Bunaken Oasis Dive Resort & Spa
Bunaken, North Sulawesi

On the edge of Bunaken Island, in the heart of North Sulawesi’s legendary marine park, Bunaken Oasis Dive Resort & Spa offers a balance between serious diving credentials and genuine boutique luxury. This is a place where the kaleidoscopic underwater world is paired with thoughtful service, sophisticated design and a philosophy that sees sustainability as a way of life.

The resort was created by divers, for divers, and that expertise shows. Its five-star PADI centre is impeccably run, with custom-built dive boats that make daily trips across Bunaken National Marine Park’s world-renowned reefs. Beginners can take their first steps in shallow coral gardens teeming with clownfish, butterflyfish and bright parrotfish, while seasoned divers will find walls and drift sites where turtles cruise serenely past and schools of barracuda shimmer in formation. The guiding is as professional as it is personable, ensuring that every diver, whatever their level, feels confident, safe and inspired.

Villas at Bunaken Oasis are scattered across the hillside, all with sweeping views of the ocean and Manado Tua volcano beyond. Built from reclaimed wood and local stone, they strike a balance between comfort and authenticity with polished timber floors, canopied beds and generous terraces that invite you to linger with a book or simply watch the light shift over the water. The infinity pool has its own panorama, and at the open-sided restaurant, menus highlight the best of both East and West, with just-caught seafood and tropical fruit alongside more familiar comforts.

The resort’s spa is another highlight, offering a menu of traditional Indonesian treatments designed to soothe salt-crisped skin and tired muscles after a day in the water. Therapists use natural, locally sourced oils and herbs, and the treatment rooms themselves open out onto views of forest and sea, amplifying the sense of connection with the island’s surroundings.

What sets Bunaken Oasis apart is its quiet but resolute commitment to sustainability. The resort runs its own desalination plant, processes its own waste and has eliminated single-use plastics. Much of the produce comes from the resort’s organic gardens, and the dive centre is a model of eco-conscious practice, with every effort made to protect the marine environment that draws people here in the first place. Guests are not simply passive observers but become part of this ethos, with opportunities to learn about coral restoration and the conservation of Sulawesi’s fragile ecosystems.

Life at Bunaken Oasis unfolds at a slower rhythm, intimate, personal and deeply restorative. There is little in the way of conventional nightlife, but instead evenings are spent over long dinners, trading stories of the day’s dives, or simply watching the sky fade into a million stars.

For divers, Bunaken Oasis Dive Resort & Spa is nothing short of paradise, and for non-divers it is equally beguiling, a sanctuary of calm, beauty and attentiveness in one of Indonesia’s most spectacular natural settings. Few places manage to combine serious dive facilities with such refined comfort, making this a standout choice for travellers who want both adventure and indulgence in equal measure.

Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you richer.
Proverb