AlanWald
Contributor
Begin Part two of three
Bunaken Island, Manado, North Sulawesi September 14, 2004- October 11, 2004
It all comes down to how fancy do you want the accommodations, variety /quality of food, quality of boat, travel time to dive site (longer from mainland, but better accommodation on main land) and surface intervals (mainland boats would have minimal surface intervals and may have policies limiting dive time, be sure to ask) and the guides.
At Two Fish Divers, which is based on the Bunaken Island, surface intervals were about one hour if doing two morning dives. If doing a morning and an afternoon dive, intervals were between three and four hours and from 6 to 7 hours if doing a morning dive and a night or dusk dive (to see mating Mandarin fish nearby the resort). Safety stops were five minutes to 45 minutes. There is plenty to see shallow depths and the guides were terrific and constantly looking for things to show to the divers.
Bring a magnifying glass!!! The pygmy seahorses are so tiny you can't see them clearly without a small light and a magnifying glass. I have not seen them shallower than 75 feet (23 meters). Visibility was generally excellent.
The only other reason to go deep is the shipwreck off the mainland or to see big fish in heavy current areas (of which there are only a few) like the dive site Pangulingan off Manado Tua, the adjacent volcano island. This area has strong lateral currents sometimes which can have downward direction as well.
The small thermometer on my SPG seemed to be stuck at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (about 27 degrees Celsius) until one day it read 82 F (about 28). I wore a polyolefin full body suit for protection against sun, stinging things and abrasion (no insulation). I was only cold for about once for two minutes when we hit a cold current. Some divers were wearing 5 mm full neoprene wet suits and 5 mm neoprene hoods and were still cold.
Except at Bangka Island (north of the main island of Sulawesi) it was dead calm everyday. At Bangka my dive guide found ten of the pink knobby pygmy seahorse on one small gorgonian fan the size of a ping pong (table tennis) racquet.
And the dry season (May-September) is truly dry. Sometimes it may rain in Manado city (it has mountains behind it) but not on Bunaken Island. In October we had some drizzle three times during the day for less than an hour and a one hour downpour at 4 AM. The first major rain in four months.
Peak season (because of summer holidays) is July-August. Though June and September (when I went) should be good as well. In general the currents are mild, some dives are mild drift dives.
I recommend wearing sandals or shoes all the time on land because there millipedes on the island and they are poisonous. Also, when walking to or from the boats during high tide if you are island based, you will need to wear booties because of the deep mud and possible stone fish or blue spotted rays.
There is no malaria and few mosquitoes on Bunaken Island. However other parts of Indonesia do have malaria. A healthcare worker from Ternate in the Moluccas (the original Spice Islands) told me that about 20 to 30% of the locals have malaria. I met a Canadian who had contracted malaria on Flores Island (east of Bali). Bunaken is near the equator, so the sun is strong. Bring plenty of sunscreen and use it.
The airport at Manado is modern and spacious with few flights each day. Upon departure you will have to pay in local cash an international airport departure tax of 75,000 rupiah as of October 2004 (at 9,200 to the US Dollar that is about US$8). If flying domestically it will be 15,000 at Manado airport and international from Jakarta is 100,000. Check upon arrival as it may change.
Recently Malaysia Airlines started requiring reconfirmation of flights out of Manado and they need to see the actual ticket and will give a print out to indicate that you have reconfirmed. Ask about other airlines. You can ask your dive operation or resort to have their Manado office to do it for you.
For people coming from the east coast of the US your best bet would probably be Singapore Air (SQ) from New York City to Singapore (SIN) and transfer to Silk Air (subsidiary of Singapore air) for the hour flight to Manado (MDC).
For those in Europe you may also fly to Singapore as well. I would not recommend flying to Jakarta unless there is a good reason as your connecting flight to Manado has to stop in Makassar in Southern Sulawesi.
For those already in Indonesia, e.g. in Bali, there are a bunch of domestic airlines that fly very cheaply to Manado (as cheap as US$80) via Makassar. There is also an Indonesian island about an hour by ferryboat from Singapore that has domestic flights to Manado.
It is difficult or impossible to book inexpensive domestic flights from abroad unless you have someone locally handling it for you. Also prices for advance booking on domestic Garuda flights tend to be very high when booked from abroad, but will drop drastically in the weeks before the actual flight in order to match the low cost domestic airlines.
