Tips and Travel Suggestions
How to come to Manado? It's comfortable, with a direct flight Singapore Airlines from main European Capitol Cities to Singapore, then with partner airlines Silk Air another direct flight to Manado.
Sulawesi, named "Celebes" by the first Spanish and Portuguese explorers and by the great 19th century naturalists, is an island of spices and pirates. Both land and sea are rich in fascination and mystery.
North Sulawesi is famous for its amazing nature, including active volcanoes, pristine jungles and endemic monkeys. But North Sulawesi's most impressive natural heritage is its fascinating marine life in the Celebes Sea.
Located in an area with the highest marine biodiversity in the world, it offers divers numerous possibilities for a complete diving vacation, from the breathtaking vertical walls and the untouched reefs of Bunaken Marine Park to the unbelievable muck diving with the critters of Manado Bay and Lembeh Strait.
Things to carry: informal and cool clothes, a rain jacket might be useful (see below).
Scuba gear: you can rent everything at Celebes Divers. If you bring your personal equipment, consider a water temperature of 28 to 30 degree Celsius, suitable for a lycra suit or a 3 mm.
Seasons: Manado is situated very close to the equator and has therefore no well defined seasons. The weather is pleasant all year round - it is warm and humid with short rainfalls. During the same day we usually encounter sun, sudden rain, sun again... and so on. The so called "dry season" runs from April through October but this is actually not a real dry season. Weather then is more stable and the intervals of sunny skies are more common. But the possibility of a short, sudden shower is always present. The same applies for the so called "rainy season" that never sees endless rains, but we do have alternate rains and clear sky.
Diving is possible all the year round. Bunaken and the Manado Bay are very sheltered, the sea is seldom rough. Visibility is generally over 20 m (up to 40 m). The wet season has little influence on the visibility at Bunaken Islands whereas it may affect visibility more in Manado Bay and Lembeh Strait.
Official currency is the Indonesian Ruphias (1 Euro = 13.000 Rp). You can obtain Ruphias at one of the many ATMs in town, available 24 hours, or you can use your Maestro or Cirrus cards.
Celebes Divers changes Euros and US Dollars into the local currency, and accept Visa and Mastercard.
Please note: make sure that your banknotes are in perfect conditions - the Manado bank can reject them if they show pen stains or marks, or if they are rubbed or belong to old series. Important: Celebes Divers does not accept travellers' cheques.
Passport: must be valid for
6 months from the estimated date of departure from Indonesia.
Since 28th May 2007, visitors holding valid passports from
European countries and other on this list, can obtain either a 7 day (US$10) or 30 day (US$25) non-extendable visa on arrival (VOA) at any of the 15 airports and 21 seaports designated as international gateways by the Indonesian Immigration Department.
Citizen from 11 countries are eligible for a "Visa Free" facility. Visitors holding valid passports from those countries will be granted a non-extendable 30-day Visa-Free Short Visit Permit upon arrival at an Indonesian international gateway without charge.
The tourists from other countries, at the moment, should apply for a visa at the
Indonesian Embassy before leaving.
Lastly, (if you are from a VISA on arrival country) please make sure that you have
one (1) entire blank page for the placement of the VISA on arrival for Indonesia ( if there is no page available, you run the risk of being turned away from Indonesia).
For photographers-videographers:
Electricity at 220 V, with European-type plugs with two contacts, no centre pin (also Schuko plugs fit). Bring your slide films with you but take them back for processing! In Manado, you can easily process film negatives, but this does not apply for slides.
Manado is one of the marine biodiversity sanctuaries: it is worth looking for some books about sea life identification. Have a look at our advices in the
Books page.