Bunaken Oasis Trip Report, August 2024
In August 2024 we headed to North Sulawesi to check out one of Indonesia’s most luxurious dive resorts, Bunaken Oasis Resort. The resort holds an enviable position on Bunaken Island itself making getting to Bunaken’s best dive sites an absolute breeze. The resort has an abundance of dive boats meaning highly personalised service and small dive groups. The resort grounds are immaculate and the spacious bungalows, fantastic infinity pool and wonderful restaurant all combine to provide a truly amazing experience that far exceeds what you normally expect from a dive resort. The restaurant never failed to delight at every meal with multiple options for each course plus special requests all made to look easy. On our final night we were treated to a special candlelit dinner by the pool serenaded by beautiful music. With all this attention to detail it’s easy to see why Bunaken Oasis have won so many awards!

The diving itself was fantastic with deep walls adorned with beautiful, healthy coral and pulsating fish life. A look to the blue rewarded us with a constant presence of giant schools of Redtooth Triggerfish mixed with Pyramid Butterflyfish. Turn the other way and look at the wall and you find all sorts of creatures, such as Moray Eels, Orangutan Crabs, Nudibranch and Lobsters. The fish life around Bunaken is truly outstanding and appears even healthier than our previous vist several years earlier. During our dives we encountered a huge range of species including Angelfish, schools of Batfish, huge Napoleon Wrasse, darting Bluefin Trevally, Pufferfish, feeding Long-Jawed Mackerel, Oriental Sweetlips, Lionfish, Boxfish, Trumpetfish and delightful Clownfish. It is impossible to dive Bunaken though without noticing one standout feature – the sheer number of Turtles! On a dive at Bunaken Turtles are as good as guaranteed and we normally stopped counting at ten a dive. They are everywhere, resting on ledges, hidden under crevices, swimming in the blue and taking a breath at the surface. And some of them are huge, like a giant dining table. Nowhere have I seen bigger Turtles than at Bunaken!

Whilst Bunaken is most famous for it’s amazing diving we also found plenty of time for other activities during our stay at Bunaken Oasis, including snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding and of course some relaxing spa treatments!