Explore the Beauty of Bunaken National Park

Bunaken National Park was appointed by the Minister of Forestry as a national park in 1991. This tourist attraction covers an area of ​​approximately 89,065 hectares, located in the Minahasa Regency, Manado Municipality, North Sulawesi. To the north of the national park, there are the islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Montehage, Siladen, Nain, Nain Kecil, and part of the coastal area of ​​Tanjung Pisok. While in the south, it covers part of the coast of Tanjung Kelapa.

This location is representative of Indonesia's tropical aquatic ecosystem, which consists of mangrove forest ecosystems, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and terrestrial or coastal ecosystems. The islands within it are rich in flora and fauna. The waters of Bunaken National Park have 13 genera (genus) of live coral which are dominated by types of fringing coral reefs and barrier reefs. There are about 91 species of fish that live in these waters, including horse gusumi (Hippocampus horse), white oci (Seriola rivoliana), yellow tail lollos (Lutjanus kasmira), goropa (Ephinephelus spilotoceps and Pseudanthias hypselosoma), ila gasi (Scolopsis bilineatus) .

In this tourist spot, many marine tourism activities are offered, such as: diving, snorkeling, sunbathing, and swimming in the sea. On Kalase beach, which is on the outskirts of Manado City, there is a diving center called Dragonet which was once the secretariat for the Sail Bunaken event which broke the MURI record with more than 2,000 divers participating in a flag ceremony on the seabed.

Mr. James, the owner of Dragonet Diving Center, employs SDI (Scuba Diving International) certified diving instructor, namely Mr. Ferry. Dragonet offers diving lessons for beginners, which cover the basics of diving (breathing, buoyance control, mask clearing, ear equalization) for 15 minutes, and after understanding you will be immediately invited to dive for 45 minutes at a depth of up to 6 meters. With the help of experienced dive instructors like Mr. Ferry, beginners are guaranteed to dive.

Apart from going through Kalase Beach, Bunaken National Park can also be reached via Manado Harbor, Marina Nusantara Diving Center (NDC) in Molas District which takes about 20 minutes, and from Marina Blue Banter with a travel time of about 10-15 minutes by cruise ship. If departing from the port of Manado, you can use a motorboat to Siladen Island which can be reached in about 20 minutes, to Bunaken Island about 30 minutes, to Montehage Island about 50 minutes, and to Nain Island about 60 minutes.

Tourist Spots in Bunaken Marine Park

As an area that is dominated by water areas, the most impressive activity in Bunaken National Park is water tourism. Various tourist objects are generally scattered among the five main islands in this area.

1. Bunaken Island

The name Bunaken National Park is taken from the name of one of the main islands, namely Bunaken Island. To travel to this island, you can go to a speed boat or rent a boat. It takes about 30 minutes from the Port of Manado City.

Image : TRAVLR Indonesia

There are 12 dive points or dive spots around Bunaken Island from a total of 20 points in Bunaken National Park. These twelve points are the most visited dive sites with depths reaching more than a thousand meters below sea level.

The twelve dive spots are called indentation 1, indentation 2, indentation 3, Mandolin, Tanjung Parigi, Mandolin, Sachiko Point, Muka Kampung, Ron's Point, Pangalisang, and also East Bunaken.

2. Manado Tua Island

To reach Manado Tua Island, visitors can use a motor boat which takes about one hour. This island is a little different from the other four islands in the Bunaken National Park area, because of the existence of a volcano overgrown with shady green trees.

Image : KMSTour

One of the attractions of this island has to do with the Bowontehu Tribe, which was known to inhabit this area in 1623 ago. When the island was still inhabited by the Bowontehu Tribe, its name was known as Manarow Island which was taken from the name of the Sangir Tua ethnic group.

Manado Tua Island has a population of around 3,200 people who generally work as fishermen and farmers. Here, visitors can get to know the culture of the local population more closely and of course explore the history of the Bowontehu Tribe.

Around this island, there are three famous dive points, namely Buwalo, Tanjung Kopi, and Pangalingan Negeri. Visitors can also relax on the white sandy beach or take a hike to the top of the mountain.

3. Nain Island

Just like several other main islands, Nain Island is also included in the coral triangle in Bunaken National Park. This island is included in the Wori District, Minahasa.

To get to Pulai Nain, tourists can use transportation in the form of motorboats or speed boats, which take about one and a half hours. In addition, visitors can also use a small motor boat, but it takes longer, or about two and a half hours.

Image : Paket Wisata Manado

One of the attractions of Nain Island is the color of the sand, which is white and very clean because it is well managed. This beach combines the charm of the sea with clear turquoise water, so visitors can see the coral reefs below without having to dive.

Nain Island is famous as an island with raised sand. Embossed sand is sand that is above sea level and will appear when the sea water recedes and is scattered pickles at several points, so that visitors who visit this raised sand will also appear scattered.

Visitors who want to enjoy the beauty of the embossed sand should note the time carefully. Because this sand will only appear at low tide during moonlight and the time is also very limited. The reason is when it is late in the afternoon, the water will begin to tide and the sand will not appear again.

