Bunaken Marine Park is well known for its incredibly high levels of marine biodiversity. The walls surrounding the islands are completely covered in life, and there is always fierce, often deadly competition when a space appears. However, between the islands, the water is very deep. Far to deep for us to visit, and far too
Note: the following links point to articles written in Dutch. If you have never traveled to our part of the world, and you’d like to know what it’s like to stay with us, the following articles vividly describe a diving trip made by readers of Dutch diving magazine Duiken (“diving”). Magazine staffers Judith Rietveld and
When most people book their diving vacation to Bunaken Marine Park, they picture themselves swimming past dramatic coral covered walls, navigating through colourful schools of fish. This maybe what the diving around the islands is like, but what most people don’t realise is that Bunaken Marine Park is split into two distinct areas that offer
Among the more than 70 incredible dive sites you can encounter in Lembeh Strait, there is one I particularly like … or rather two dives sites. It is the trip Goby-a-Crab and Trikora with Two Fish Divers Lembeh, off course! When you think about Lembeh Strait, you first think about black sand bottoms like the…
Two Fish Divers Lembeh was an amazing place to start my journey of becoming a divemaster! While there were many things to learn during my first week of divemaster training, the peaceful jungle setting of Lembeh provided a relaxing balance. The week began with learning how to demonstrate different scuba skills. It’s one thing to…
Have you heard about the world class scuba diving in Bunaken Marine Park? Do you know where it is and which sites are best to explore? Read on to find out more about the phenomenal dive sites of Bunaken! Overview of Scuba Diving Bunaken The Bunaken Marine Park is a marine protected area in North
There is much more to the spot-fin porcupine fish (Diodon hystrix) than those cute big eyes: with many defense mechanisms, porcupine fish are not so defenseless in Bunaken. Being related to the puffer fish they have similar techniques for fending off would be predators. First, they can swallow water to inflate themselves and increase their…
Indonesia is, by many, regarded as being the best country in the world when it comes to dive sites and the diving Bunaken Marine Park does everything to uphold Indonesia’s prestigious reputation. Bunaken is a small island in North Sulawesi and it is one of 5 islands which make up the Bunaken Marine Park, which
As Lalo proved it to Nick and Wilfried this week, it’s quite easy for our guides to find Whip Coral Shrimp in Bunaken. His keen eyes spotted one of the least common; the Dragon Shrimp (miropandalus hardingi) which is about 2cm long. Although it looks like the Zanzibar Whip Coral Shrimp (dasycaris zanzibarica) which has…
I have spent 7 weeks in this Bunaken paradise and it has been an amazing time! About a week or so ago I completed my Divemaster training with Two Fish Divers Bunaken. As I sit here and write this I can officially say that I am a PADI Divemaster. The first time I went on…
Divers and especially macro photographers are often amazed by the abundance and diverse range of crustaceans which can be found in North Sulawesi. At some of our muck diving sites the number of shrimps, crabs and other crustacean species can almost equate to the number of fish species! Did you know that crustaceans are second
Fish come in all shapes and sizes which is why diving in the coral triangle at a place like Bunaken is such a treat. Some species are in an order called tetradontiformes which groups together all the weird shaped fish like triggerfish; pufferfish and even the ocean sunfish (mola mola), but one of our favorites…
Often overlooked by divers coming in Lembeh in search of emblematic critters of the area, like mimic octopus, rhinoplasty or Lembeh sea dragons, ascidians are beautiful creatures. The kind of things we can see in each dive site around without realizing how pretty they are. Particularly here in Lembeh Strait, we can observe a huge…
Once the sun sets, the reefs and sandy slopes surrounding North Sulawesi and these small islands become completely unrecognisable from their daytime appearance. Most of the colourful day fish head deep into the crevices of the reef, hiding from predators, while the nocturnal critters head out into the open to feed. Night diving is very
This week my Divemaster course included some environmental projects including a Project AWARE Dive Against Debris, and we even spotted a blue Ceratosoma Sinuatum or Miamira Sinuata during the dive. We often spot nudibranchs on Bunaken clean ups but this guy was a rare color and a treat to see. An estimated 14 billion pounds…
