The island of Bunaken, just off of the coast of Sulawesi, is truly a scuba diver’s paradise. The tiny volcanic island, is mostly undeveloped, except for a couple of small villages and dive resorts lining the white sand beaches that peek out from in-between the mangroves that line its shores.

Turtle taking a nap

What makes Bunaken unique though is the steep coral-lined drop-offs that lie just beyond the edge of the shore. Scuba divers flock from around the world to explore the waters surrounding Bunaken, hoping to discover what makes this tiny island one of Indonesia’s most sought-after scuba diving destinations.

Why Dive Bunaken

The diving around Bunaken is fantastic. Temperatures are consistently between 27-30° C, and water visibility typically hovers around 30-50 meters. The shallow reef is filled with a diverse array of small but healthy hard and soft corals, making Bunaken a great spot for snorkelers as well.

Anemonefish

From the shallow reef, the seafloor drops off dramatically, creating stunning wall dives and slight overhangs. Most of the dive sites around Bunaken are along these steep walls, that are covered with gorgonians, sponges, and a huge variety of soft corals. Turtles and reef sharks can be spotted at most dive sites patrolling the blue or napping in shelves between the coral. Barracuda and bump-head parrotfish can sometimes be spotted, but not in the huge numbers that I have seen in other destinations around Indonesia. Despite the sharp walls, most of the dives were sunny, and well-lit for photography.

Juvenile trumpet fish hiding in a sea fan

On some dives I would drift along with the current, while on others the seas were so calm that you could swim back and forth with very little effort. The sandy bottom beyond the drop-off was too deep for recreational divers at most sites, so a typical dive was spent just exploring the cracks and crevices found along the rocky walls.

Swimming turtle

While all of my dives were pleasant, with great visibility and lots of very healthy coral, I didn’t seem to see the same level of biodiversity during the day that I have seen in other parts of Indonesia, such as Bali or Raja Ampat. On most dives there were scores of small fish, and the occasional shark or larger predator, but not too many medium sized fish. I am not sure if this was just because of the time of year that I visited, or if this is indicative of overfishing or impacts from tourism.