Eki Tiana Blog

Bunaken is an area of 8.08 km ² island in the Bay of Manado, located in the northern island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This island is part of the city of Manado, the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bunaken Island can be achieved by speed boat (speed boat) or a rented boat with about 30 minutes journey from the port city of Manado. Around the island there Bunaken Bunaken marine park which is part of the Bunaken National Park. This marine park has a marine biodiversity one of the highest in the world. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island. Overall Bunaken marine park covers an area of 75,265 Ha2 with five islands within it, namely the island of Manado Tua, Bunaken Island, Island Siladen, Mantehage Island follows several children his island, and island Naen. Although covering an area of 75,265 Ha2, the location of the dive (diving) is limited in each of the five beaches that surround the island.





Bunaken marine park has a 20 point dive (dive spot) with varying depth of up to 1344 meters. Of the 20 diving points, 12 points among them diving around Bunaken Island. Twelve point dive is the most frequently visited by divers and lovers of the beauty of underwater scenery.

Most of the 12 point dive in Bunaken Island lined up from the southeast to the northwest of the island. In this region there are underwater great walls, which is also called the hanging walls, or a giant rock walls that stand vertically and curved upward. These rock walls are also a source of food for fish in the waters around the island
Bunaken National Park is very representative of Indonesian tropical water ecosystems consisting of mangrove ecosystems, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and land / coastal ecosystems.
In the northern part consists of the island of Bunaken, Manado Tua island, the island Montehage, Siladen island, the island Nain, Nain Small island, and some coastal areas of Cape Pisok. While in the Southern Cape coast includes some of Palm.



Potential land islands national park is rich in species of palm, sago, woka, silar and coconut. Types of animals living in terrestrial and coastal including Sulawesi black macaques (Macaca nigra nigra), deer (Cervus timorensis Russa), and possum (Ailurops ursinus ursinus).

Plant species in the mangroves of Bunaken National Park namely Rhizophora sp., Sonneratia sp., Lumnitzera sp., and Bruguiera sp. This forest is rich with various kinds of crab, shrimp, mollusks and various types of sea birds such as seagulls, herons, sea virgin, and cangak sea.

This type of algae found in this national park include the type of Caulerpa sp.Halimeda sp, and Padina sp.Seagrass beds are dominated mainly on the island Montehage, and Nain island of Thalassia hemprichii, Enhallus acoroides, and Thalassodendron ciliatum.

Recorded 13 genera of corals living in waters of Bunaken National Park, dominated by fringing reefs and coral reef barrier. The most interesting is the vertical cliffs as far as 25-50 meters.

There are about 91 species of fish in the waters of Bunaken National Park, including fish gusumi horse (Hippocampus horse), white oci (Seriola rivoliana), yellow tail lolosi (Lutjanus kasmira), goropa (Ephinephelus spilotoceps and Pseudanthias hypselosoma), ila trunk (Scolopsis bilineatus) , and others.

Types of mollusks like giant clams (Tridacna gigas), head of the goat (Cassis cornuta), hollow nautilus (Nautilus pompillius), and tunikates / ascidians.

Bunaken is one of Indonesia's most famous diving and snorkeling areas and it draws visitors from all over the world. In addition to banana-shaped Bunaken Island itself, the 890 km2 of marine national park includes the neighboring islands of Manado Tua (a distinctive cone-shaped extinct volcano), Siladen, Montehagen, Nain, and Nain Kecil.

Some 20,000 local inhabitants make their living from the waters in the Bunaken National Marine Park, and this has inevitably led to some conflicts. By and large though, the co-operation between national and local government authorities, conservation groups, business owners and local communities has been very successful here. This has led many to cite Bunaken as a model example of how Indonesia should be preserving its natural marine treasures.

Bunaken was formally established as a national marine park in 1991.

• Mangroves on the east coast of Bunaken

The park is famed for the clarity of its water (35m visibility is common in the summer dry season), the abundance of coral and fish, and for the precipitous "walls" at some sites. Bunaken Timur, right off the east coast of the island and featuring all of the above, is rated by many as the single best dive site in all Indonesia.
In places the water is extremely deep here - 1,500 metres plus.

Flora and fauna in Bunaken

•     No less than 70 different genera of coral

•     five species of sea turtle

•     an extraodinary range of fish - 70% of all fish species that exist in the   Indo-Western Pacific Ocean are found here

•     white tip and black tip reef-sharks are common
•     wonderful resident dugongs

•     barracuda and tuna make regular appearences from more pelagic waters
•     occasionally saltwater crocodiles

Climate...
         Bunaken is barely a degree above the equator and thus tropical. The wet season, from November to mid-April, brings frequent rains sometimes in storms lasting for several days which freshen the air nicely but also reduce marine visibility. The dry season is from May to October, when temperatures climb to a roasting 35° and visibility reaches a maximum.

How access to the Bunaken?

1. Bunaken is about 45 to 60 minutes by boat from Manado city.
2. Most resorts will arrange transfers from the airport for their guests.
3. Alternatively, a public boat leaves daily except Sundays at 2-3PM from the canal on the north side of Manado market. 
4. The cost is Rp 25,000 one way for tourists and Rp 10,000 for locals. It returns to Manado from the jetty in Bunaken village around 8 to 8:30AM every morning except on Sundays.
5. You also can charter a private boat to bunaken in the Manado harbor (behind the Celebes Hotel).

view in boat

Activities in Bunaken

Tourism on Bunaken has been very much geared towards serious divers over the years but the trend seems to be changing. More and more casual snorkelers are visiting the area as are those who wish to just relax immersed in nature. Possible activities for landlubbers include:
   Fishing,    but only outside of the park boundaries. Hire a boat or join one of     the local fishermen.
    Dolphin & Whale watching, either on diveboat trips or by hiring a boat privately.

We're diving

Dolphins