After a wonderful few days in Tangkoko, we drove back to Manado to the pier to meet the boat for our next stop: Bunaken Island and the Bunaken National Marine Park. Bunaken is known for its great biodiversity of corals, and is a popular destination for scuba divers and snorkelers. We planned a few days of snorkeling in the blue waters surrounding the island.
Our base of operations was the wonderful Bunaken Cha Cha Resort. Located in a quieter part of the island, Bunaken Cha Cha has only 4 rooms, each of which has a beautiful view off over the sea. We took up three of their four rooms, and the staff went out of the way to make sure we had a great stay. Thanks to the amazing manager Agnes, the gourmet food on offer there was a welcome change from the tasty, but repetitive, food we’d had in Tangkoko. Truly, Agnes was a wonder, and made sure each of us was happy and taken care of.
The first afternoon we settled in and late in the day went for a quick snorkel over the house reef. Bunaken has corals surrounding it in the shallow waters near shore, but quickly the land takes a deep dive down a wall to a trench between the island and the mainland that can reach more than a kilometer in depth. For that reason, the resort has very attractive corals and small marine life, plus the occasional dugong or whale that wander by it. We were excited to get out and see what was there!
For our first real snorkeling outing the next morning, the resort’s very experienced boat captain, Mull, and his helper took us out to a couple of the popular spots on the more populated side of the island. They didn’t disappoint. Not only were the corals and many brightly-colored fish spectacular, the number of turtles we were able to see at close range were truly astounding.
These are just a few of the turtles we saw every day (Photo credit: Jessie & Mull).
We observed so much turtle behavior, including one parallel park itself into the wall of corals right below us! I got into a routine where I would inspect the gorgeous corals and colorful fish for a while, then look off towards the deeper water and the wall to catch whatever the turtles were up to in that moment. My favorite moment was a few minutes I spent being carried along by the current in parallel with a mid-size turtle doing the same thing. It was magical as we floated together in the calm of the sea.
So our days took on a rhythm. Get up in the morning and dress for snorkeling, and drink a coffee in the dining area while enjoying the amazing view. Eat breakfast, then take the boat out for snorkeling. Enjoy all the corals and turtles you can soak in, then head back to the resort for lunch. Siesta or relaxation after lunch, and a late afternoon beer and/or snorkel.
The second afternoon it was a bit hairy with a lot of wind. Because of the waves, most of us swimmers were trying to keep track of each other, but Jessie, the other person staying at our resort, was looking in the right direction while we were in the water together and caught sight of a momma dugong and her calf! These days were such a gift of nature and relaxing.
We had a fantastic stay at Bunaken Cha Cha. The whole team there took such good care of us. They’ve had a tough time since the pandemic, but are making a great go of it, and I really hope we can go back and visit again some day!
