Bunaken, marvelous national marine park

Almost midnight when we arrived in Sam Ratulangi airport - Manado, it took around 20 minutes from the airport to the Quality hotel at Jl. Piere Tendean No. 88 - 89 Boulevard Manado Phone : (0431) 8883888, Fax : (0431) 8881111 email: qltmnd@qualityhotelmanado.com The next morning after breakfast, we planned to visit the Bunaken national marine park which has some of the highest levels of marine biodiversity in the world. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island. Bunaken is located at the north of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado.


The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is overlain 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. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27 to 29 °C) 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.

Escape to the world famous Bunaken National Marine Park, and enjoy the splendor of this underwater paradise was very attractive. We went to Ritzy Hotel Manado, to Blue Banter Marina Tour & Dive Center office to join the tour. They took us by car to the pier to embark to the boat. It took around 45 minutes to reach the park. The semi submersible see viewer brought us to experience the coral walls from its windows.
Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasternly 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 snorkler 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.


Back to the hotel we changed clothes and having lunch at Ria Rio seafood restaurant at Kalasey. It’s famous of its golden fish food, unfortunately no golden fish available when we visited them. We ordered some fishes, such as grilled kakap merah, fried bubara fish and its cah pakis. I like the fried bubara, it’s very delicious, crispy and piquant. I also tried the special and unique drink contains of young coconut with sugar palm called “es kelapa muda”. We could see the sea with mountain at the background, it’s very beautiful.
Cella Bakery at Jl. Tikala Ares I No.6 (phone: 0431-867620, 852682) is famous as the best klaapertaart with its cheese or raisin toping. My friend said that the cake’s rum is very delicious. Bagea kenari (made from sago) and kacang goyang were the traditional snacks that I’d bought for my colleagues.
Manado town square called Mantos at Jl. Piere Tendean launched at 2006 are full of food, you could find any restaurant, such as chinese food like Ta wan, fast food like Kentucky fried chicken, etc. Young people are also hanging around with their friends. Traffic jam usually occurs at Piere Tendean Boulevard because of the existence of the shopping malls. We didn’t hang out too long, because we had to catch the morning flight back to Surabaya at 06:45, it meant that we had to wake up early at 04:00, same as at 03:00 o’clock in the morning in Surabaya. The traveling was tiring because we had to go to many places in the tight schedule, but it’s fun.