Alung banua

Alung banua is a gentle wall dive on Bunaken Island’s south coast that serves as one of the park’s most welcoming entry points for less experienced divers, combining accessible conditions with the biodiversity-rich reef wall Bunaken is famous for.

Overview

Alung banua sits on the south coast of Bunaken Island, roughly midway along the wall system that includes the celebrated Lekuan sites. Its name is local Indonesian, broadly translating as “village trench” or “community wall,” a reference to its position near the fishing settlement on Bunaken’s south shore. The site offers a gentler version of Bunaken wall diving: the reef crest is shallow, conditions are usually calm, and the maximum depth of 25 metres keeps nitrogen loading comfortable. Despite its beginner rating, the marine life here is every bit as impressive as at deeper, more demanding sites nearby.

What to Expect

The dive begins on a reef flat at 3–4 metres, where hard coral coverage is dense and varied — staghorn acropora, brain corals, and massive table corals create a complex landscape teeming with reef fish. The wall face drops from the crest to around 25 metres, its surface encrusted with sponges, smaller seafans, and encrusting corals. Green and hawksbill turtles are reliably encountered: Alung banua shares the same turtle-rich coastal corridor as the rest of the south Bunaken wall and sightings are near-guaranteed.

Schools of chromis and anthias swarm around the coral formations in the shallower sections, with pairs of butterflyfish and angelfish threading between the coral heads. Banded sea kraits are commonly seen hunting along the wall face. The sandy bottom below the wall at 20–25 metres occasionally yields garden eels and blue-spotted stingrays. The absence of strong current at this site allows thorough, unhurried exploration.

Conditions

• Depth range: 3–25 m
• Visibility: 15–25 m
• Currents: Light; very comfortable
• Water temperature: 27–30°C
• Best season: May–October; generally calm year-round

Tips

Alung banua is a good choice for a third or fourth dive when managing bottom time, as its shallow profile significantly limits nitrogen accumulation. The reef crest in 3–5 metres is particularly rich and benefits from spending part of the safety stop actually exploring the coral landscape rather than just waiting. This site is also suitable for snorkellers accompanying divers on the surface.

Sources: Murex Resorts - Diving Bunaken Guide, Two Fish Divers - Bunaken Dive Sites, Bluewater Dive Travel - Manado Bunaken, Dive The World - Bunaken Manado, ZuBlu - Beautiful Bunaken Guide, Murex Resorts - Diving Bunaken, Tasik Ria Dive Sites Bunaken, ZuBlu - Best Dive Sites in Bunaken, Dive The World - Bunaken National Park, Underwater Asia - Bunaken Diving Guide. Last updated 2026-04-04.