Hi there! It’s Wilfried again. My DMT journey continues in Sekotong after my two weeks in Bunaken (Sulawesi). During the last two weeks, I’ve been in near the south Gili’s, where are located the South Lombok facilities of TwoFish. As a DMT, the major change is the fact that there is no swimming pool here: the…
On World Oceans Day, last June 8th 2019, Two Fish Divers Lembeh has organized an AWARE Dive Against Debris on its beautiful House Reef. Marine debris are a major problem for the environment. Every year, tens of thousands of marine animals and sea birds die from ingesting or getting entangled in them. But not only…
We are in Lembeh Strait, the world´s capital of muck diving! However, what is muck diving ? Many times my guests and students ask me about it, and it is time to clarify this term. According to Collins dictionary (US) the word “muck” refers to: moist manure black earth containing decaying matter, used as a…
For June, we will be moving back to the dive centre for our monthly “meet the staff” blog, and we will be introducing you to another member of the staff who has been with us since we starting building the resort nearly 20 years ago. Meyti Bawekes has been an integral part of our team
It was a pleasure to have Lisa Collins with us once again for her INON UK UW Wide Angle Photography Workshop. Lisa is an award-winning underwater photographic journalist who is a regular major feature writer for many dive publications. “We have been very privileged to run our latest INON UK Underwater Photography Workshop at Siladen
Earlier this year, we said goodbye to our dive centre management team, Galen and Romina, who we would like to thank for their hard work and dedication during their tenure. They did a great job running the dive centre along with Teddy, and the dive centre team, resort staff, and guests will miss them. With
Can you spot the fish? Look closer and you can see the crocodile fish hiding in the rubble on one of our local dive sites, Lekuan 3. These relatives of the scorpionfish are masters of disguise in Bunaken National Park and a treat to see if you can! The Crocodilefish, (Cymbacephalus beauforti), sometimes know as the…
Divemaster course in full swing in Bunaken and I must say it has been a wonderful experience so far. One of the first practical things another Divemaster trainee and I had to do was run through and practice 24 skills. These skills are ones that every student learns during their PADI Open Water Course. As…
Why are nudibranchs so colorful? As you certainly know, nudibranchs are beautiful sea slugs that display most of the time a full range of vivid and elegant colors. From flashy pink to intense purple, bright yellow to deep green, blue, red, etc… We can frequently observe them in many dive sites in Lembeh like Nudi…
Lionfish in Bunaken National Park! Lionfish, Pterois, are native to the Indo-Pacific so, unlike in the Caribbean sea, west Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, in Indonesia we don’t see them as a pest or hunt them with spears, we actually enjoy seeing them and they make great photography subjects. They mainly eat small fish, including…
We have fantastic news that we can’t wait to share with you all. Over the past couple of years, we have been searching for a new resort to take over and manage, with the dream of being able to offer guests more of the best diving Indonesia has to offer — perhaps even as a
Today we are going to be looking at many peoples favourite animals underwater, the frogfish of Lembeh. They are a firm favourite among all divers but can you identify what each one is? It always makes a dive more enjoyable when you know what creature you’re looking at and with so many varieties of this…
About a year ago I had the pleasure of stumbling upon the beautiful island of Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. I came in search of amazing diving and what I got was so much more. I found a place where I could train to become a PADI Divemaster. One year later and I am back…
The Giant Frogfish, Antennarius commerson, is an ambush predator so it usually relies on camouflage to avoid detection and they can actually change the hue of their skin to better match their surroundings making them almost impossible to spot. Sometimes though, the Giant Frogfish are hard to miss in Bunaken, growing up to 38cm in…
My name is Wilfried. Here is my second diving trip to Bunaken. I made the first one by chance last summer: I’d been in Jakarta and Bogor for a few days but at the end, I couldn’t stand the heat anymore and went to the airport with the Lonely Planet, looking for the first plane…