If you told me 6 months ago to take vacation in deserted island without fresh water, electricity, NO AIR CON or cable TV – I would say there’s no way you make me do that voluntarily nevertheless PAY for it - that you would definitely need to abduct and tranquilize me (with dosage that’s sufficient to put an elephant in 3 weeks sleep).
But when I was trying to find another destination to use up my leftover annual leave, I stumbled upon a lot of pictures from Bunaken – and it’s so picturesque! In case you don’t know – Bunaken is located in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. In the map it would be somewhere south of Philippines.
Bunaken Island National Marine Park in Manado is to be among some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, with outstanding fish variety and world-class wall diving. The clear, warm waters contain astonishingly high numbers of species, whether corals, sponges or fish.
Bunaken has:
• Seven times more genera of coral than that freakin Hawaii
• Over 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific
• Over 150 dive sites with underwater visibility of 10-25 meters (in other words – the water is very clear!)
• Acknowledged as one of top 10 dive sites around the world.
Well I thought – why not? Vacationing to Bali would be so cliché – better go to this unknown underwater paradise. There’s a catch though – some resources I read said that the island has no running fresh water (they have to “import” from the main island 45 mins from Bunaken); no air con; no cars, no paved road, etc. But surprisingly – almost 98% of the prices are in EURO. Not in local currency Rupiah (which is a lot weaker and affordable).
But then again – with those gorgeous views, ambition to try diving, and great experiences when snorkeling in South Thailand – we decided to go to Bunaken anyway. Budget travel of course.
After a lot of researches, I booked 7 nights in Bastianos resort (budget room – the cheapest one - but it got a good view thought! See pic). It seems to be the most value for money place that a lot of people recommend. To get there, we took 3 hours plane from Jakarta to Manado, then another 30 mins to go to the pier, plus another 45 mins boat ride to the Bunaken island. Quite a long way – not to mention the rain although it’s suppose to be dry season.
When we got there, it turns out to be not that bad. They have 24 hours generators – so most of the time we have electricity (only died couple of time when the fuel runs out and nobody refilling it), they do have running tap water, no air con but it turns out the fan is able to ease up the misery. By nature Bunaken unfortunately is not blessed with powdery sands like in Phi Phi Islands. The beaches are filled with grain coral sands – with drifted garbage from passing by boats & village. But the water is still relatively clear, fresh air… Well see what tomorrow brings us.
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