Diving – As a dive destination, North Sulawesi can be broken down to two distinct areas. If traveling to the area, it’s highly recommended to dive both.

The West Side: Manado Bay and Bunaken National Marine Park. Drift along pristine coral walls in one of Indonesia’s increasing number of National Marine Parks. Manado Bay hosts several notable dive sites and Bunaken National Park, with it’s abundance of colorful soft corals and hard corals, is home to a number of fish species unmatched by most destinations. The full area of the park is known to host at least 390 species of coral and an estimated 2000 different species of fish, with several single-site counts over 200-300 different fish species at a single dive site.

The East Side: World-famous Lembeh Straight. A destination that should be on every underwater photographer’s bucket list. If it’s unique, unusual, and generally hard to find – it’s probably living here in abundance. The Wonderpus, Mimic, Blue Ring, Coconut and Starry Night octopus are all regulars here. Additional unique and highly photogenic inhabitants include: Ornate ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, pegasus sea moths, bobbit worms, ambon scorpion fish, and hairy frogfish, to name a few. Not to mention various species of seahorse and a plethora of unique nudibranchs and other sea slugs.

On Land – North Sulawesi has much to offer above the surface. To experience its incredible variety of unusual land-based flora and fauna visit Tangkoko National Reserve. Colorful birds, like the endemic Knobbed Hornbill, and unique animals like the Sulawesi Bear Cuscus, Dwarf Cuscus, and Spectral Tarsier inhabit the park. In total 127 mammal, 233 bird and 104 reptile and amphibian species call the park home – nearly half of these being endemic.

Many more land-based sights and tours are available. For a complete list visit www.indonesia-tourism.com.

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