Bunaken is an 8.

08 km² island in the Bay of Manado, situated in the north of the island of
Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bunaken forms part of the administrative city of Manado, capital of North
Sulawesi. The marine Park around Bunaken is part of the National Park that also includes the
ocean around the island of Manado Tua, Siladen and Mantehage. In the Bunaken Marine Park,
you will encounter a real “mermaid”, and you can also get a glimpse of sea life. Within the
Bunaken Marine Park, visitors can see various strange and colourful marine life along its sea
bed.

Bunaken this one can be very famous as it is now because of the beauty of the marine park, at
first Bunaken National Marine Park was discovered by a group of divers from Manado City who
tried to do diving expedition in this place which was done in 1975. And used as a mainstay
tourist attraction of North Sulawesi. In 1991 this place became one of the National Parks in
Indonesia and in 2005 Bunaken National Park became one of the world heritage sites after being
registered to UNESCO.

The translucent waters of the Bunaken seas enable people to clearly view numerous sea biota.
There are 13 species of coral reefs in this park, dominated by edge ridges and block ridges of
rocks. The most attractive view is the steep vertical sloppy coral reef that plunges down as deep
as 25-50 meters. Feast your eyes on 91 types of fish found in the Bunaken National Park,
amongst which are the locally known Gusimi Horse Fish, the White Oci, Yellow-Tailed Lolosi,
Goropa and others.

For those who enjoy scuba diving, this is a great place to be. With about 20 dive spots to choose
from, divers will have the chance to swim below the sea, and frolic joyfully while admiring the
sea creatures. Most diving takes place near Bunaken and Manado Tua, because of the many
excellent sites. The following are representative of dive spots in the area.Lekuan Walls (I, II,
III)This long wall at Bunaken is divided into three sites: the Lekuan I, II and III. Together they
are the park's best.

Get Around

You can also explore the island on foot or you can take a boat to move from one dive site to the
other. Just walking around the beach is already a most enjoyable experience.

Get There

The island of Bunaken is easily reached from Manado by motorized boat, departing from
Manado harbor, Molas, Kalasey and Tasik Ria beach. Ferries from Manado to Bunaken leave
daily around 02:00 PM (depending on the tide), except on Sundays, when they leave from Pasar
Jengki near the Manado harbor. The return journey from Bunaken to Manado usually leaves
early in the morning, at around 07:00 AM - 08:00 AM. There are also charter boats that depart in
the morning and return in the late afternoon. These are usually reserved for travel packages
organized by agents or hotels.