Tourism of Indonesia
Ready to Go to Bunaken Marine Park
Planning to go on a tour or travelling, we definitely want a smooth trip, comfortable accommodation, cheap hotels, good food, cheap plane tickets, close to everywhere, and can rent a motorbike or car.
Attraction
In Bunaken Marine Park, there is natural beauty and unique culture of the local community. There are many uniqueness, starting from the village (desa), sub-district (kecamatan), district (kabupaten) and provincial levels.
In Indonesia, each province has different and interesting characteristics. Each province has a different and unique culture and lifestyle.
Bunaken National Park is a marine park in the north of Sulawesi island, Indonesia. The park is located near the centre of the Coral Triangle, providing habitat to 390 species of coral as well as many fish, molluscan, reptile and marine mammal species.
The Park is representative of Indonesian tropical water ecosystems, consisting of sea grass plain, coral reef, and coastal ecosystems.
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 – or Old Manado, Siladen and Mantehage.
Bunaken is also known as “Breathtaking Underwater Life”
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, among which are the locally known gusimi horse fish (Hippocampus),
Also the white oci (Seriola rivoliana), yellow-tailed lolosi (Lutjanus kasmira), goropa (Ephinephelus spilotoceps and Pseudanthias hypselosoma), ila gasi (Scolopsis bilineatus) and others.
The environment is also well maintained.
Activity
Visiting Bunaken Marine Park, we will witness routine community activities in unique traditional cultures. And there are special dishes and food as part of culinary tours that are delicious and yummy.
Within the Bunaken Marine Park, visitors can see various strange and colourful marine life along its sea bed. To reach this park, you can take a motorboat.
In the Bunaken Marine Park, you will encounter a real mermaid, and you can also get a glimpse of sea life here.
Divers may also meet mollusk like the giant kima (Tridacna gigas), goat head (Cassis cornuta), nautilus (Nautilus pompillius) and tunikates/ascidian.
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.
Make sure to visit Bunaken during its best season between May to August. That way you can explore the Park to its fullest.
To observe some of the fascinating images of Bunaken Marine Park, you can visit our photo essay: Bunaken and Derawan Underwater Paradise
Similarly stunning are the sceneries of Kalasey seas,at the outskirt of Manado in: The Deep Water Paradise of Kalasey Seas off Manado.
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.
Mandolin
Mandolin has a knockout reef crest and a wall that attracts thousands of fishes like schooling fusiliers, surgeonfish, unicornfish, and bannerfish. They are used to divers and are easily approachable.
Bunaken Timor
There are strong currents and lots of fish on this long wall. The shallow reef isn’t as spectacular as some but there are turtles, sharks, eagle rays, and other big fish in the blue. Overhangs and small caves mark the wall.
Tanjung Kopi
Tanjung Kopi is a nice wall with a small school of barracuda and lots of sweetlips. Visibility in the shallows is not terrific but the numbers of fishes make up for it. Nudibranches and fire gobies are easy to spot here.
Siladen Island
Siladen has a beautiful wall of soft corals that bloom when the current is running. The shallows are nice with lots of fishes and schooling snappers.
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. Steep walls are marked with deep crevices, sea fans and giant sponges. The shallows are filled with fishes. The wall, often protected from stronger currents, is frequented by bumphead parrotfish, turtles, and Napoleon wrasses.
Muka Gereja
Muka Gereja is a pretty site with thousands of fishes in the shallows and deeper canyons that lead to the wall.
Barracuda Point
Barracuda Point, on northwest Montehage, is one of the furthest sites. A school of giant barracuda are regulars along with jacks and tuna.
Manado Wreck
This 60m (200ft) long German merchant ship sank near Molas Beach in 1942. It sits upright with the bow at 23m (78ft). The ship is split near amidships back to the stern, exposing the wheelhouse and cargo holds. Dives finish up on a nearby shallow reef. Expect 10-15m (30-50ft) visibility.
Other than diving-enthusiasts, ornithologists and amateur bird-watchers might find visiting Tangkoko Dua Sudara Nature Reserve entertaining.
The government is taking good care of the preservation of nature and maintaining the condition of the forest.
In this place there are also regular events or activities held every year, both national and international.
Accessibility
The journey to Bunaken Marine Park is now very easy. We can enter through various modes of transportation.
Access to go to Bunaken Marine Park:
The island of Bunaken is easily reached from Manado by motorized boat, departing from Manado, Molas, Kalasey and Tasik Ria beach.
Ferries from Manado to Bunaken leave daily around 2 p.m (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 7-8 a.m
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.
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.
The condition of the infrastructure is getting better. Starting from highways, airports, trails, ports, bridges, stairs, even some places can be reached by toll roads.
We can visit by plane, car, ship, bus, motorcycle and bicycle. At some point, we can take the train. We can also walk freely.
Amenity
In Bunaken Marine Park, as technology getting better. We can easily find locations for mini markets, shops (warung kedai), Money Changer, ATMs, Bank BRI BCA BNI Mandiri, BTPN Bank Nagari BJB, supermarkets, and restaurants. So we will not starve or lack the necessary items.
Suggestion before visiting Bunaken Marine Park:
- Temperature: 26° – 31° C
- Rainfall: 2,500 – 3,500 mm/year (on average)
- Altitude: 0 – 800 m asl.
- Salinity: 33 – 35 0/00
- Weather clearness: 10 – 30 m
- Low-tide: 2.5 m (on average)
- Rainy season: November to February
- Dry season: March to October
- Geographical location: 124°39′ – 124°35′ E; 1°35′ – 1°49′ N
Entrance tags and tickets can be purchased through marine tourism operators based in Manado and in the Bunaken National Park, or can be purchased from one of three ticket counters in Bunaken and Liang villages on the islands of Bunaken and Siladen .
You should be aware that during the absolute peak season months of July and August it usually gets VERY crowded.
Many of the better resorts and dive operators will not be able to accept walk-ins during that time since they are already fully booked. Better make a reservation beforehand.
Try to hire equipment from larger firms as these are more reliable, but remember: the responsibility of checking the equipment is ultimately with yourself.
If you’re the more adventurous type, you can try diving in Raja Ampat and Wayag Island. In Papua.
If you are sick and need help, you can also visit clinics, drugstore pharmacies (apotek), practice doctors, hospitals, and health centers (puskesmas).
In this place we can also look for places of worship such as mosques, churches, and others.
Accommodation
Finding place to stay in Bunaken Marine Park is very easy. We can stay at homestays, hotels, inns, hostels and other places.
To get lodging at a cheap and definitely comfortable price, please see below:
Booking.com
Experience and Reviews
There are already many visitors have visited Bunaken Marine Park, there are many interesting stories that are told. Like feeling satisfied, happy, wanting to come again, sleep well, and almost no one is disappointed or complains to come here.
So, visitors will find out on how to find the best hotels, where is exactly located, why it is amazing, how much is the fare and rate, who are the people, whom to ask, and when is the best time to visit.
We can visit these tourist attractions from Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Redep, Tanjung Selor, Tapak Tuan, Tarakan, Tarutung, Tasikmalaya, Muara Bungo, Muara Enim, Muara Teweh, Muaro Sijunjung, Muntilan, Nabire, Negara, Nganjuk,
That’s all the information we provided, hopefully useful.
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