Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

[Waiting for our speed boat to be ready]

We’ve been told :  If you’re visiting Manado, you MUST visit Bunaken Island, one of the world’s best diving spots!

And so we did.

We went for a quick 4-hour trip to Bunaken Island, and went snorkeling.

Yes, with the older kids too!

[Our speed boat, with a capacity of about 20 people]

Btw.

Please take note of this: Do some research online (and ask around) before your trip!

As obvious as that may seem, THAT’S exactly the mistake we did!

We thought we probably wouldn’t have the time to visit Bunaken Island, so we did NOT do any research on how to get there, etc.

And, we unknowingly overpaid a few things. Boo.

Oh well.

So here I am, sharing with you some info on how we got there from the Ferry Terminal in Manado!

CHARTERING A BOAT

> If you’re going for a day trip, I’d suggest that you go in the morning, like … before 9am?

We got to the terminal at about 10.30am, and as expected, we had people coming to us and offering their ‘boat’ services. Be aware of what they’re offering!

We were told how most of the boats have left! So if we still wanted to go to the Island, we needed to charter a speed boat and the return trip fee is Rp1,150,000 (about SG$142).

What we got :
A normal speed boat, and half way through (yes, where it’s all waters around you!), the boat would stop and we’d hop over to a ‘glass bottom boat’ (where we could see the fishes below us), then hop over to our original boat and continue the journey to Bunaken Island! On our way back to Manado, we’re on the speed boat throughout.

[Tips: The glass bottom boat is interesting for small kids, as they get to see fishes right below. BUT, if you’re going to snorkel / dive, skip this part, or at least don’t spend too long on this glass bottom boat. Head straight to the island, and spend more time UNDER the actual water yourself!]

Here some facts (which we didn’t know at the time!):

> That boat rental fee was overpriced! The cost should not be more than Rp1,000,000! You’d really need to bargain hard with these people, especially if you’re a ‘foreigner’.

Do be aware of ‘peak periods’ though. My guess is, the fee will be a bit higher (We were there at the end of June)

> If you want to join the public ferry, it’s apparently available DAILY. Cost is about Rp25,000 (SG$3) per person, if you’re a foreigner. And, Rp10,000 per person for locals. Not sure of the timings though. Do google it, and be there ‘prepared’.

Before we left for the Island, we were also asked to pay Rp4000/person for ‘insurance’.

Honestly, we had NO idea what this is about, but we paid for it anyway.

(But really, an ‘insurance’? I doubt what they’d really cover if anything were to happen to us)

[Tips: Sit on the outside, and enjoy the view and the strong breeze. Do put on your sunscreen though! =)]

The good thing about chartering a speed boat is : You do get there ‘faster’ =)

I think it took us about 45 minutes to get there (instead of an hour).

Anyway.

Next, I’ll blog about our snorkeling experience there!

Stay tuned, and have a great weekend, everyone! =)

…

PS: Have you been to Bunaken Island? Do share YOUR tips yeah!