Bunaken Marine Park & Bangka. Mid Oct or April

[paulcalf]

Diving wise, when is best to visit Bunaken Marine Park & Bangka Island North Sulawesi?

Ideally I want to fly out of Manchester, UK with one change in Singapore en route to Manado.
So i'm restricted to going between April & October, otherwise I have a much longer flight with at least two changes.
I could fly from London Heathrow, UK, all year round but that adds considerable time and hassle.

So any thoughts on Mid October or Mid April being a good time to go?

Thanks

 

[tursiops]

Diving wise, when is best to visit Bunaken Marine Park & Bangka Island North Sulawesi?

Ideally I want to fly out of Manchester, UK with one change in Singapore en route to Manado.
So i'm restricted to going between April & October, otherwise I have a much longer flight with at least two changes.
I could fly from London Heathrow, UK, all year round but that adds considerable time and hassle.

So any thoughts on Mid October or Mid April being a good time to go?

Thanks

Dec-Feb are the wet months, Jul-Sep are the dry months. I just left there yesterday...it was raining often.

Lots of climate summaries are available online.

 

[paulcalf]

Dec-Feb are the wet months, Jul-Sep are the dry months. I just left there yesterday...it was raining often.

Lots of climate summaries are available online.

Thanks

I had tried searching for the best time to dive there, but kept getting conflicting results, probably as dive companies want to sell year round dive holidays.

Ill do a climate specific search.

Hope you had a good trip?
Did the rain impact your diving?

 

[tursiops]

Thanks

I had tried searching for the best time to dive there, but kept getting conflicting results, probably as dive companies want to sell year round dive holidays.

Ill do a climate specific search.

Hope you had a good trip?
Did the rain impact your diving?

Yeah, if you are interested in climate info, ask a climate site.
Great trip, two weeks at Siladen Resort.
Rain did not really affect the diving*. Just the SIs and non-diving activities.

*Exception: rain in the mangroves on the mainland shore ruined the viz in some if the muck-diving sites.

 

[paulcalf]

Yeah, if you are interested in climate info, ask a climate site.
Great trip, two weeks at Siladen Resort.
Rain did not really affect the diving*. Just the SIs and non-diving activities.

*Exception: rain in the mangroves on the mainland shore ruined the viz in some if the muck-diving sites.

I look forward to seeing any photos or a trip report.

I'll being going to Coral Eye and then Siladen, probably solo as my partner is a non diving teacher and my dive buddy has a very young daughter!

 

[Searcaigh]

@tursiops

How is the fresh water situation at Siladen Resort these days?

When I was there back in 2015 it was rather poor.

 

[tursiops]

@tursiops

How is the fresh water situation at Siladen Resort these days?

When I was there back in 2015 it was rather poor.

The current owners-managers (Anna and Miguel) have been there 8 years....so 2015 was likely just as they took over. There was plenty of fresh water for drinking, and plenty for washing/rinsing but not drinking.

 

[tursiops]

I look forward to seeing any photos or a trip report

In the works.

 

[Searcaigh]

The current owners-managers (Anna and Miguel) have been there 8 years

I know Ana and Miquel well, we stayed with them at their accommodation when we were there in 2015. Previously they were the managers of Lembeh Resort.

 

[outofofficebrb]

@Searcaigh and I were there in April and it was great.