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Bunaken Marine Park, Beautiful Underwater Tour at the Edge of Manado

Bunaken Marine Park is a popular and top tourist destination in Manado, North Sulawesi, and is one of the most beautiful marine parks in the world. Various coral reefs and marine biota live and gather in Bunaken Marine Park. For those of you who like underwater tourism, Bunaken can be a choice for you.

Bunaken Tourism is a popular tourist spot in Manado. The number of tourist visits to Bunaken shows an increasing trend year by year. Statistical data recorded at the end of August 2012, the number of Bunaken tourist visits reached 21,889 from within the country and 7,850 from abroad. On average, Bunaken tourist attractions are visited by more than 35 thousand people every year.

Bunaken Marine Park is located in Bunaken Village, Bunaken District, Manado City, North Sulawesi. Bunaken is about 7 miles from the port of Manado and can be reached in about 50 minutes using a twin-engine motorboat or only about 35 minutes if you use a speed boat.

Diverse Marine Life

There are five islands included in this national park, namely Naen Island, Bunaken Island, Manado Tua Island, Siladen Island, and Mantehage Island and the surrounding islands. The total population of the five islands is around 21,000 people. Geographically, Bunaken Island is included in the “Golden Triangle” water area.

More than about 3000 species of fish are in Bunaken. The “Golden Triangle” area is a sea waterway that connects the Philippine Sea, Papua Sea, and Indonesian Sea. Because of the natural wealth in Bunaken, national and international non-governmental organizations work together in carrying out the conservation of coral reefs and mangroves.

Bunaken Marine Park has the highest diversity of animal species or marine biota in the world. On the seabed, there are coral reefs with hard and soft contours, with steep coral walls, as well as the biodiversity of marine life such as sharks, marlin, tuna, snapper, grouper, barracuda, napoleon, angelfish, turtles, mandarin fish, seahorse, stingrays, octopus, and various other types of fish. Of course, the most famous and favorite marine animal for divers is the ancient king sea fish (Coelacanth).

The fun thing if you go on a trip here for diving is that there is no off-season period. That means you are free at any time or at any time to visit and enjoy underwater marine tourism by diving under Bunaken seawater. However, the best time if you want to dive in Bunaken Marine Park is between May-August because at that time, you will be greeted by clear and warm seawater with an air temperature of 26-31 degrees Celsius.

Fun Spot for Diving

Bunaken National Marine Park has 20 dive spots or dive points with various levels of seawater depth. Of the 20 dive spots, 12 dive points are located around the waters of Bunaken Island and are the most popular dive points and favorites of the best local and foreign divers.

The beauty of the Bunaken marine park itself can be seen in locations called Lekuan 1, 2, 3, Fukui, Mandolin, Tanjung Parigi, Ron’s Point, Sachiko Point, Pangalisang, Muka Kampung, and East Bunaken.

If you like traveling across the sea of ​​Bunaken, you can ride a catamaran, a glass boat that is rented off the coast of Bunaken Island. This catamaran has glass walls so that you can enjoy the underwater beauty of Bunaken.

Besides the catamaran, there is also the Blue Banter submarine which will only operate during high tide. Of course, you have to spend quite a lot to get this marine tourism experience. However, the enjoyment will be worth the cost! You can also find such tourist activities at Siladen Island tourist attractions in Manado.

Are you planning to visit Bunaken soon? Find out more about Bunaken and Indonesia by visiting Wonderful Indonesia.