DIVING SITE
MAY 23, 2021
Spectacular Diving Sites Around Manado And Bunaken
Spectacular Diving Sites Around Manado And Bunaken offer unforgettable experience for divers around the world.
If you love diving you should try to dive in Manado and Bunaken in Indonesia. Manado is the capital city of Sulawesi Utara (North Sulawesi) province. It is located in Sulawesi island, east side of Indonesia archipelago. If you travel by air you can land at Sam Ratulangi, International Airport. The airport is just 30 minutes from Manado city. Whether you plan on diving around Manado, Bunaken, or Lembeh, you’ll have to fly to Manado.
When you are looking for the best dive sites in Indonesia then Bunaken Marine Park is a must. The Bunaken national marine park covers about 890 km2 area and is a home to numerous coral and fish species as well as steep walls. In fact, for each of the five islands of Bunaken, Siladen, Manado Tua, Nain islands and Montehage there are plenty spectacular dive sites ready to be explored.
Diving around in Bunaken is mostly drift diving and wall diving, but also includes several beautiful coral slopes. There are 22 official dive sites in the park. This area is a rich and unspoilt ground covered by abundant soft coral in huge concentration. Try to take the spectacular night diving in the park, rare creatures are around you almost every corner, there is even a World War II wreck in day range.
Located near to the center of the coral triangle, at Bunaken marine park you have the chance to see fantastic macro life, turtles, lots of butterfly fish, trigger fish and much more. The best dive sites for fish here are Manado Dua, Likuan I, Barracuda Point, Mandolin and Sachiko.
Also the local dive sites around the islands are no less impressive. While in Manado area, you’ll find macro for shrimps, crabs, nudibranchs, cephalopods and other abundant critters around the reefs and sand.
The diving conditions at the locations are warm and comfort. Water temperatures ranges between 81 – 86 F (27 – 30 C). Average depth range around 16 – 131 feet (5 – 40 meters) with visibility at 66 – 115 feet (20 – 35 meters). These muck dive sites lie mostly on the mainland coast.
To round out the diving experience in Manado area, try to dive the popular Lembeh Strait near Bitung, then stop at Bangka or Gangga Island. For this you will have complete combination and unparalleled underwater journeys. Best time to jump in the water is from May to September during the dry season in Indonesia, although diving is considered good all year round due to the tropical climate.
Besides those mentioned sites you could try to visit other diving sites in Sulawesi such as : Siau, Sangihe and Talaud island. In Central Sulawesi there are Togian island group, Banggai island, Gorontalo and Donggala (near Palu). In Southern Sulawesi you can find Ujung Pandang (Makassar) and Pulau Selayar/Bira as well as in Southeast Sulawesi at Tukangbesi islands, Pasarwajo and Muna island.
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