Bunaken is an 8 km² island with a resident population of 7,500 people and is part 5 islands that make up the Bunaken National Marine Park. It is located at the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi. It belong to the municipality of Manado and its main attraction has been dive tourism for the last 2 decades.

Bunaken Nation Park extend over an area of 890.65 km² of which only 3% is terrestrial, including Bunaken Island, including Pulau Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain, and Siladen.

The waters can reach over 1000m in depth with an average temperature of 28°C. It has a high diversity of marine life including an assortment of macro life, sea turtles, seahorses, reef sharks, and eagle rays.

It is believed that Bunaken National Marine Park has such a high level of biodiversity due to oceanic currents. Northeastern current generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros are a trap for free swimming larvae. This is especially true on the southern side of of the crescent shaped island of Bunaken, which lies in the heart of the marine park.