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North Sulawesi, know to many as the Land of Smiling People is emerging as one of the premier dive destinations in the world. One of the main reasons for this, is the bio-diversity that exists in this region and the fact that it manifests itself in all three locations Bunaken National Park, Lembeh Strait and Bangka Island.
BUNAKEN NATIONAL MARINE PARK was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. However, it was not until 2000 that the park began to get serious funding from the users, in order to be able to rezone and send out environmental patrols to move towards more sustainable conservation. The Park lies off shore from Manado, and covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is covered by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), with visibility up to 35-40 m, refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found. Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasterly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkeler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.
Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are "coralivores" and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive "beak" allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts. Some 20,000 people live on the natural resources of Bunaken National Marine Park. Although there are inevitable conflicts between resource protection and use by people, the Indonesian government is taking a fairly unusual and pragmatic approach to park management. The idea is to promote wise resource use while preventing overexploitation. Local communities, government officials, dive resort operators, local nature groups, tourists and scientists have played an active role in developing exclusive zones for diving, wood collection, fishing and other forms of utilization. If successful, Bunaken Marine Park will stand as an important example of how Sulawesi, and the rest of Indonesia, can work to protect its natural resources.
LEMBEH STRAIT - The second area on the other side of the mainland is Lembeh Strait, and is known as the world’s best ‘muck-diving’. These waters are full of extraordinary marine critters, many of which are the masters of camouflage.
Lembeh Strait, 1.5 hours from the center of Manado city, is a completely different type of diving from that of Bunaken National Park or Bangka Island. Lembeh Straits offers a variety of diving, including some coral reefs and wrecks; however it is best known for the small and difficult to find creatures that inhabit the world of muck. It is “muck diving” at it’s finest.
Muck diving sites tend to be shallow with a black-sand substrate. They are often littered with discarded human artifacts and fish parts; they generally have poor visibility, and tend to have a disproportionately large number of really weird fishes and critters. In fact, naïve divers may not be able to tell whether they are seeing an ornate bottom-dwelling fish or a decorator crustacean. Some of these organisms have a relatively wide tropical distribution, but many are endemic to a rather small number of dive sites. The “ooh-,“ “aah-“ and “wow-” factor entices divers to return and mix these muck dives with those of typical coral reefs and/or wrecks.
While general dive locations throughout the world can easily be recognizable by cosmopolitan divers, specific dive sites/reefs are more obscure. A few, such as Bloody Bay Wall, the Blue Corner, Pixie Pinnacle, Ras Muhammad, the Cod Hole and Palancar are familiar to many, and “Hair Ball” has recently joined their ranks. Hair Ball and Police Pier in the Lembeh Straits house many subjects that have starred in coffee table books, dive magazines and videos, not to mention National Geographic and BBC specials.
Lembeh Strait is not a location to see the large pelagics, but occasionally sharks, turtles, Napoleon wrasses and humphead parrotfishes can be spotted there. One guest’s week-long visit to Lembeh Strait in 2004, viewed and identified the following fishes and critters: many species of frogfishes including the hairy frogfish; many species of pipefishes and several species of ornate pipefishes and seahorses including the pygmy seahorses; several species of flounders including the cockatoo flounder; several species of scorpion fishes and lionfishes; several species of leaf scorpionfishes and waspfishes including cockatoo waspfishes; spiny devilfishes (Inimicus); Japanese flatheads; reticulate stargazers; longhorn cowfishes; Pegasus sea moths; lots of porcupine puffers and gurnards; both adult and juvenile examples of barramundi, spotted sweetlips and pinnate batfishes (spadefishes); Banggai cardinalfishes; several species of morays and snake eels; several species of octopuses including the mimic octopus & wunderpus, bottom-dwelling cryptic octopus with similar behaviors; several species of squids and cuttlefishes including lots of flamboyant cuttlefishes; bobbit worms; and lots of species of urchins and sea cucumbers including the very active burrowing sea cucumber (Neothyonidium).
Lembeh Straits is most definitely the “epi-center” of the muck diving world.
The third diving area BANGKA ISLAND is located in the heart of the Indo-Pacific Ocean has more than 25 world-class diving locations and hosts a wonderful variety of marine life. It is situated directly off the shore of North Sulawesi coast and encompasses four islands in the chain, Lihaga, Tindila, Talise and Bangka. With it's 30 plus dive sites this area is suitable for every level of diving experience and certification, some sites offer excellent drift diving opportunities.
The underwater terrain includes pinnacles where one can see tuna, mackerel, spotted eagle rays, - soft corals abound as well as a variety of fish, which are regular inhabitants of this area. Typically the entire area of Bangka is less dived simply because of it’s location Gangga Island Resort and Spa & Murex Dive Resort’s Cottages are perfectly situated to access the reefs of Pulisan and Batu Gosoh (and others) where fans, colorful sponges as well as small critters exist together in virtually the same area. Dives range from 5 - 35 meters.