Currently (October 2004) there is a flight three days a week on Malaysia Airlines (MH) from Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Malaysia to Manado via Kota Kinabalu (in Malaysian Borneo).
Kota Kinabalu (KK) is also where you would fly to if you were going to Sipadan or to explore the Malaysia state of Sabah. There are rumors that the Malaysia Airlines flight from KK to Manado may be stopped due to few passengers other than divers.
For those flying from the West Coast of the US out of Los Angeles International Airport LAX) you can take Malaysia Air to Kuala Lumpur (great new airport, spacious, efficient)and the next day fly to Manado.
Another possibility would be an overnight flight on MH to Taipei, Taiwan (about 13 hours going, 11 hours returning) arriving at 5 AM and then taking a flight on MH direct to Kota Kinabalu. If on time you would have one hour to change planes and that may not be possible or allowed (and if you miss the connection you are stuck for one to two days in KK), so better to spend about 25 hours in Kota Kinabalu resting up before the short flight to Manado.
The best connection from the West Coast of the US (but the costliest) is Singapore Airlines flight SQ 19 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Singapore departing at night 20:00 (8 PM) and arriving two days later at 6:35 AM (e.g. leave Saturday night arrive early Monday morning).
This is a non-stop flight (about 19 hours) and it is considered a premium flight and is currently difficult to get discounted tickets on it. There are the regular one stop flights on Singapore Air that can be obtained at a discount.
Then less than three hours later you would depart on Silkair flight MI 274 for Manado arriving at 13:00 (one p.m.).
In Indonesia you will need to pay US$25 in US dollars cash (they prefer clean new bills) for a visa on arrival, good for thirty days. It may be possible to get a visa for two months if one applies for it at an Indonesian Embassy or Consulate (there is one in Los Angeles).
For longer periods business type visas are available but you will need some supporting paperwork from Indonesia to show the nature of your business trip. The Visa on arrival is only available to citizens of certain countries. US Citizens get the visa on arrival. Others need to check the Indonesian government web site.
End of part two of three
Bunaken Island, Manado, North Sulawesi September 14, 2004- October 11, 2004
It all comes down to how fancy do you want the accommodations, variety /quality of food, quality of boat, travel time to dive site (longer from mainland, but better accommodation on main land) and surface intervals (mainland boats would have minimal surface intervals and may have policies limiting dive time, be sure to ask) and the guides.
At Two Fish Divers, which is based on the Bunaken Island, surface intervals were about one hour if doing two morning dives. If doing a morning and an afternoon dive, intervals were between three and four hours and from 6 to 7 hours if doing a morning dive and a night or dusk dive (to see mating Mandarin fish nearby the resort). Safety stops were five minutes to 45 minutes. There is plenty to see shallow depths and the guides were terrific and constantly looking for things to show to the divers.
Bring a magnifying glass!!! The pygmy seahorses are so tiny you can't see them clearly without a small light and a magnifying glass. I have not seen them shallower than 75 feet (23 meters). Visibility was generally excellent.
The only other reason to go deep is the shipwreck off the mainland or to see big fish in heavy current areas (of which there are only a few) like the dive site Pangulingan off Manado Tua, the adjacent volcano island. This area has strong lateral currents sometimes which can have downward direction as well.
The small thermometer on my SPG seemed to be stuck at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (about 27 degrees Celsius) until one day it read 82 F (about 28). I wore a polyolefin full body suit for protection against sun, stinging things and abrasion (no insulation). I was only cold for about once for two minutes when we hit a cold current. Some divers were wearing 5 mm full neoprene wet suits and 5 mm neoprene hoods and were still cold.
Except at Bangka Island (north of the main island of Sulawesi) it was dead calm everyday. At Bangka my dive guide found ten of the pink knobby pygmy seahorse on one small gorgonian fan the size of a ping pong (table tennis) racquet.
And the dry season (May-September) is truly dry. Sometimes it may rain in Manado city (it has mountains behind it) but not on Bunaken Island. In October we had some drizzle three times during the day for less than an hour and a one hour downpour at 4 AM. The first major rain in four months.
