Bunaken Island - SPECIAL INTEREST OF NORTH SULAWESI

Visitors from around the world are discovering Manado sun-dernched island paradises and peerless diving and snorkeling around Bunaken, one of the world's most beautiful coral environment. With an almost unbelievable variety of feeming sea life, supervisibility and spectacular scenery, Bunaken is the chief attraction of North Sulawesi for divers and non-divers alive. With much of the best coral just under the surface, the sea gardens are easyly accesible to snorkles. Non-divers can expreience much of Bunaken's wonder throught a glass-bottom boat. Bunaken can be reached by speedboat or motorized outrigger in arround 30 minutes from Manado. Already in 1991 the underwater area around Bunaken, Manado Tua, Siladen, Mantehage and Nain islands became a national marine reserve; Taman Nasional Laut Bunaken - Manado Tua. The Park covers a total surface area of 79,056 hectares, 97% of which is ocean. There is and entrancee fee (since March 2001 - about 15 dollars) that is used for the preservation of the park and in part for the villages on the islands (controlled by US Aid). Also belonging to the park are two coastel areas with small reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. There is no continental shelf in the northern part of Sulawesi and the reefs drop directly down to 1840 meter! Depths between the island are around 200m, between Manado Tua and Montehage 1360m! A rare fish has been found here, the ceolacanth (Latimeria Menadonesis) who lives in caves at about 100 to 200m depth on these steep underwater slopes. Ceolacanths can reach a length of about 2 meter and are so called living fossils. Living fossils are organisms that have not changed in millions of years. The Ceolacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) was first discovered in the mouth of the Chalumna River on the east coast of South Africa and later around the Comores island. This is a different species than the one living around.