The term the other side often comes to mind when discussing North Sulawesi, because which ever of the three locations you choose in North Sulawesi, there is always the other side, truly something for everyone. Most of all the smiling people of North Sulawesi, will give you one of the best dive vacations you have ever experienced.
BUNAKEN NATIONAL MARINE PARK was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. However, it was not until 2000 that the park began to get serious funding from the users, in order to be able to rezone and send out environmental patrols to move towards more sustainable conservation. The Park lies off shore from Manado, and covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is covered by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), with visibility up to 35-40 m, refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found. Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasterly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkeler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.
Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are "coralivores" and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive "beak" allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts. Some 20,000 people live on the natural resources of Bunaken National Marine Park. Although there are inevitable conflicts between resource protection and use by people, the Indonesian government is taking a fairly unusual and pragmatic approach to park management. The idea is to promote wise resource use while preventing overexploitation. Local communities, government officials, dive resort operators, local nature groups, tourists and scientists have played an active role in developing exclusive zones for diving, wood collection, fishing and other forms of utilization. If successful, Bunaken Marine Park will stand as an important example of how Sulawesi, and the rest of Indonesia, can work to protect its natural resources.
LEMBEH STRAIT - The second area on the other side of the mainland is Lembeh Strait, and is known as the world’s best ‘muck-diving’. These waters are full of extraordinary marine critters, many of which are the masters of camouflage.
Lembeh Strait, 1.5 hours from the center of Manado city, is a completely different type of diving from that of Bunaken National Park or Bangka Island. Lembeh Straits offers a variety of diving, including some coral reefs and wrecks; however it is best known for the small and difficult to find creatures that inhabit the world of muck. It is “muck diving” at it’s finest.
Muck diving sites tend to be shallow with a black-sand substrate. They are often littered with discarded human artifacts and fish parts; they generally have poor visibility, and tend to have a disproportionately large number of really weird fishes and critters. In fact, naïve divers may not be able to tell whether they are seeing an ornate bottom-dwelling fish or a decorator crustacean. Some of these organisms have a relatively wide tropical distribution, but many are endemic to a rather small number of dive sites. The “ooh-,“ “aah-“ and “wow-” factor entices divers to return and mix these muck dives with those of typical coral reefs and/or wrecks.
While general dive locations throughout the world can easily be recognizable by cosmopolitan divers, specific dive sites/reefs are more obscure. A few, such as Bloody Bay Wall, the Blue Corner, Pixie Pinnacle, Ras Muhammad, the Cod Hole and Palancar are familiar to many, and “Hair Ball” has recently joined their ranks. Hair Ball and Police Pier in the Lembeh Straits house many subjects that have starred in coffee table books, dive magazines and videos, not to mention National Geographic and BBC specials.
Lembeh Strait is not a location to see the large pelagics, but occasionally sharks, turtles, Napoleon wrasses and humphead parrotfishes can be spotted there. One guest’s week-long visit to Lembeh Strait in 2004, viewed and identified the following fishes and critters: many species of frogfishes including the hairy frogfish; many species of pipefishes and several species of ornate pipefishes and seahorses including the pygmy seahorses; several species of flounders including the cockatoo flounder; several species of scorpion fishes and lionfishes; several species of leaf scorpionfishes and waspfishes including cockatoo waspfishes; spiny devilfishes (Inimicus); Japanese flatheads; reticulate stargazers; longhorn cowfishes; Pegasus sea moths; lots of porcupine puffers and gurnards; both adult and juvenile examples of barramundi, spotted sweetlips and pinnate batfishes (spadefishes); Banggai cardinalfishes; several species of morays and snake eels; several species of octopuses including the mimic octopus & wunderpus, bottom-dwelling cryptic octopus with similar behaviors; several species of squids and cuttlefishes including lots of flamboyant cuttlefishes; bobbit worms; and lots of species of urchins and sea cucumbers including the very active burrowing sea cucumber (Neothyonidium).
Lembeh Straits is most definitely the “epi-center” of the muck diving world.
The third diving area BANGKA ISLAND is located in the heart of the Indo-Pacific Ocean has more than 25 world-class diving locations and hosts a wonderful variety of marine life. It is situated directly off the shore of North Sulawesi coast and encompasses four islands in the chain, Lihaga, Tindila, Talise and Bangka. With it's 30 plus dive sites this area is suitable for every level of diving experience and certification, some sites offer excellent drift diving opportunities.
The underwater terrain includes pinnacles where one can see tuna, mackerel, spotted eagle rays, - soft corals abound as well as a variety of fish, which are regular inhabitants of this area. Typically the entire area of Bangka is less dived simply because of it’s location Gangga Island Resort and Spa & Murex Dive Resort’s Cottages are perfectly situated to access the reefs of Pulisan and Batu Gosoh (and others) where fans, colorful sponges as well as small critters exist together in virtually the same area. Dives range from 5 - 35 meters.
The term the other side often comes to mind when discussing North Sulawesi, because which ever of the three locations you choose in North Sulawesi, there is always the other side, truly something for everyone. Most of all the smiling people of North Sulawesi, will give you one of the best dive vacations you have ever experienced.