Peak season (because of summer holidays) is July-August. Though June and September (when I went) should be good as well. In general the currents are mild, some dives are mild drift dives.
I recommend wearing sandals or shoes all the time on land because there millipedes on the island and they are poisonous. Also, when walking to or from the boats during high tide if you are island based, you will need to wear booties because of the deep mud and possible stone fish or blue spotted rays.
There is no malaria and few mosquitoes on Bunaken Island. However other parts of Indonesia do have malaria. A healthcare worker from Ternate in the Moluccas (the original Spice Islands) told me that about 20 to 30% of the locals have malaria. I met a Canadian who had contracted malaria on Flores Island (east of Bali). Bunaken is near the equator, so the sun is strong. Bring plenty of sunscreen and use it.
The airport at Manado is modern and spacious with few flights each day. Upon departure you will have to pay in local cash an international airport departure tax of 75,000 rupiah as of October 2004 (at 9,200 to the US Dollar that is about US$8). If flying domestically it will be 15,000 at Manado airport and international from Jakarta is 100,000. Check upon arrival as it may change.
Recently Malaysia Airlines started requiring reconfirmation of flights out of Manado and they need to see the actual ticket and will give a print out to indicate that you have reconfirmed. Ask about other airlines. You can ask your dive operation or resort to have their Manado office to do it for you.
For people coming from the east coast of the US your best bet would probably be Singapore Air (SQ) from New York City to Singapore (SIN) and transfer to Silk Air (subsidiary of Singapore air) for the hour flight to Manado (MDC).
For those in Europe you may also fly to Singapore as well. I would not recommend flying to Jakarta unless there is a good reason as your connecting flight to Manado has to stop in Makassar in Southern Sulawesi.
For those already in Indonesia, e.g. in Bali, there are a bunch of domestic airlines that fly very cheaply to Manado (as cheap as US$80) via Makassar. There is also an Indonesian island about an hour by ferryboat from Singapore that has domestic flights to Manado.
It is difficult or impossible to book inexpensive domestic flights from abroad unless you have someone locally handling it for you. Also prices for advance booking on domestic Garuda flights tend to be very high when booked from abroad, but will drop drastically in the weeks before the actual flight in order to match the low cost domestic airlines.
Currently (October 2004) there is a flight three days a week on Malaysia Airlines (MH) from Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Malaysia to Manado via Kota Kinabalu (in Malaysian Borneo).
Kota Kinabalu (KK) is also where you would fly to if you were going to Sipadan or to explore the Malaysia state of Sabah. There are rumors that the Malaysia Airlines flight from KK to Manado may be stopped due to few passengers other than divers.
For those flying from the West Coast of the US out of Los Angeles International Airport LAX) you can take Malaysia Air to Kuala Lumpur (great new airport, spacious, efficient)and the next day fly to Manado.
Another possibility would be an overnight flight on MH to Taipei, Taiwan (about 13 hours going, 11 hours returning) arriving at 5 AM and then taking a flight on MH direct to Kota Kinabalu. If on time you would have one hour to change planes and that may not be possible or allowed (and if you miss the connection you are stuck for one to two days in KK), so better to spend about 25 hours in Kota Kinabalu resting up before the short flight to Manado.
The best connection from the West Coast of the US (but the costliest) is Singapore Airlines flight SQ 19 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Singapore departing at night 20:00 (8 PM) and arriving two days later at 6:35 AM (e.g. leave Saturday night arrive early Monday morning).
This is a non-stop flight (about 19 hours) and it is considered a premium flight and is currently difficult to get discounted tickets on it. There are the regular one stop flights on Singapore Air that can be obtained at a discount.
Then less than three hours later you would depart on Silkair flight MI 274 for Manado arriving at 13:00 (one p.m.).
In Indonesia you will need to pay US$25 in US dollars cash (they prefer clean new bills) for a visa on arrival, good for thirty days. It may be possible to get a visa for two months if one applies for it at an Indonesian Embassy or Consulate (there is one in Los Angeles).
For longer periods business type visas are available but you will need some supporting paperwork from Indonesia to show the nature of your business trip. The Visa on arrival is only available to citizens of certain countries. US Citizens get the visa on arrival. Others need to check the Indonesian government web site.
End of part two of three
