Indonesia · North Sulawesi

Bunaken

Best wall and turtle diving generally aligns with drier months and better visibility.

Bunaken sits at the northern tip of Sulawesi in a marine park famous for its sheer wall diving — drop-offs that plunge 200m+ into deep blue, draped in soft coral and sponges, with turtles, schooling barracuda, and reef sharks patrolling the edges. Nearby Lembeh and Bangka round out a north-Sulawesi diving triangle.

Good season

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

March–October is the main season; year-round divable. Water temp is a steady 27–29°C.

Trip duration

5–7 nights resort-based on Bunaken or mainland Manado.

Dive style

Wall and drift diving with mild current; easy buoyancy practice.

Dive level

Open Water; the walls are forgiving and the marine park is well-managed.

Reef health

What you’ll actually find
Holding steady

One of the few reefs whose live coral has held up over the last decade. Plan with confidence.

Coral reef health

How is this calculated?
A decade ago
Survey 2014
47%
Today
Survey 2024
45%

On current trend, no live coral by ~2249. Losing about 0.2% cover per year — roughly 225 years of reef left to see if nothing changes.

Heat stress right now

Watch

Mild warmth. Worth watching — no bleaching yet.

NOAA Coral Reef Watch · updated May 2026 · 0 °C-week heat dose

What to expect on a dive

Bunaken's wall diving remains the highlight. Some shallow flats show bleaching scars but the drop-offs hold their cover.

Sources, methodology, and the raw numbers

Raw observed numbers

  • Coral cover: 45% (survey Sep 2024, Reef Check Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines survey)
  • Bleached: 8%
  • Recent mortality: 2%
  • Coral Triangle — observed condition reflects the stable regional pattern.

Raw thermal numbers

  • NOAA CRW alert level: Watch
  • Degree Heating Weeks: 0 °C-wk
  • SST anomaly: +0.3 °C

How we summarise this

Observed coral cover, bleaching, and mortality come from named in-situ surveys with a stated date and method — they describe one snapshot of one reef and do not extrapolate to neighbouring sites. Current thermal stress is satellite-derived from NOAA Coral Reef Watch at ~5 km resolution; it indicates risk, not observed coral damage. We deliberately separate observed condition, current thermal stress, and projection — and we never publish a projection without a documented model and uncertainty.

Sources

Reef condition changes year to year. If you visit, consider supporting responsible-travel and conservation operators on the ground.

Pressure on this reef

Protection · fishing · what you can do

Protected-area status

Strict MPA

Inside a strict marine protected area with active enforcement.

Fishing pressure

Moderate fishing pressure

Dominant pressures

  • dynamite/cyanide fishing legacy
  • tourism
  • plastic

3 Green Fins-verified operators known at this location.

What you can do

Bunaken Marine National Park has been formally protected since 1991 with village-based ranger patrols. Local marine sanctuaries are well-run; the wider region still recovering from decades of destructive fishing. Choose dive shops that pay sanctuary fees directly to the village.

Protection status sourced from Protected Planet / WDPA and refined with Marine Protection Atlas. Fishing pressure proxy is Global Fishing Watch AIS data. See the methodology for what these sources can and can’t prove.

Dive sites here

5 curated

Gear

What to bring

Basic kit

Site-specific add-ons

Some dive sites here call for extra gear. Check the individual site page for full context.

  • SMBBoat pickup from drift end of wall. · Lekuan Walls

What divers say

Bunaken's walls feel infinite. You drift along the top and the reef just falls away below you forever.
Guest review