FAQ ( Frequently Asked Questions )

-Where/what is Manado?
Manado is a city of about 450.000 citizens, located in the North of Sulawesi, (the former Celebes), in Indonesia. Just above the equator and the exact coordinates are 01^o30' North and 124^o 50' East. See also ABOUT MANADO

-Where/what is (North-)Sulawesi?
Sulawesi is one of the main big, 'continent like' islands in Indonesia and is located between Kalimantan (former Borneo) and the Mollucs. For an idea of its size, you must know that it is just a little bit smaller than the UK. To go by car from the most northern point to the most southern is 2000 kilometres. It has 4 provinces: South, Central, Southeast and North. Due to its odd shape it has more coastline, relative to its land, than any other Indonesian Island. No point from the mainland is more than 90 Km away from the sea.

-Where/what is Bunaken?
Bunaken is an island situated about 12 km from Manado city. "Bunaken National Marine Park", which encloses 4 more islands, is just named after Bunaken. See also ABOUT BUNAKEN

-Where is Lumbalumba Diving located?
Lumbalumba Diving is located 20 minutes south from Manado, outside the city and about 50 minutes from the airport. SEE also MAPS

-How to get to Manado?
The best way to get to Manado is via S'pore. Currently there are 3 flights a week from S'pore to Manado with Silk Air. Since Silk Air is a daughter from Singapore Airlines it is best to get to S'pore with Singapore Airlines because the ticket to Manado is cheaper than. In the high season there are often 4 flights a week. From almost every western country there are daily flights to S'pore. There are sometimes more combinations possible so also ask your travel agent or check out the internet. See also MORE page

-How long is the flight from S'pore To Manado?
About 3 hrs and 15 minutes.

-What is the weather like?
Manado has a tropical climate and is therefore warm and humid. The maximum monthly temperature is 34^o C and the minimum is 19^o C. Average is 27^o C The seawater temperature ranges between 27^o and 29^o Celcius but on the reef flats it can be higher than 30^o C. We have two major seasons, namely "the wet' and "the dry' season. In the wet season, from November until April, cooler north westerly winds occur and bring heavy rain and occasionally rough seas. From May until October the wind comes from the south west and brings drier air. Being close to the equator means also that we have no problems with hurricanes.

-What is the best time to go there?
Roughly from April until November is the best period to visit, of which June, July, August, September and October are the top months. That doesn't mean that it never rains but according to statistics (and experience) this is the best period. However, we do dive year round. In December the rainy season starts and there is more chance of bad weather. Mostly this bad weather doesn't last long and there are often enough opportunities to dive. In case we really can't go out on this side because of rough seas, we go by car to the other side of North-Sulawesi, rent a boat and dive in the strait of Lembeh.

-What languages do we speak?
The management speaks, English, German and Dutch. The dive staff and most of the other staff are speaking good English. In Manado they speak Bahasa Indonesia which is the official language of Indonesia. Not many people speak English fluently but in most shops and public places they know enough to manage.

-Is Manado safe?
In the past years, Indonesia has suffered a lot from negative publicity. Ethnical and religious unrest, terrorist threats, and political demonstrations. Indonesia had it all.
However, never anything like that ever happened in Manado and North Sulawesi!!!
Indonesia is a huge country and Jakarta (where a lot of the unrest took place) is more than 2000 km away from Manado. That is about the same distance as London to Athens. Would you cancel your holiday in Greece, when there is unrest in London?The case is, that if there is a problem somewhere in Indonesia, the whole country gets a negative travel advise and for the uninformed traveller it seems that the whole country is unsafe. Manado is one of the safest parts of Indonesia. The predominant Christian population has always lived in peace and harmony with the other religions and has never seen any of the unfortunate situations some other parts of this country suffered. Please think twice before you decide to cancel your holiday because of some biased CNN reports……….For up to date information on this subject, don't hesitate to send us an email. See also MORE page

-Was Manado affected by the tsunami from December 2004?
No, Manado was not affected by the earthquake and following tsunami. Being more than 3000 km away from the epic centre and with lots of land mass in between, was enough to save us from this disaster.

-What is the currency in Manado?
The Indonesian Rupiah is the official currency. The rates is rather flexible but was for the past year approximately 9.000,- Rp to the US$. There are plenty of ATM's available in town and VISA and MASTER cards are widely accepted. If you decide to bring cash (and this is especially valid for US$), be sure that the notes are brand new. No folds and nothing written on it. The higher the value (100 US$ notes give a better rate than 20,US$ notes) the more you get for it.

-What vaccinations do I need?
It is good to have Typhus, Hepatitus and Tetanus up to date. There is not a lot of risk, but better safe than sorry. Your family doctor can give you more details. (For advise on malaria, see MORE page)

-Is there internet access at Lumbalumba Diving?
We have internet access. However this is not suitable to surf extensively on the net. There is no broadband or ADSL available in Manado yet and we have to make connection with a very slow "call in modem". From the resort it is no problem at all to send or receive an email but that is about it. In Manado are a few places where there is better access so if you really need to, there is still hope……