Sulawesi is one of the five main islands of Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands spanning over 5,000km (3,200 miles) eastward from northern Sumatra. Formerly named Celebes, Sulawesi sprawls in the center of the country. The very bizarre shape of the island is its character, with an incredible diversity of people, cultures and landscapes spread across its length and breadth.

Nowhere in Sulawesi is much more than 100km from the sea, though an almost complete covering of mountains isolated its four separate peninsulas from one another, and made them difficult to penetrate individually. The strange outline resulted in a delightful pot pouring of people and numerous natural and cultural attractions, including such diverse draws as ancient megaliths, bug-eyed tarsiers and stunning sceneries of volcanoes and rice fields.

Bunaken Marine National Park’s 30+ dive sites range in depth from 10 to 40 meters (33 to 131ft). Diving is conducted all year round, with optimum conditions during the dry season (April to October). The visibility is usually between 15 and 40m (50 and 131ft), with an average of 20+m (66ft). It takes 15 to 30 minutes to reach dive spots around Bunaken, Manado Tua and Siladen, while dive sites around Nain and Mantehage islands, and those of the Manado Bay are reached within maximum 45 minutes.

Most dive sites are accessible to Padi Open Water divers (or equivalent). There is no need to go deep to see plenty of fishes and amazing, colorful corals. Advanced divers will enjoy other sites, with reasonable to strong currents, and the WWII wreck.

• Bunaken and its four neighboring islands primarily offer impressive vertical walls and stunning coral gardens, with frequent pelagic visitors, all in pristine waters! Over 1,000 species of reef fishes and 70 species of corals populate the area, including barracudas, unicorn-fishes, trevallies, groupers, snappers, sweetlips, gorgonians, huge sponges, and hard and soft corals. Common encounters include turtles, white and black-tip sharks, bumphead parrot-fishes, napoleon wrasses, and eagle rays for the big fishes, oran-utang and candy crabs, pygmy seahorses and squat lobsters for macro life. The shallows are unbelievably colorful and teeming with life.

• Manado Bay offers sloping coral walls, rich with reef fishes, nudibranchs, ribbon eels and unusual green tree corals, to sandy bottom environments. There are many excellent sites for muck-diving, with giant frog-fishes, ghost pipe-fishes, seahorses, mimic octopus, and Spanish dancers that will spoil u/w photographers and macro fans. Not to mention the 60m long WWII shipwreck…

Last, but not least, dolphins and pilot whales are frequently seen on the surface, especially during the dry season, and the lucky ones might even sight migrating humpback, sperm and minke whales.

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Please note that, although our partners on Bunaken Island are strongly committed to dive safety and affiliated to international diving organizations, some of their dive guides are not certified divemasters. Some of them are PADI Rescue Divers (or equivalent) with thousands of dives in North Sulawesi. This is due to two main reasons:

• the cost of a Divemaster certification compared to local salaries and standard of living
• dive guides’ English is not always sufficient to fully understand instruction manuals, which are currently not printed in Indonesian

Dive centers organize two dives in the morning, with a surface interval of at least one hour, an afternoon dive, and later, a mandarin and a night dive.

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• rental equipment: Apeks regulators, Suunto BCDs, and Bare wetsuits
• 12 liter aluminum tanks (mostly INT and some DIN cylinder valves – an adaptor can be provided free of charge), tanks, weights and weight belts are provided
• night dives possible every night, torches can be rented
• Nitrox not available

• logbook - dive certification card
• medical clearance for scuba diving from a physician, issued within the last 12 months
• evidence of repatriation insurance

Recommended diving equipment and documents: dive computer, 3 or 5mm wetsuits and torch, safety sausage, magnifying glass, insurance covering dive-related injuries (DAN or equivalent)

The closest hyperbaric chamber is located in Manado, all dives are within no-decompression limits.

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In addition to your documents related to your repatriation insurance (and for divers: your logbook, dive certification card and a medical clearance for scuba diving), you will need:

• your passport, which must be valid for a minimum of six months beyond intended date of entry into Indonesia
• a visa, which, for nationals of most countries, can be purchased on arrival. Please make sure you have one entire blank page for the placement of your visa (we made the mistake and paid the price...).

At the time of research (you may double-check with your local Indonesian Embassy for updates to the visa policy):

• nationals of the following 11 countries and territories were eligible for a "Visa Free" facility for a visit of up to 30 days: Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Morocco, Chile and Peru.
• nationals of the following countries and territories could obtain a “Visa On Arrival” processed at the gate of entry following the payment of a USD 25 (for a 30 day visa): Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherland, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Panama, People's Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Surinam, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Citizens of countries not included on the above lists must apply for a visa overseas before arriving in Indonesia.

The visa on arrival facility will only be available at the following international airports: Medan, Pekanbaru, Padang, Soekarno-Hatta (Jakarta), Halim Perdana Kusuma (Jakarta), Surabaya, Bali, Manado, Yogyakarta, Solo, Mataram (Lombok), Balikpapan, Makassar, Kupang.

We also recommend you bring with you:

• sun cream
• mosquito repellent
• adaptor-plugs
• a flashlight, which might be helpful to find your way back home at night
• batteries

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No vaccination is required to enter Indonesia. The only vaccine required by international regulations is yellow fever. Proof of vaccination will only be required if you have visited a country in the yellow-fever zone within the six days prior to entering Southeast Asia.
Travelers to Southeast Asia should be up to date with vaccinations against polio, tetanus and diphtheria. You may also consider a hepatitis A shot.

The risk of contracting malaria is low in most parts of North Sulawesi. If you plan to travel overland throughout the region and in other provinces of Sulawesi, the risk is significantly higher and you may see a physician for further advice and precautions. There are also cases of dengue fever. The best solution is to not get bitten: always have insect repellant (those purchased in pharmacies are usually the most efficient) and wear clothes with long sleeves during evenings.

Full medical insurance, including medical evacuation outside of your country of residence, is mandatory. We also recommend scuba divers to ensure their personal insurance covers dive related injuries. Should you consider becoming a member of DAN Asia-Pacific, please click here

North Sulawesi is usually safe and miles away from conflicts. In addition, Bunaken Island is fairly remote and chances are you will spend most of your time within your resort’s facilities. However, the general rule of not showing off your wealth is advisable and usual travel precautions apply, such as restraining your urge to go wandering around seedy areas alone late at night and not leaving valuables or important documents unattended.

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