Bunaken Diving
The Manado dive area and Bunaken Island are among the highlights of Indonesia
scuba diving and have earned plaudits throughout the world. Bunaken is part of
the Bunaken National Marine Park, located in Manado in the province of North Sulawesi,
Indonesia features some 2 dozen diving sites spread across an area of 75,000 hectares. The five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Siladen, Montehage and Nain are part
of the Indo-Pacific region which supports the highest marine biodiversity on earth.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado
Bay), with sparkling clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), warm tropical water (27
to 29 °C). Bunaken diving is very popular with fun; divers can take great pleasure from
the diversity of coral and fish found here. You will surely encounter marine life here that you have not come across elsewhere.
To dive in the deep waters of the Bunaken National Marine Park in Manado is to
be among some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, with outstanding
fish variety and world-class wall diving. The clear, warm waters contain astonishingly
high numbers of species where 7
of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world occur in Bunaken. The
park has around 70 genera of corals. Although the exact number of fish species
is unknown, it may be slightly higher than 2,500 species, or more than 70% of
all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.
The most notable recent find within the park was in 1997, when the coelacanth
was discovered living in the lava tubes of Manado Tua. This 'living fossil' fish
brought international attention to Bunaken. Unusual mammals that can be seen include dugongs, which feed on the sea grass
beds in the south of the park, and sperm whales, which travel through the area
on their way to calve in the Sangihe Archipelago.
The most comfortable season to visit Bunaken is April to November
How to get there?
There are six direct flights to Manado depart from Jakarta served by Garuda Airways,
Lion Air and Batavia Air.
Jakarta - Manado
Departure Arrival
05:00 09:00 JT 776 Lion Air
05:25 09:35 GA 600 Garuda Indonesia
07:10 12:50 GA 602 Garuda Indonesia
08:25 14:00 JT 778 Lion Air
08:45 12:50 7P 635 Batavia Air
18:35 22:45 JT 770 Lion Air
Manado - Jakarta
Departure Arival
06:55 09:05 JT 771 Lion Air
07:00 10:10 7P 632 Batavia 1 stop over at Balikpapan
09:50 12:00 JT 775 Lion Air
10:15 12:30 GA 601 Garuda Indonesia
13:30 15:35 7P 636 Batavia air
13:30 17:00 GA 603 Garuda Indonesia
14:45 18:30 JT 777 Lion Air
