Bunaken Island

Bunaken and its surrounding islands belong probably to Sulawesi's top dive destinations. Only 1 hour from Manado by public boat (1 1/2 us dollar) and you're in a completely different world. Besides walking through the jungle, the only thing to do here is relax, dive, snorkel and drink Cap Tikus. Every time I come here, there are things that amaze me underwater. Huge Dogtooth tunas, Yellowfin tunas, Blacktip sharks, Whitetip sharks, Hammerhead sharks, Dolphins, Eagle Rays, Black Marlins, Napoleon Fish, Blue Ringed Octopus, Paper Leaf fish, Frogfish, etc, etc. Big or small you can find it on Bunaken. I think this is a place that will never bore a diver if it comes to aquatic live, the only disadvantage is that there are only drop offs.
Bunaken village with the Christian church on the foreground. You can see Manado Tua (tua = old) in the background.
This is the popular drop off which is similar everywhere around Bunaken and the surrounding islands. In some spots it goes 1.8 KM down....
Pantai Liang at high tide on the side of Sulawesi Dive Quest and Panorama cottages.
If you want to cross the island, be prepared for a 45 minutes humid jungle 'adventure'...
The local people live mostly in small cottages similar to these.
For everybody there's time to relax on Bunaken Island... Certainly at Panorama cottages on the right hand side of Pantai Liang beach. As everywhere in Indonesia, no shortage of dogs..
This is a black macaque. I think it's on the endangered species list. They are being sold on the markets near Manado. This monkey was saved from being eaten by its new owner.
There is a cheap local palmwine which is called Cap Tikus. Of course after a day of diving/snorkling a cold Bintang (Indonesian beer) and some 40%+ palmwine are a good party starter..
I saw these shy girls in a village on Manado Tua, we stopped there between 2 dives. A lot of locals rarely see Bules (white guys) guys on their island.
At the end of the day a beautiful sunset paints the scenery.