Has Manado cleaned up?

[Mr. Blues]

Three years ago I went diving in the Manado/Bunaken area and had a great time except that there was lots of plastic and assorted trash in the water. I was told this was from construction in the downtown Manado area. Has anyone been diving this area recently and have conditions cleaned up? Thanks for all replies

 

[ddavid]

last time i was there; dec 2005; the waters looked pretty clean.. no floatsam/jetsam etc.. but there's a dive site behind the Megamall arcade that's a popular muck location; there's construction going on very nearby and u will see junk & gunk. Other than that spot, the other sites are great

 

[opalobsidian]

I just got back from 10 days in Northern Sulawesi (June 19-30); 5 days at the Santika Resort across from Bunaken/Manado Tua, and 5 days on a liveaboard going out to the Bangka Island area and down to the Lembeh Straights.

I reckon whether the floating garbage count could be considered "a lot" is relative to what you're used to, but I was taken aback by the quantity of trash I saw, especially around the Lembeh harbor area. I didn't remember having seen that much floating junk when I went last year, but that could be attributed to two variables:

1) I didn't spend as much time out on the ocean last year as I was a non diver and only went out a couple of times on snorkelling trips

2) Last year in June N. Sulawesi was well into it's dry season so not as much stuff might have been washed out to sea. This year it rained 8 out of the 10 days we were there, plus there was flooding on other parts of the island, whole towns were being washed away.

The trash did seem to be staying pretty much on the surface and sailing out to other parts of the world, I didn't see much underwater trash at all, and the stuff I did see had strange and fantastic critters living on and around it!

 

[Bowmouth]

I just returned from a month diving Bunaken, Lembeh, Bangka and other sites around North Sulawesi. The plastic you encountered during your dives at Bunaken comes mainly from Manado City and got nothing to do with construction work. Plastic and other trash is ending up in sea because there basically isn't a proper trash pick-up service and locals either dump their trash directly in sea or throw it on the side of the road where a rain-squall will flush it all into the ocean.
In Lembeh Straits trash encountered under water comes from the cargo, tanker and fishing boats and locals that have have their house close to the shoreline. Lembeh Straits trash is worth exploring under water because it's often becoming a habitat for unusual critters. Also, it can be quite amazing what one finds while diving; playing cards, CD's, all sorts of clothing, diapers, sanitary napkins, mugs, small nomination bank notes, dead rats (!), toys, oil filters, engine parts, tyres and heaps of bottles.
There isn't an easy and quick solution for the trash problem around Bunaken (mainly on surface and in mid-water) or for Lembeh Straits but then again; we're doing a great job polluting our oceans all over the world.

Don't let yourself be put down and scared away because of the trash; the diving is absolutely fantastic and the local economy can use your tourist dollars very much.

 

[OnTheSpot]

In theory, the Bunaken park fee goes towards funding local schemes to protect the environment, which one hopes as time goes by will include teaching the residents of Manado what to do with garbage!

 

[opalobsidian]

In theory, the Bunaken park fee goes towards funding local schemes to protect the environment, which one hopes as time goes by will include teaching the residents of Manado what to do with garbage!

Call me a cynic, but it's hard to imagine those funds going much of anywhere other than the inside of a pocket!

However, in the 6 years I've been going to Bali, I've seen a HUGE change for the better in the garbage factor! When I first started going there, there was garbage everywhere, just heinous! Piles in the streets, plastic, shoes, dead dogs- YUCK! Now, in the last few years, it's really gotten so much cleaner! I'm not sure what to attribute this to, but the Balinese have certainly cleaned up their act. Hopefully N Sulawesi will do the same!