Saturday, February 2, 2008

Bunaken (you have to go there!)


Some pics of our holidays in Bunaken, North Sulawesi.




Just a 3 hours flight from Jakarta, you find a Mecca (ha!) of diving. We are in the Coral Triangle, an area that spreads from the Northern Philippines to Bali on the West, up to Papua and the Solomon Islands in the East. Here, you find about 600 types of coral, which is 75% of all the known species on the planet. There is no other place with the biggest marine biodiversity, and Bunaken is just in the middle of it. Amazing!

Surprisingly, the island, albeit well known to divers from all over the world, is far from being a resort area. There is no road, therefore no cars (a couple years ago the people started purchasing motorbike that are used as taxis). At its maximum, the island can have 300 tourists, so it’s far from crowded.



The village is very small, with very friendly people – the type who would just gesture you to come inside their house to share a cup of coffee while you’re just strolling through; naked kids who play on the beach at sunset. There is one church right at the pier, a mosque just a short walk away, and all is nice.







1 comment:

Unknown said...

thanks for your blog

see you soon at the baraka maybe ;)