(Updated February 2013)

General Information about the island of Bunaken

Bunaken is one of the over 17 000 islands of Indonesia and lies in the North of Sulawesi (in former times: Celebes) You need about 45 minutes with a boat from Manado. Manado is the capital of the province North Sulawesi with approx. 230 000 inhabitants. The international airport Dr. Samratulangi is approximately 15 km northeastern.

Perhaps you are interested in country and people of North Sulawesi, its history, culture or touristly interesting places. Or you would like to inform yourself of quite practical questions such as visa formalities. Then you receive the best information here: http://www.north-sulawesi.org or there: http://www.sulawesi-info.com. The webmaster of these pages lived many years in Manado and updates its information regularly.

rom Europa, a s a rule, you take a flight to Manado with stopover in Singapore or you fly to Jakarta (Djakarta) and  then take another internal connecting flight to Manado with a stopover in Makassar(Udjung Pandang) or Balikpapan on Kalimantan Island.

Pictures of Life on Bunaken

There are various possibilities to come to the harbour of Manado. Either you take a taxi. Or - if you are lucky - a "Mikrolet" (public minibus) stops by which you can charter for yourself and your luggage. If you arrive at the harbour too late, however, the PUBLIC BOAT could already have left to the island. In this case you will be besieged by owners of private boats which offer you their services for expensive money. The overnight stay in a hotel then could be cheaper. A day is lost for you, though. If you have already booked an accommodation on Bunaken you are normally welcomed in the harbour and brought with the boat of the Resort directly to your new home for free..

To be able to take the public boat to Bunaken, you should be at the harbour already at 1 p.m. However, it also can happen that you must wait for some time. This depends on the tides or on it, whether sufficient passengers have already got aboard. 2-3 hours can be the waiting time occasionally.

With your approx. € 11,00 you then contribute to the protective measures for the National Park, before all the preservation of the reef. This panel (photo) is at the beach and shows the different safe areas of the island. Day and night patrol boats watch over the severe regulations particularly against dynamite and cyanide fishing. You find details of the measures for the preservation of the sub-water world here.

The National Park contains approx. 75 hectares of sub-water world around Bunaken, Manado Tua, Siladen, Mante Hage and Nain with approximately 20 000 people.

At the East coast of Bunaken several new Dive Resorts with foreign owners have established within the last years. The beach is rather rocky but clean toward the north. I liked to have myself driven from the light north-south flow over the reef here

This carts stretched by cattle are the main means of transportation on Bunaken. They serve primarily the transport of coconuts, building material and water. Outside the village of Bunaken there are only few fountains with freshwater on the island. When there are most tourists there in summer (dry season), the water for taking a shower gets very scarce. It then must be transported from the mainland over here by ship in large tanks. Drinking water (AQUA) can be bought in plastic bottles or in 10 Ltr. containers..

Occasionally one can meet motorcycles, rattling along on the ways of the island. Recently a couple of young men even started to use their motorcycle as taxi. As a European you are astonished, how the natives sometimes squash as a foursome on such a vehicle.

A lane (with innumerable potholes) connects the main village Bunaken to the village of Tanjung Parigi in the North. When jogging early in the morning I regularly met the children here on their way to school.

Some Resorts have not an own well with salt-free water. So who wants to supply his guests on Bunaken with running, salt-free water must pump this out of the water net in the harbour of Manado into his boat, transport it to the island and at last pump it into the high container. There was electric current (220 V or less) as a rule only between 6 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning. The generators are in the village of Bunaken. Since 2011 however there is a also a huge photovoltaik plant which is delivering more than 700 househoalds with electricity also at daytime. The electric cables go through the island from village to village and from house to house.

If you stay on Bunaken for some time in a Homestay, then you will very likely have the opportunity to experience an island wedding. As a guest of your Homestay you are then taken along. You get to know the whole pallet of the local culinary art. However, you must bring sufficient staying powers and a fast reaction capacity to "get your moneys worth". The speeches namely drag on interminably. If they have finally made it, you must hurry. Because the delicacies are already after short time cleared away again. If you are namely too modest and always stand in line behind, you will leave the celebration with a growling stomach at the end.

The people of Bunaken also love to celebrate their birthdays and mostly invite their "Bules" (how they call us white people) to it . That they also are fond of playing instruments and singing in the community, one can experience at least once the week. Always someplace in the neighbourhood of your homestay one of the different Christian religious groups celebrates its service in a private home.

The young men and women frequently meet for playing instruments and singing together in their leisure time. Most of them can quite skilfully play on their instrument, which they have not seldom made themselves. In the last years, however, one more and more can (must!) hear loud music coming from emplifying equipments.

Who has made friends with the natives may quench his thirst with fresh coconut juice from time to time. The men skilfully climb upward on the palms. Then it would be wise for you to keep distance! Because the green harvest will crash to the ground straight away. With a well-directed stroke with the machete the upper quarter gets separated from the nut and an opening stung for drinking. While you are slurping the exquisite liquid your Indonesian friend manufactures a kind of spoon from the nutshell. With this you can detach the jelly-like flesh from the open nut.

"Papa Klaus" (every man over 40 is called "Papa") was frequently invited to the village where the pigs run around freely like dogs.

It is quite a special experience if one can go fishing at sunrise and even land such a big catch .

Before our departure from Bunaken a couple of bracelets and necklaces are bought on the beach. Of course one should not forget  bargaining. A farewell photo with the Indonesian friends. Yeah, who will cry, then? Next year we'll meet again.