Bunaken National Park and the 3 Best Diving Places in Sulawesi
Sulawesi Island is famous for its natural beauty, so there are many tourist attractions that you can visit. Well, especially underwater tourism is already well known to foreign countries. Maybe many people only know Bali or Lombok is famous for its underwater tourism. However, in Sulawesi you can also find an underwater paradise!
Many tourists are willing to come to Sulawesi for diving to enjoy the underwater beauty. For those of you who like diving activities, it never hurts to visit diving spots in Sulawesi. Well, this time we will discuss diving tourist spots in Sulawesi that you should not miss. Check out the explanation below.
- Kadidiri Island
In addition to the Bunaken Marine Park in North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi also has a paradise for divers, namely Kadidiri Island. Maybe many people are not familiar with this one island, but this place has become a favorite destination among underwater sports lovers. The location is in the Togean Islands, Tomini Bay, Central Sulawesi. To get to Kadidiri Island, you need at least 6 hours by boat from Ampana city, and it takes about 30 minutes from Wakai to Kadidiri Island.
Even though it is far from big cities, the natural beauty of the underwater world makes this island famous to foreign countries. You can do water activities such as diving, snorkeling, fishing, and sailing here. The seawater is crystal clear like glass so that you can see the coral reefs without diving. But if you want to attack again, of course it will be more exciting! Various types of fish, turtles, to sharks are also here.
You can find the best diving spots, such as the wreckage of the former World War II B 24 plane, and its surroundings are decorated with many coral reefs that are decades old. So if you want to go there, you have to take a speedboat first. To get the most beautiful view, you can visit Kadidiri Island from April to November.
- Bunaken National Park
Bunaken Marine Park is one of the diving paradise in the world. Of the many diving spots in Sulawesi, this marine park is the most popular. The location is in the golden triangle of the world’s coral reefs, which spread from Indonesia to the Solomon Islands.
For those of you who like diving, don’t miss the opportunity to dive at 20 kinds of amazing diving points. You can see the bustle of underwater biota decorated with 70 types of coral reefs, 5 types of turtles, and 91 types of beautiful fish. The seawater is also very clear so that even from the sea surface, you can see the fish swimming.
To enjoy the beauty of Bunaken Marine Park, you have to travel for an hour from Manado city, then take a trip to Bunaken, Siladen, and Nain islands. You have to pay around IDR 200,000 per person. Well, if you don’t bring snorkeling equipment, you can rent it here starting at IDR 150,000 and diving equipment starting at IDR 900,000. You will forget the price when you see the underwater scenery.
- Tumbak Marine Park
For those of you who don’t live in Sulawesi, this place still sounds foreign. Tumbak is the name of a village located in Pusomaen District, Southeast Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi. Tumbak village is a fishing village and there was also an inn called Water Cottage which was built on the sea. With a stay rate of IDR 350,000 per night, you can enjoy the beauty of Tambuk Marine Park even longer. So what makes Tumbak Marine Park unique are the small white sandy islands.
Due to the location of the tourist attractions that are far from the city of Manado, you have to travel for 3 hours, because this place is still not visited by many tourists. However, not for diving enthusiasts, this place is a marine paradise for divers. In Tumbak, there are 20 snorkeling and diving points.
The favorites include the Bohaga spot, Small Bohaga, MFT 1, MFT 2, Napo Kipas, Pintu Samudra, and Karang Park. You will feel the experience of diving in a vast expanse of coral, there are soft corals and hard corals. In this tourist spot, you can enjoy the beauty of sea fan coral in an area of 300 m at a depth of 3-6 m.
- Takabonerate Marine Park
This tourist spot has become one of the leading diving spots on the island of Sulawesi. The location is still in the Selayar Islands. Different from other marine parks, Takabonerate is an archipelago with the third largest atoll in the world. The atoll itself is a coral island that surrounds a lagoon.
A suitable place for underwater tourism because there are coral reefs, hundreds of fish, turtles, and turtles. To be able to enjoy the beauty of the Takabonerate Marine Park, you only need to pay IDR 60,000. For those of you who don’t have diving equipment or don’t bring them from home, here are also available rentals of various kinds of diving equipment. The rental price is IDR 250,000. Now the best time to visit this tourist spot is between the months between April to June and between October to December.
Before you plan a trip to Bunaken, be sure to read more about Bunaken and Indonesia by visiting Wonderful Indonesia.