Things to carry:
Informal and cool clothes, a rain jacket might be useful (see below).
Scuba gear: you can rent everything at Celebes Divers. If you bring your personal equipment, consider a water temperature of 27 to 30° C, suitable for a lycra suit or a 3 mm.
Seasons: Manado is situated very close to the equator and has therefore no well defined seasons. The weather is pleasant all year round - it is warm and humid with short rainfalls. During the same day we usually encounter sun, sudden rain, sun again... and so on. The so called “dry season” runs from April through October but this is actually not a real dry season. Weather then is more stable and the intervals of sunny skies are more common. But the possibility of a short, sudden shower is always present. The same applies for the so called “rainy season” that never sees endless rains, but we do have rains and clear sky that alternate.
Diving is possible all the year round. Bunaken and the Manado Bay are very sheltered, the sea is seldom rough. Water temperature ranges from 27 to 30°C, visibility is generally over 20 m (up to 40 m). The wet season has little influence on the visibility at Bunaken Islands whereas it may affect visibility more in Manado Bay and Lembeh Strait.
official currency is the Indonesian Rupee (1 Euro or 1 US$ = 8500 Rp).
You can obtain Rupees at one of the many ATMs in town, available 24 hours, or you can use your Maestro or Cirrus cards.
Celebes Divers change Euros and US Dollars into the local currency, and accept Visa and Mastercard.
Please note: make sure that your banknotes are in good condition - the Manado bank can reject them if they show pen stains or marks.
Important: Celebes Divers does not accept travellers’ cheques.		 Passport: must be valid for at least 6 months on entry to Indonesia. A tourist visa valid 30 days (cost 25 USD) is issued on arrival to citizens of the countries listed below. Tourists from non-listed countries should contact the Indonesian Embassy for more information.

Tourist visa required by passport-holders from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA.
Countries that are exempt from any visa requirements: Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
Tourists from other countries should apply for a visa at the Indonesian Embassy before leaving.
For photographers-videographers:
Electricity at 220 V, with European-type plugs with two contacts (no centre pin). Bring your diapositive slide films with you but take them back for processing! In Manado, you can easily process film negatives, but this does not apply for slides.
Manado is one of the marine biodiversity sanctuaries: it is worth looking for some books about sea life identification. Have a look at our advices in the shopping page. See also the edge-of-reef.com website.