Established in 1991, Bunaken National Marine Park protects a group of islands off Manado in North Sulawesi, sitting on the edge of the Coral Triangle. The park's signature feature is its walls: sheer coral cliffs that start just below the surface and drop hundreds of meters into the depths of the Celebes Sea. Warm, clear water flows past these walls year-round, supporting dense hard and soft coral growth and a resident population of green turtles that is among the largest anywhere.

What Diving Bunaken Is Like

Most Bunaken dives follow the same pleasant rhythm: drop onto a reef flat, cross the lip of the wall, and drift slowly along the vertical face with the blue on one shoulder and a wall of coral on the other. Turtles rest on ledges, schools of pyramid butterflyfish and redtoothed triggerfish hang in the current, and Napoleon wrasse and reef sharks pass by in the blue. Visibility of 20 to 30 meters is normal, and it can stretch beyond that on the best days.

The diving is generally relaxed and suits all certification levels, though the walls' depth means good buoyancy control matters.

Photo by Ricky Beron

The Best Dive Sites in Bunaken

Lekuan I, II and III: The Classic Walls

The Lekuan sites along Bunaken Island's southern coast are the park's most famous dives. Towering walls cut with crevices and overhangs, dense coral cover, and turtles on nearly every dive make these the sites most divers remember.

Fukui Point: Coral Gardens and Giant Clams

A gentler, sloping site on Bunaken's western side, Fukui features coral ridges, a cluster of giant clams, and frequent visits from schooling fish. It is a good site for newer divers and a nice change of pace from the walls.

Sachiko's Point: Currents and Pelagics

On the northeast corner of Bunaken Island, Sachiko's Point picks up more current than the southern walls, which brings in schooling jacks, tuna, and reef sharks alongside superb coral.

Manado Tua: Diving Beneath a Volcano

The dramatic volcanic cone of Manado Tua rises next to Bunaken, and its walls offer some of the park's most striking topography, with deep-water gorgonians and regular pelagic action.

Photo by Dimitry B

Siladen: Soft Coral and Easy Drifts

The small island of Siladen has beautiful soft coral slopes and relaxed drift dives, plus some of the park's nicest beaches for surface intervals.

Best Time to Dive Bunaken

Bunaken can be dived year-round, but the dry season from roughly March to October offers the calmest seas and the most reliable visibility. The rainy season from November to February brings occasional rough weather and reduced visibility, though plenty of good diving days still occur. Water temperatures hover between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius all year.

Marine Park Fees and Conservation

Visitors pay a marine park entrance fee that funds conservation and patrols within the park. Bunaken villages have a long history of community involvement in protecting the reefs, and mooring buoys are used instead of anchors at the main sites. Choose operators that follow park rules and brief divers on reef etiquette.

Combining Bunaken with Lembeh

Bunaken and the Lembeh Strait sit on opposite sides of North Sulawesi's northern tip, less than two hours apart by road. Together they make one of the world's great diving combinations: big walls, turtles, and clear blue water in Bunaken, then the planet's best muck diving in Lembeh. A week split between the two covers an extraordinary range of marine life.

How to Get There

Fly into Manado, then take a boat from the city or from your resort's jetty; most Bunaken resorts are 30 to 60 minutes from the mainland. Browse dive centers on Scubalo to compare operators in Bunaken and Manado, and explore the region's dive sites to plan your dives.