Tourism manado - north sulawesi

GEOGRAPHY

The capital of North Sulawesi is manado. The total land area is almost three million hectares, most of which is mountainous, but there are fertile plains which produce rice, corn, coconut, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, beans, sago and vegatables.
There is a number of beautiful lakes rivers. Irrigation is common for rice growing, and there is some hydro - electrity generation.
The province is divided into seven administrative districts and municipalities. Surrounded by the sea on three side. North Sulawesi is close to the southern most tip of the Philippines.

FLORA and FAUNA
The Wallase Line, which marks the difderences in flora and fauna belonging to separate land masses in the last ice age was discovered by the nineteenth century naturalist Afred Russell Wallace. The Wallace Line also isolated from the eastern island and has its own flora and fauna. Although the animal life is very different the flora is less unique. Native animals include anoa (dwarf buffalo); baba rusa ( a type of wild boar); black macaques, tarsius monkeys, cuscus, redknobbed honbills; and the Maleo birds, etc.

ART AND CULTURE
Traditional art and culture can be classified as follows,
Relics :
- Working tools, accessories, and weaving.
- Knitting and embroidery called"Krawang", ceramics, etc.
- Various utensils for executing traditional ceremonies
- Building and houses of traditional architecture and construction, stone-works, palaces of old emperors and old colonial fortresses.

Non-Relics :
- Social relationships among member of the societies that have become a tradition from generation to generation.
- Traditional wedding ceremonies, inauguration, elections of new leaders or people' representatives.
- Dances and music with traditional intruments.
- Legends and folktales.

TRANSPORTATION

BY AIR
Dr Sam Ratulangi Airport, a designated official entry port for Indonesia is thirteen kilometers from Manado. There are air links from here to Jakarta, Palu, Balikpapan, Ternate, Ambon, Sorong, Biak, Jayapura, Davao (Philippines), and Singapore. Domestic airports may be found at Gorontalo, Tahuna and talaud.

BY SEA
Port bitung the north coast is also one the officially designted entry port for east Indonesia. Ist is served by Pelni, the stateowned shipping line as well as several other companies : Hol Samudra, Berkat Agape, Teratai Murni Lines and Surya Lines, PT Agra Marisetia Lines, etc.

SETTING AROUND IN NORTH SULAWESI
Intercity transport is quite efficient between Manado and the other main cities.
Local tranport options include : microletes are intra-city vehicles for about seven passengers. These take regular routes. Taxis are avaible in Manado and may be chartered for trips outside of the city. Fares are related to distance. Bendi are horse-drawn carts for four passengers. They are to be found in both city and rural areas and take passengers to requested destinations rather than on regular route. Fares are related to distance.

DIVING
North Sulawesi is Diving. Dive the clear waters, steep walls and worldclass coral gardens of Bunaken Marine Park. Visit Bangka Strait for an encounter with whales, manta rays and other pelagics. Sail to the Sangihe Islands and dive in search of a sunken city, trough walls of fishes or on an underwater volcano. Explore Lembeh Strait and Discover its rare and unusual marine life and WWII shipwreks. Whether you are a novice or an expert, we have the diving for you.

ADVENTURE
North Sulawesi is Adventure. Climb to the rim of a steaming volcano. Raft down one of our whitewater rivers. Trek throgh our majestic Asian rainforest. See the world's largest concentration of black crested macaques and glimpse a tarsier, the world's smallest primate, at Tangkoko Nature Reserve. Visit Dumoga Bone National Park where you can search for the fabled babirusa pig deer. Take a 3-day overland trip to the rainforest of Central Sulawesi.


BUNAKEN

Bunaken Island offers a plethora of wall experiences for visiting divers. Everyone has their favorite site and mine is Lekuan 2. Judging from the number of divers who frequent the site, manya agree with me. The reasons are obvious immeditaly upon antry. You can't help but notice the high concentration of schooling fish from the drummers and fusliliers that greet you as you begin your descent, the blizzards of brightly-colored anthias you pass along the adge of the reeftop, continuing to fall through the clouds of pyramid butterflyfish and bannerfish under-neath. The variety of reef fish is astounding : you could pick out over 20 species of butterflyfish alone if you so desired.
The start of the traditional dive offers small treasures as candy crabs frequent the beautiful soft corals in the area, often adorning them selves eith a spring of live soft coral they've affixed atop their head.
The faerie crab, a fingernail-sized squat lobster that's pink and hairy can be found by a discerning eye peering among the outer folds of barrel sponges. But don't become engrossed with the macro life so much that you miss any of the larger residents : shark that pass you by below your fins, napoleons wrasse or bumphead parrotfish above you, or turtles out in the blue off the wall.
Toward the end of the site, the Lekuan point, the current predictably picks up just as you notice the schools of redtooth triggerfish around you.
Shark enjoy the current as well, often coming up to only five meters in depth to cut over the point to Lekuan 1. Residnt napoleons, giant trevally, jacks, batfish and solitary giant barracuda are predctably seen along this stretch, but smaller denizens such as leaf scorpionfish are common as well, keeping your attention diveded between the lush wall and the blue ocean.
With the wall going from anly 2-5 meters along the top to 50 - 70 meters along the bottom, where a narrow shelf exists before the wall continues to plunge into the abyss, you can alter your depth to find an antire new set of attractions dive after dive. Boredom is definitely not an option.

Source : www.sulut.go.id