In May 2011 I traveled to Indonesia with a group from Southern Ohio Diving Academy (SODA) and stayed at Tasik Ria. There were good things that made the stay very enjoyable but there were some issues that would have made it even better.  If you’re a wheelchair user it’s very important to be as independent as possible.  Not having to rely on people to go to the common areas of the resort.  The staff was more than willing to help but safety is an issue.  The ramp up to the front lobby is too steep to wheel up or down and even too steep with assistance from someone.  There was a small ramp from the lobby to the eating area that worked great but not being able to come and go from the lobby is a real problem.  I only ate one meal in the eating area by the lobby because of this, the rest of the meals were down by the Jetty Bar.

I never made it up to the pool area simply because it was not accessible.  The group I was with spent some time at the pool and the pool bar.  There were only 2 steps to access the pool bar and with Dan’s (General Manager of Tasik Ria) help and the bartender I joined my group once for drinks.  Not being able to come and go freely from the pool area should be addressed.

The room was accessible with the addition of the small ramps to the front door and the bathroom.  The shower chair is a good addition to the bathroom but would be made better with some type of padding.  The sink and mirror height were good and with addition of a handheld shower head and lowering the height of the towel racks would make this a good accessible bathroom.  The room was tight maneuvering for a wheelchair with 2 single beds.  I would recommend removing one of the beds to make more room.

The Jetty Bar was accessible although there was no ramp there was a slope around the back of the bar I was able to wheel up.  A ramp that is not so close to the end of the drop off would make it much safer.

Dive crew was great and very helpful.  There was no ramp down to the dive boat so I had to be carried on and off.  It was close quarters on the dive boat and I was not able to move around freely.

We went into to the local market in Manado one day.  I was advised by Dan that people in wheelchairs do not go out and that I would probably be starred at.  Not only was I but the girl was taking a picture of me.