This island is also an island inhabited by the Bajo tribe. This tribe is also the reason why this area is so clean and well preserved. This is because the Bajo tribe is very famous for its life in harmony with and very concerned about the preservation of the surrounding environment.

For visitors who do not have time to enjoy the charm of the emerging sand, there are other activities that can also be done on Nain Island, namely diving. There are two dive points around this island, namely Batu Kapal and Waterways.

4. Mantehage Island

Mantehage Island also has a charm and charm like the other islands of the Bunaken region. Mantehage is the outermost island of the Bunaken National Park with a travel time of at least one and a half hours by speed boat. The condition of this island is relatively flat and sloping, so it is slightly different from other islands.

Image : Befren

The main attraction besides the water area is the existence of mangrove forests. The area of ​​the mangrove forest is almost the same as the land area.

Visitors can rent a boat to explore the mangrove forest. Usually the best time to do mangrove tourism is in the late afternoon. Apart from enjoying the rows of mangrove forests, visitors can also witness the charm of the sunset aka sunset.

When walking through the mangrove forest, visitors will occasionally encounter various exotic birds, such as the pekaka bua-bua and the king prawns, which are known for their distinctive sounds. In addition, you will also find animals such as cuscuses and unique tarsiers which are known to be shy, so they are only active at night.

Besides its natural beauty, Mantehage Island is also famous for one of Manado's special culinary delights, namely the Cap Tikus drink. Cap Tikus itself is a traditional drink from Minahasa with alcohol content. The main ingredient for making it is palm tree sap or better known as sap which is then distilled for several hours.

Although there is controversy arising from the Cap Tikus drink, this has attracted visitors to taste this particular drink.

The last activity that must be done on Mantehage Island is diving. The charm of the underwater world in the waters of this island is also guaranteed to amaze the eyes. There are two dive points in this area, namely Bango and Tangkasi.

5. Siladen Island

Siladen Island is an island located in the eastern part of Bunaken National Park with an area of ​​approximately 31.25 hectares. The journey required to reach this island is about 45 minutes by motor boat or speed boat.

Visitors can choose two travel options, namely using boat transportation which only operates once a day, so visitors must stay overnight on this island. The second option is to use a speed boat if you don't want to stay overnight. Even so on this island there are quite a lot of luxury inns.

One of the things that Siladen Island is famous for is its condition which is very calm and peaceful even though it has many inns. So visitors who want to calm down from the hustle and bustle of the city should be able to visit this island.

Image : Aneka Wisata Nusantara

Some of the facilities that can be enjoyed on this island are glass boats, known as catamarans, which can be used to surround marine parks, diving centers, and also various eating places.

The most popular activity for visitors to the national park is sunbathing on the beach. This is in accordance with the prestige of Siladen Island with its charming beaches. The stretch of beach is white and very wide, even the land area is more dominated by coastal areas.

In addition, on this island there are two dive points called Siladen 1 and Siladen 2. The island's waters are also known to be very suitable for snorkeling activities for both experienced and non-experienced visitors. Taking pictures under the sea is also a favorite of visitors.

Flora and Fauna Bunaken Marine Park

Bunaken National Park has a very rich coral reef ecosystem and more than 390 species of coral reefs in the world are in this park.

Sea plants or sea algae are quite common in this area, starting from Caulerpa, Padina, and Halimeda, while the types of seaweed that can be found in this park are Thalassaodendron ciliatum, Thalassia hemprichii, Enhallus acoroides.

Apart from marine plants and coral reefs, Bunaken National Park also has various other species, such as marine mammals, fish, endemic turtles, reptiles, birds, molluscs, and mangrove trees. For the types of fish themselves, in this Park there are at least more than 90 species of fish that live in this area.

Bunaken National Park can be said to be representative of all marine ecosystems in Indonesia, including seaweed, coral reefs, several species of advertisements, and coastal ecosystems.

The biodiversity in Bunaken Park is very good and quite enchanting, and nearly 70 percent of the species in the world, be it fish species, coral reefs, etc. are in this National Park.

Well, that's Bunaken National Park which is one of the best marine parks in the world and is included in the UNESCO world heritage. Hopefully this article can be a reference for the vacation of Friend GNFI in Bunaken, North Sulawesi.

Location Of Bunaken National Park

This National Park is in the Manado area. So, you who want to visit this area can take a plane to Manado first. Then, from Sam Ratulangi International Airport the journey continues towards Manado City by using a taxi as the fastest and most comfortable transportation.

From Manado, native friends will be directed to the port of Marina Blue Banter. Then, using a boat to Bunaken Island which will take approximately 20 minutes. After that, you can have fun in this area.

Price of admission Bunaken National Park

Well, the price of admission to this area itself turns out to be very cheap with only 5 thousand rupiahs. however, it will be very expensive for foreign tourists who reach 150 thousand rupiah. To do snorkeling activities, you have to spend 150 thousand rupiah to rent diving equipment for one hour.

References :

https://www.nativeindonesia.com/taman-nasional-bunaken/
https://www.indonesiakaya.com/jelajah-indonesia/detail/taman-nasional-bunaken
https://rimbakita.com/taman-nasional-bunaken/
https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2019/06/26/keindahan-taman-bawah-laut-bunaken-indonesia