Bunaken/Siladen Island One Day Trip

The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the
first of Indonesia’s growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area
of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The
remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado
Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.

The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1,566 m in Manado
Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor
some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest –
corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges – and the number of families, genera or species is
bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur
in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to
a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be
slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish
species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.