Manado Tua Volcano Slope
Dive site
Manado Tua is a dormant volcano that drops directly into Bunaken National Park's waters, and its submerged flanks are unlike any other dive in the area. Instead of the typical limestone wall, you descend over bare volcanic basalt and lava rubble colonised by pioneering soft corals and carpets of encrusting sponges. The geometry is dramatic — wide lava fields tilting into the blue — and the macro life that hides in the rubble interstices is exceptional: robust ghost pipefish, emperor shrimp on nudibranchs, and occasional frogfish. A geology dive with biological rewards.
Conditions
Depth
5 to 35 m
Advanced depths
Current
Usually gentle
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
15 to 25 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
27 to 30°C
3mm wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| Vis (m) | 10 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | calm | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Emperor shrimp on nudibranch
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Ringed pipefish
Photo: Patrick Jakiel · © all rights reserved
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Robust ghost pipefish
Rare
Now and then
Commerson's frogfish
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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