Drift diving isn't diving -- it's flying! The powerful currents around Bunaken, Indonesia make gliding weightlessly around the massive coral walls effortless.
It's a literal slideshow of fish schools, turtles, crustaceans, and stunning soft and hard corals -- all you have to do is sit back and watch everything fly past!
As I talked about in my previous video post, Bunaken National Park has some of the highest marine biodiversity in the world. The powerful currents are bring essential nutrients into the reef fringing the islands, attracting massive schools of fish swimming against the current, mouths open to snap up tasty morsels.
It takes a little bit of effort to get to Bunaken, but it's definitely worth it for the world-class scuba diving!
To reach Bunaken, you fly into Manado Airport (MDC) in North Sulawesi, then take a taxi to the harbor in Manado City. From there, you can arrange a boat transport out the island; depending on your negotiation skills, this usually runs between 300-400K Rupiah. While this may sound a little steep, it all makes sense when you consider the distance the captains must cover to reach Bunaken. The channel crossing usually takes a little over an hour in their small single-prop boats. If you have a resort or homestay booked in advanced (highly advised), they will usually arrange for an airport pick-up and their own captain to transport you directly to their beachfront.
I strongly advise having raincoats and pack covers handy, since the seas can get quite choppy and salty spray may go everywhere. Or, if you're "lucky" like me, the boat's engine stalls in the middle of the channel when a massive squall decides to open up.
FINAL STATS
- Dive #: 2150
- Max Depth: 20m/70ft
- Decompression Time: 3min at 5m/15ft
- Tank: 1 x AL80
- Gas: Air
- Remaining Air: 70bar
- Total Dive Time: 64min
Want to know what it's like to drift dive or how you can get scuba certified? Have travel questions about how to get to Bunaken? Please ask me in the comments and I'll get back to you.
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Great post man, awesome pics. That area is on my list of places to go diving. I love some negative entry drift dives. Don't want to miss a thing.
Negative entry is such a rush!