THE magnificent reefs of Manado Bay, at the top end of Sulawesi’s northern arm, were declared a protected marine park in 1989. Bunaken, the mainstay of the reserve, is a 5-kilometer-long island 15 kilometers from Manado, with a friendly population of about 3,000 people who fish, grow coconuts and rent out rooms to travelers.

The most accessible parts of the park, the southern reefs of Bunaken, lie only 40 minutes by boat from Manado. Bunaken boasts a wide coral platform and a complex marine ecology in caves, crevices, underwater cliffs and hanging corals. Popular with marine enthusiasts from Australia, Bunaken is even more impressive to the Aussies than their own Great Barrier Reef.

More than 40 first-class dive sites lie around the island, hosting a rich panoply of fish, invertebrates, sponges, tunicates, crinoids and anemones. Curtains of thousands of brilliant-hued small fish, banded sea snakes and seahorses, as well as dense colonies of black-spined sea urchins, inhabit the coral flats.

You can see groupers, parrotfish and blue-green Napoleon wrasse ploughing through the deeper waters, while on stupendous reef walls that drop more than 300 meters are found hydroids, gorgonians, feather stars and giant molluscs. Ninety percent of the world’s 2,200 species of fish and some 68 genera of coral have been identified here.

On Sunday big groups of people come out from Manado, and in the European summer the tourists flock in, but in midweek you could well have the whole reef as well as countless offshore islands all to yourself. The water averages a balmy 25-28 Centigrade and the visibility is frequently over 30 meters.

A number of dive companies offer tours to the park, as well as diving instruction and even scuba certification. Within 2 kilometers of the Manado shore the water is 1,200 meters deep. This means you might see such deep-sea animals as manta rays, eels, Pacific blue marlins, pods of dolphins and even whales. There are also WWII shipwrecks. Glass-bottom boats are also available.

When you get tired of diving, enjoy the spicy Minahasan seafood, spend time in the friendly warung and walk the solitary white-sand beaches of Bunaken where some budget homestays (shared mandi) and cottages are found in Bunaken Village on the island’s southeastern tip. (Make sure snorkeling gear is included in your room rate.)

The park is also one of the premier fishing grounds in all of Asia. You would have to go four hours from the nearest port on the Great Barrier Reef to find a prime feeding ground of this quality. Here unparalleled deepwater fishing is only 45 minutes away on the Biaro Reef.

Manado Tua

The cleanest diving is found around Manado Tua, an extinct volcanic cone rising steeply 822 meters out of the ocean floor, surrounded by a fringing reef with mangroves on the eastern side and only one and a half hours by motorized outrigger from Manado. If you want to organize your own tour to Manado Tua (about Rp200,000), ask around Manado Harbor’s Pasar Bersehati for private boat owners. Or take the private ferry.

The people of the island are still quite shy with visitors. The path to the top of the volcano consumes six grueling hours, but the view takes in almost every island of Manado Bay. The island’s coral reefs are almost totally unspoiled and offer superb snorkeling and skin diving.

The volcano rests on a plateau, and the water is at most 3 meters deep—ideal for coral and sponges which grow as large as a meter in diameter. At the edge of the reef, this plateau drops off to a depth of 1,500 meters—a whole new underwater world. Barracuda, skipjack tuna, kakap, and other enormous fish species are often sighted.

Dive Operator

Of the many tour operators in the Manado area, Murex Dive Resort & Live-aboard, Jl. Raya Trans Sulawesi, Desa Kalasey I, Manado 95361, tel: (0341) 868-513, fax: (0431) 826-092, e-mail: info@murexdive.com, website: www.murexdive.com, is consistently highly recommended. This small cozy resort and dive center is in Kalasay Village, a kampung between Manado and Tasik Ria facing the bay. The laid-back, peaceful resort offers a nice dining room and 10 clean and roomy fan-cooled bungalows. The food is delicious. With diving and snorkeling equipment available, guests may enjoy day tours to Bunaken and surroundings. Run by professionals, Murex guides are particularly conscientious about protecting the reefs.

Where to Stay

In Manado, your best bet is the Hotel Gran Puri Manado, Jl. Sam Ratulangi 458, tel: (0431) 822-888, fax: (0431) 858-892, e-mail: hotel@granpuri.com, website: www.granpuri.com. On the waterfront, tariff is US$105 double with all the amenities.

Ritzy Hotel, Jl. Pierre Tendean, tel: (0431) 855-555, fax: (0431) 868-888, e-mail:ritzyhotel@manado.wasantara.net.id, website: www.ritzymanado.20m.com. Opposite the city’s marina, rates start at US$115 double.

Santika Manado, Tongaina-Bunaken, Box 1644, tel: (0431) 858-222, fax: (0431) 585-666; website: www.santika-mdo.com. A romantic resort on a hilly seafront 45 minutes from Manado’s airport, with a long pier and wonderful views of Bunaken, the Manado Tua volcano and Siladen. Excellent dive center. Pristine sea gardens lie just 10 minutes away by speedboat.

Bill Dalton
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