BUNAKEN ISLAND_BEST DIVING SPOT AREA: LEKUAN 1,2,3 (CITY of GREEN TURTLE)

THE BEAUTY of BUNAKEN ISLAND, NASIONAL MARINE PARK.

Bunaken is an island of 8 km², part of the Bunaken National Marine Park. Bunaken is located at the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island,Bunaken National Park extends over an area of 890.65 km² of which only 3% is terrestrial, including Bunaken Island, as well as the islands of Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.

The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are up to 1,566 m deep in Manado Bay, with temperatures ranging between 27 to 29 °C. It has a high diversity of - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges. Notably, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. It also claims to have seven times more genera of coral than Hawaii,and has more than 70% of all the known fish species of the Indo-Western Pacific.

Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park has such a high level of biodiversity. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkeler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.

BUNAKEN ISLAND,DIVING SPOT AREA.

LEKUAN 1 (or TURTLE CITY)
The 3 “lekuans” are considered a signature of Bunaken world famous wall diving. A dramatic drop off of 40-50m followed by a step and than again precipitating in the blue. Very common to spot huge (up to 2m) green turtles, sharks (white tip, black tip), napoleon and “clouds” of schooling fish like anthias, fusiliers, butterfly, red tooth triggerfish. Many macro species in the shallows as well as scorpions (devil, ambon, leaf…) and stone fishes.

LEKUAN 2
Wall reef with many vertical drops, cuts, holes and overhangs. Excellent numbers and variety of almost all kinds of reef fish as well as invertebrate life.


LEKUAN 3
A sandy sloping bottom at first with pinnacles and outcroppings make Lekuan 3 a different underwater landscape. The “scenario” then changes into a vertical wall dropping into the deep ocean. Numerous nudibranchs, leaf fish, ghostpipefishes, scorpion fish as well as green turtles, sharks, snappers. Here is also possible for a trained eye to spot the rare and tiny (4/5 mm) Hippocampus pontohi (a newly-discovered species of pygmy seahorse)