Manado is the capital of North Sulawesi and the launching point for Bunaken National Marine Park, one of the richest coral reef systems on earth. Most visitors come to dive — the underwater walls off Bunaken drop hundreds of metres and teem with turtles, sharks and an astounding variety of reef fish. The city itself is busy and unpretentious, with a predominantly Christian Minahasa population and a cuisine that is unapologetically hot and adventurous.
Beyond the diving, the Minahasa highlands around Tomohon offer a cooler day trip to volcanic crater lakes and one of the most unusual markets in Southeast Asia. The Tangkoko Nature Reserve on the northeastern peninsula is one of the better places in Sulawesi to see the spectral tarsier and the Sulawesi black macaque. In the city, the Klenteng Ban Hin Kiong Temple — the oldest Chinese Buddhist temple in Manado — is worth an hour in the old Chinatown district.