North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi offers two very different kinds of diving within a couple of hours of Manado airport. Bunaken National Marine Park is all about walls: sheer drop-offs draped in sponges and soft corals, with turtles, reef sharks and Napoleon wrasse cruising the blue. On the other side of the peninsula, the Lembeh Strait is the world's best-known muck-diving destination. Its black volcanic sand hides mimic octopus, hairy frogfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, Rhinopias and dozens of other critters, which makes it a magnet for underwater photographers. Many divers split a trip between Manado or Bunaken and Lembeh. The resorts and dive centres below offer both reef and critter diving, often with dedicated photo facilities.