Bunaken
Sea Park is one of the sea parks that have the highest marine
biodiversity in the world. Because of its natural potency and the marine
ecological conservation activities in this area, the local government
designed the Bunaken area as a maritime and educational tourism object.
Bunaken area was anounced officially by the Ministry of Forestry as
national sea park in 1991.
Bunaken
Sea Park is 89.065 ha wide area. It is located at North Sulawesi
Province, Indonesia. This sea park consists of 5 islands and 2 coastal
areas, namely Bunaken Island, Manado Tua Island, Siladen Island,
Mantehage Island, Nain Island, Molas Coast - Tiwoho, and
Arakan-Wawontulap Coast. Among the islands of Bunaken National Sea Park,
Bunaken Island is the most popular. This ±8 km² wide island is located
at the Bay of Manado. The island is part of Manado City, the capital of
North Sulawesi Province.
The
area of Bunaken National Park represents the tropical ecosystem of
Indonesia, because it has any kind of tropical water ecosystems, such as
mangrove, seagrasses, seaweeds, and reefs. There’s also tropical forest
in this area. Geographically, Bunaken area includes in “Gold Triangle”
water –the water connects Papua, Philippine, and Indonesia oceans–, the
habitat of more than 3000 species of fish. This beautiful sea park has
the diversity of rare aquatic organism species, such as dugong, dolphin,
etc. There’re also Hippocampus sp., the giant clam, hawksbill turtle,
green turtle, etc.
Because
of its high biodiversity, scuba diving facility can attract so many
tourists to the Bunaken area. The National Sea Park of Bunaken has 20
dive spots with the deep varies up to 1344 m. Twelve of them are located
around Bunaken Island. These dive spots are the most often visited by
the divers and the submarine panorama lovers. Most of these 12 dive
spots in Bunaken Island are in line from the southeast up to the
northwest part. There’re underwater great walls or hanging walls. They
are the walls of giant coral that stand vertically and curve up in this
area. These coral walls also become the food source for fishes in the
water around the Bunaken Island.
Besides
the charming submarine park, the islands in this national park area
present the natural atmosphere. There’re many cottages, resorts, and
diving centers that offer accommodation and diving services. Water pool,
hot shower, and restaurants are also provided. The tour activities in
the Bunaken National Sea Park are diving, snorkeling, sunbathe,
swimming, etc.
