice of tasty main courses. Our dishes are prepared with fresh ingredients from the local market and features delicious vegetarian options with organically grown vegetables.

Accommodation

We currently have 6 rooms built along the coastline and facing the ocean. Each room is equipped with a fan, while one has air conditioning. Don’t worry – it can get quite chilly at night even without AC, as we are located where the cool mountain air meets the ocean.

Diving

We take pride in being one of the first and most knowledgeable dive resorts in the Maumere bay, with over 25 years of experience under our belt. We have explored all of the neighbouring reefs, islands and cracks to map out the best diving locations for our guests.

The Happy Dive Story

We are a family-owned hotel & dive shop located in the beautiful island of Flores, Indonesia. Our aim is to make our guests feel like part of the family, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere throughout their stay.

At Happy Dive Retreat, we prioritise the safety and comfort of our guests during all scuba diving activities, ensuring a memorable and enjoyable experience for all. Visit our photo gallery to get a taste of what you can expect from your Flores scuba diving adventure!

How To Find Us

Happy Dive Retreat, formerly Ankermi Happy Dive is located in Wairterang village, 29km East from the city of Maumere. We are a 15 hour drive from Labuan Bajo and the nearest airport is Frans Seda Airport in Maumere. We work closely with local drivers so a pickup from the airport can be easily arranged! It will take about 35 minutes to reach us by car from Maumere.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!

What Our Guests Say

A paradise for divers! A calm place where you can enjoy nature with an experienced diver who will take care of you if you are a beginner like me. I felt immediately safe with Claudia, a passionnate women who runs this dive center with a friendly staff. Looks like she knows this ocean area like her home. You will enjoy wonderful boat trip, amazing corals, good lunch and an interesting divemaster 🥰

Laurie D

Incredible paradise in our world...I will never forget. The experience with this dive Ankermi happy dive center was GREAT. They are professional and I felt very comfortable. Furthermore they offer us tea, coffee, snacks and a very good lunch. The diving places were amazing expecially the fault zone in front of Babi Island I felt that the guide was very passionate of diving and very professional. Everything was perfect.

Azzurra L

We stayed 5 days (four days of diving) at Happy Dive and the name is what you get. The little Resort lies well outside of Maumere, what makes it a very pleasant and calm place to stay. The wonderful stuff is helping with everything you might need, so you don’t need to leave this place for anything (what you won’t want to do anyway 😉). The bungalows come with ocean view and are very clean (stuff is cleaning up every day). Food is very nice as well and for dinner you get to sit together with the other guests, which also makes it a very sociable place. Diving in Maumere is very beautiful and as Claudia is diving there since almost 30 years, she knows all the places by heart and shows you a lot of interesting stuff. She’s a very funny but also highly professional person. Overall I would highly recommend this place and always come back for a relaxing and beautiful dive holiday!

Natalie P

Didn't stay here (which I regretted, since the place looks super-idyllic and well-kept) but went on a one-day diving trip to one of the offshore islands. Among 100+ dives, this was one of the most enjoyable ones - the area is great (beautiful coral, great visibility, amazing drop-offs, overhangs etc.), and owner/instructor Claudia couldn't have been more professional, friendly, caring and fun. The boat crew was fantastic, too - all in all I felt in very good hands, and this was just a lovely experience: safe, fun and with a very nice relaxed vibe. Hope I'll be back someday!

Jochen

Ankermi must be one of the nicest places in Flores. Beautiful bungalows with fantastic sea view and a very helpful staff that prepares excellent and varied Indonesian dishes. The diving close to Ankermi and in the Maumere bay is fantastic with a large variety to choose from: muck diving, coral reefs, walls, a wreck… and great snorkeling opportunities. Claudia, the PADI-certified Swiss instructor, is very attentive at your security and comfort. She will also provide great advice for visiting other places all over Flores. Local market, Egon volcano climbing and hot springs are also found nearby Ankermi. We highly recommend the place for it’s relaxed atmosphere, away from Labuan Bajo crowds. We planned to stay 5 days but actually spent 10 wonderful days at Ankermi. A must on Flores!

J Mi

Probably one of the last paradise on earth… Diving: Around 30 dive sites available, muck dive directly from the beach, super nice wreck dive nearby, great night dives. The diving boat is a bit of an experience, it’s safe but pretty loud. But that kept my diving budget reasonable and helped the local economy...win-win 🙂 The owner Claudia is also the dive guide and will always find great stuff to show you. Also, super fun dive buddy. Rooms: I got the ones with air con, and was super happy with it. It’s spacious, has a gorgeous bathroom and all rooms have mosquito nets. Slept super well there. Food: Local cuisine with locally grown vegetable, super yummy. Not a lot of meat and fish, but also don’t really need it. Amazing sunsets, super friendly staff, great food and one of the best diving places I’ve been. If you love nature, you’ll love this place!

Suk-Han T

What's Next?

If you have any questions or would like to make a reservation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our friendly team is always happy to assist you in any way we can.

You can contact us via email, WhatsApp, or by filling out the contact form on our website. We look forward to hearing from you!