Daltons Banana Guesthouse

Location and Environment: Located on a sandy beach and in the rainforest, providing a tranquil setting away from city noise. Many mentions of being on a secluded beach with access to both sea and rainforest.

We stayed for 2 nights. A boat picked us up from Kent beach to make the short crossing. Dalton's is right on the beach, surrounded by forest at the back. The accommodation is simple, a hut with a toilet and shower and mosquito nets. Breakfast and dinner was included in the price, which was incredibly reasonable. Unfortunately when I arrived I was unwell (not related to my stay!) , so didn't get to sample much food, although my travelling companions did, and said it was excellent. Fish, rice, groundnut stew, ful as well as pancakes and fruit. We enjoyed just sitting by the sea, reading, watching the guys fish, and swimming in the warm sea. We also went on a historical tour of Dublin the village behind Dalton's, and saw some of the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Necessary and sobering for western Europeans, we shouldn't forget our shameful histories. To summarise, if you are comfortable with an off grid experience (where you do feel like you're part of the forest!), don't mind travelling in a small boat, and enjoy relaxing and unwinding with good home cooked food, then we fully recommend it. I was also very grateful to the staff as they looked after me when I was unwell. They really made us feel welcome.

I enjoyed my stay at Dalton's Guesthouse. It was both a nice location to just rest and relax as well as to do some snorkeling and hiking on the island. They arranged some good enough vegetarian options (evidently you will have much wider and better options if you are a pescatarian). They offer several activities, I took the snorkeling boat tour which was enjoyable (saw at least a dozen species and you can swim safely here heeding to the advice of the staff unlike in most of West Africa). The hiking trail across the island was enjoyable. As on many places, there is unfortunately much garbage arriving with the tides drifting in towards land but the guest house beach is clean. Be aware that the boat is simpler and you may have some water splash (cover sensitive items in waterproof bag/water protective), this is also the standard in this price range in the region. They can also help to arrange connections to Freetown or the border at a fair negotiated price. All in all this was a very good value for money. I paid less for two nights here including boat transfer, breakfast and dinner than I would for one night at a mid-range hotel in Freetown. If you are OK with a more basic hostel standard this is a very good option. There is no AC but there was a reasonable electricity (lightbulb), running water and a mosquito net (saw none during my stay). The standard is more or less what you can expect in rural Sierra Leone or Liberia outside the main cities.