In Bunaken Marine Park there are many Islands where you can dive. While most of the diving is around Bunaken Island, some great spots are a little further away and mean spending the day out on the boat. We take breakfast and lunch with us and head out at for a day of diving, relaxing and fun at sea. As the boat heads North you go past Mantehage Island, which is covered in healthy mangrove forests stretching far inland, and you eventually arrive at Nain Island where, if you are lucky, you might spot a hammerhead or groups of eagle rays. There is a video at the end of the blog that was made from the first day trip of 2020!
Mantehage Island
Mantehage Island is a huge island directly north of Bunaken. There aren’t as many dive sites as Bunaken but there are a couple that are worth visiting. Barracuda Point sometimes has huge schools of Barracuda in the deep, blue water next to the wall. When we visited we didn’t see the barracuda but we did see lots of sharks sleeping on the deep slope beneath us as well as a school of big eye trevalley and rainbow runners. There were huge humphead wrasse and other reef fish, it was very cool! Around the South of Mantehage Island it is more similar to the topography with Bunaken and Manado Tua. Steep walls with more corals and reef fish covering them. There was lots to see here with different nudibranchs, moray eels, crabs and fish.
Siladen &Manado Tua
We can also do Siladen Island and Manado Tua Islands as part of the 3 dive day trip as the sites here are amazing but it depends on the conditions everywhere and where you want to go. We can get to these sites as part of 2 morning dive trips as they are a lot closer to Bunaken and don’t require a fuel supplement as long as there are enough divers on the boat.
Nain Island
Nain Island is about an hour and a half away from Two Fish Bunaken Resort and the only way to visit is by boat. It is a small island with a tiny village and no resorts or homestays. The local villagers are fishermen and seaweed farmers. You will usually see some small boats already out fishing when you arrive at Nain Island. Nain is most famous for the hammerheads which have been spotted schooling here in the past. Last time we visited we had many eagle rays surrounding us. It was magical! We also saw a huge blackspotted ray, schools of trevally, schools of fusiliers and other cool critters like leaf scorpionfish, painted lobster and moray eels. On one of the dive sites at Nain, there is a huge pinnacle called Batu Kapal or stone boat, that is shaped a bit like a shipwreck. The site itself was a huge sloping reef with lots of rubble and sandy areas and can reach depths of 50m+ so it definitely for the experienced diver.
Eagle Rays at Nain Island……
For Day trips we stay out for three dives and have our breakfast and lunch on the boat. For breakfast, we have boiled eggs or omelet (whatever you prefer), cereal and milk, bread and spreads and fruit! A good breakfast and coffee to start a full day of diving right. After the first morning dive we have fruit snacks and cookies before relaxing on the boat for over an hour before dive number two. It’s a good time for a nap! After dive two we find somewhere sheltered to put the boat usually next to Mantehage Island before the food gets unpacked and you can help yourself! Usually, we have fried rice, eggs in sauce, vegetables, fruit and cookies for lunch. Same as at the resort everything is delicious and they even pack us their special spicy sambal sauce. Again you have time for a nap or jump in for a swim/snorkel before dive 3. We normally head back to the resort about 3:30 or 4pm so you can enjoy the afternoon at the resort or even go night diving!
Day trips are very exciting and everyone here loves going to the northern islands. You never know what you might see underwater and hopefully, you are lucky and see something amazing like hammerheads, schooling barracuda or eagle rays. Whatever you see, it is the perfect way to spend the day.
For more information or to make a reservation to dive and stay with us at Two Fish Bunaken Resort, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you!
