Shore Diving

Because of possible strong currents little or no shore diving is done in Bunaken.

Boat Diving

All dives off Bunaken are drift dives run off of traditional wooden boats. Most dives are walls, though there area a few coral and sandy slopes as well.

Worthwhile Diving, Credit

The famed walls are packed with life and are are home to over 400 species of coral, and over 1000 species of tropical fish. Tunas, trevallies, napoleon wrasses, barracudas, trigger fish, anemone fish, pipe fish, puffer fish, cardinal fish, angel fish, butterfly fish, sweetlips, moray eels, groupers, hawkfish, parrot fish and all the usual suspects are swimming in big schools around divers.

Night dives in Bunaken National Park are well worth a go as the walls tend to be filled with mandarin fish sponge crabs, lobsters, slipper lobsters, sharon shrimps, octopus and rarer species like blue-ringed octopus. Spanish dancers frequently seen on night dives.

Moray at Sachiko's point, Bunaken National Marine Park. Copyrights / Essi Havula, Living Colours Diving Resort

Manado Molas Ship wreck is unidentified WWII cargo ship which – according to the legend – was sank by US submarine “SS Swordfish” in February 1943. The wreck is 40-20 m depth and is perfectly sitting upright position, facing up the sandy slope close to Manado city.

Some of our other favourite dive sites are listed below:

Lekuan 1 - a beautiful wall in front of Bunaken village is best place to spot large green turtles, eagle rays, squids, pygmy sea horses, trevallies, tunas and some sharks. Be wary though as this dive site can have strong current.

Gorgeous creature, Credit

Sachiko's point in the north side of Bunaken has many walls with schooling red tooth trigger fish, tunas, black tip and white tip sharks, green and hawksbill turtes, great barracudas, moray eels, schooling drummers and so on. Safety stop can be done on top of the reef giving time to look at various species of nudis and crabs.

Pangalingan/ Tanjung kopi has sometimes very strong current but there's a good change to see tunas, reef sharks, schooling batfish and trevallies on this sloping reef on Manado Tua volcano island. Sea snakes and moray eels are seen frequently here and on the way there dolphins are not rare sight either.

Timur 1 / 2 on east side of Bunaken has pretty healthy corals on vertical wall. You can enjoy different coral, sponge, anemone, starfish and fish species on this drift. Green and hawksbill turtles, napoleon wrasses, unicorn fish, oriental sweetlips, clown trigger fish, blue-spotted sting rays, various species of anemone fish, ghost pipe fish, boxer crabs, and all the rest are seen on shallow water here. This is also a great snorkelling spot.

Juvinile Bat Fish at Timur 1, Bunaken National Park. Copyrights/ Essi Havula, Living Colours Diving Resort

Wori on Sulawesi mainland is good muck site with creepy crawlies hiding in the white sandy bottom. Pipe fish, coconut octopus, various nudibranch, mimic octopus, mantis shrimp, flamboyant cuttle fish, selection of crabs and frog fish have home in this sandy area in front of Wori village.

Liveaboard Diving

Bunaken National Marine Park is a popular stop on liveaboards traveling through North Sulawesi. These tours also often visit sites around the islands of Bangka, Lembeh, Sangihe. Trips often depart in Manado, though there is one operator who runs liveaboard trips off of Bunaken itself (out of a resort).

Frog Fish at Wori, Bunaken National Park / Copyrights Markus Dernjatin, Living Colours Diving Resort

How to Get there

Manado has an international airport and it's easy to reach from many different cities. Flight from Singapore to Manado is approximately 3 hours and Singapore connects people easily everywhere in the world. 

Sam Ratulangi is Manado's international airport and connects Bunaken National Marine Park very easily to everywhere in the world. Singapore Airlines (Silk Air) flies to Manado four times a week, flight time around three hours.

From airport transportation to the harbour is about 30 minutes and from the harbour 40 minutes to the resorts in Bunaken island. There are accommodation options on the mainland too.

Pantai Pangalisang, Pulau Bunaken, Sulawesi, Credit

Where to Eat & Drink

All accommodation in Bunaken is all inclusive and the island itself doesn't really have any restaurants and bars. All travellers and divers eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner in the resort they have chosen and usually the beach bars on every resort offer cold beer and cocktails.

Bunaken has accommodation options to all travellers from backpackers to high end resorts with swimming pools and room service.      

It's not good for this fish to be alone, Credit

Other Activities

On Bunaken, there are a few non-diving activities to occupy your spare time. Hanging out on beaches is of course popular and there are hikes inland and to secluded coves. The island lodges also run a number of activities for guests, which include snorkelling trips, dolphin/whale watching trips and a few spas. 

North Sulawesi more broadly boasts many different activities for travellers. Tangkoko National Park is excellent place to spot world's smallest primate tarsius among other wild life. Active volcanoes Mahawu and Lokon are great hiking destinations for those who need some adventure. Get to know Minahasa culture in the highlands and Tomohon. Dolphins can also be seen by chartered dolphin tours from dive and snorkel operations within Bunaken National Park.

Bunaken underwater, Credit

Tips

Bunaken basically has no shops or ATMs, so bring your sun lotion, medicine and all the essentials with you. Check with your resort how to do payment (credit cards accepted widely but not in all places). In Manado you can find ATM's, pharmacies, big supermarkets, restaurants, movie theatrea and so on but the island itself has not many choices of activities.

Many resorts do pick ups from the airport but there is also public boat leaving from Manado old harbour every day (except Sundays) at two in the afternoon. Boat back from the island to the mainland leaves from Bunaken  eight in the morning. You can also find several charter boats from Manado's many piers and harbours. In Manado for the transportation take Blue Bird taxi with meter.    

Starfish, Credit

There is a recompression chamber in Manado. As mentioned, lodges on Bunaken can provide private transport to the city, and it takes roughly 40 minutes by boat.