Bunaken Island is one of 5 islands that make up the Bunaken Marine Park. The seas around the islands are very deep, in some places more than 600m deep, and the islands are “pinnacles” that reach the surface. Think of them as a submerged mountain range!

The dive sites around Bunaken have dramatic drop-offs mixed with sloping areas and beautiful coral gardens at the tops of the reef. There is a huge variety of soft and hard corals that offer a home to an abundance of reef fish and critters.

There are lots of fusiliers, butterflyfish, sweetlips, cardinal fish and damsel fish everywhere. Lots of green and hawksbill turtles are seen swimming and sleeping on the reef walls. Bigger things like tuna, humphead parrotfish, wahoo, barracudas and reef sharks are often seen swimming past the reef. Hiding on the wall there are lots of smaller critters such as scorpion fish, shrimps, nudibranch, lionfish, and seahorses hidden on the walls.

Bunaken is a destination suitable for all level of divers but the steep wall going down to the abyss offers a great opportunity to dive deeper and it is better to be an advanced diver to fully enjoy the dive sites.

On the shallow part of the reef you will always find a superb and colorful coral garden around 4 meters deep and it is a great way to make your safety stop and get last underwater shots. These coral gardens are regarded as the best in the world making it a great playground for snorkelers too.