14 Days Snorkeling Abundant Reefs in North Sulawesi, Combined With a Freediving Workshop
June 4-17, 2027
This Bunaken and Bangka snorkeling and freediving workshop trip is a wonderful opportunity to snorkel some abundant Coral Triangle coral reefs, while also improving your shallow freediving skills. Bunaken National Park and Bangka Island just off the coast of North Sulawesi in Indonesia are ideal locations to practice diving down and swimming with the fishes, or getting better pictures.
Your first stop is Bunaken National Marine Park in North Sulawesi, and you will be staying right in the park at the remarkable Siladen Resort. You can expect to snorkel shallow reefs and walls fringing the islands and the Sulawesi “mainland” inside the park. Reefs have a great mix of soft and hard corals and have many fish in good variety. Bunaken is known for its many turtles, which you will see on nearly every snorkel.
Your second stop on this tour is the small island of Bangka off the northeast coast of Sulawesi. This area’s gorgeous reefs are dominated by hard coral and slope away from the islands. You will be delighted by the diverse population of fish and sea creatures that greets you here, with possibilities of spotting Leaf Scorpionfish, frogfish, White and Black Tip Reef Sharks, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, and dugongs. You will be staying at the newly renovated Coral Eye Resort, which has a wonderful house reef.
Imagine being able to effortlessly and safely dive up to 20 feet deep on your snorkeling adventures. Developing this skill will allow you to confidently take a quick dip under the surface, to get a closer view of colorful reefs and sea life. You can check under ledges to see what interesting fish, octopus, and lobster are sheltering, or even pick up a piece of equipment you dropped.
Shallow freediving is also one of the best ways to improve your snorkeling photography by getting closer to fish and corals. The colors will be much improved because there will be less water between you and your subject, and it gives you more framing options with blue water backgrounds.
This trip will be focused on learning shallow freediving, easy shallow dives 5-20 feet deep (1.5-6m). These new skills will be improved with wellness practices also on offer. You can take part in morning Breathing Optimization sessions and evening Yoga Nidra, a guided meditation.
This shallow freediving workshop will be taught by one of the world’s leading freediving instructors, Emma Farrell, and her assistant.
The two resorts have pools for static breath-hold practice and places for yoga and Breathing Optimization sessions.
This trip is being run by our partner and friend Ben and his team. Based in the U.K., they are experts in the Coral Triangle, run amazing excursions, and have a great appreciation for the underwater world. Guides from Ben’s team (Emma and her assistant) will be with your group for the duration of your trip.
Check Out This Video to See What To Expect From This Trip
The Bunaken and Bangka Snorkeling and Freediving Workshop Trip Itinerary and Map
Within the abundant Coral Triangle, the islands of Siladen (in Bunaken National Park) and Bangka (off North Sulawesi) are in Indonesia.
After your international flight into Jakarta International Airport (CGK), you will check into a comfortable hotel to relax and recover from your long journey. There will be a group dinner to welcome and introduce everyone.
The next morning you will meet your group for breakfast, then check out and take your group flight to Manado in North Sulawesi.
You will be met at the Manado airport by staff from the Siladen Resort, and transferred by car and boat to the resort. You will spend seven nights there.
After your stay at Siladen, you will be transferred by boat to Coral Eye Resort on Bangka Island, as will your luggage. During the journey, you will have a nice long snorkel session. Upon arrival at Coral Eye Resort, you will check into your new villa for another five night stay.
After checking out of Coral Eye, you will be transferred back to the Manado airport. Your group will then fly back to Jakarta where the tour ends.
Who Is Your Shallow Freediving Instructor?
Emma Farrell is one of the world’s leading freediving instructors and the author of One Breath: A Reflection on Freediving. She has been teaching since 2003 and is a multi-agency freediving instructor trainer, having taught programs through RAID, SSI, and AIDA. As a founding member of the AIDA Education Commission, Emma has written courses that are taught internationally, as well as her own specialty freediving and breathing courses.
Her work with gold medal-winning Olympic and Paralympic athletes over the last decade has resulted in her unique Breathing Optimization program, which has helped people across the globe improve their breathing, lung function, and health, no matter their age, physical condition, or ability.
An accomplished educator and public speaker, Emma has appeared many times on television and in print media, as well as acting as a consultant on short and feature films and documentaries.
What Will the Shallow Freediving Instruction Be Like?
Emma Farrell will be running snorkel skills and freediving sessions throughout the week. For the in-water sessions with Emma, guests will be split into groups of four and will have the opportunity to learn directly from her.
For the first session, the focus will be on correct breathing, weighting, and safety for freediving and for taking photos underwater and exploring the reefs. This will take place in both the swimming pool as well as on the reefs. Emma will look at each individual’s equalization, body positioning, finning, duck diving, and technique. Correct breathing both before and after the dive will be taught as well as techniques for relaxation in the water. The instructors will also try to discover what each participant would like to work on improving throughout the trip. All sessions will take place in shallow waters of up to six meters.
Everyone who is interested in learning more can have at least two additional sessions with Emma to work on achieving their goals as set out in the first session above.
In addition, Emma will offer training in wellness practices and skills, like Breathing Optimization and stretching, equalization, sinus massage, and Yoga Nidra meditations.
Galen’s Personal Experience With Emma’s Teaching
Right before COVID hit, I (Galen) was on a liveaboard trip in the Cayman Islands with Emma. I received instruction from her, and found her to be very skilled and helpful, and I quickly improved my freediving skills.
I had been shallow freediving without instruction for many years, so was full of bad habits. She was very patient with me though. Through her instruction on the boat I learned so much about how to properly use weights, relaxing, diving posture and technique, and how to breathe. I also feel so much more informed about what you should not do that is dangerous, most of which I had done in the past.
In a very short period Emma helped me greatly improve my freediving skills. I get under easier, and use much less energy and air, and I feel much more confident about the right way to do things. She teaches a recovery breath once you reach the surface that is remarkable, and could save your life.
Below is a video Emma took of me after some of her instruction (I made it black and white and added the music). There are still things to be improved for sure. But the big improvement is just how relaxed and comfortable I now feel on shallow dives.
About Snorkeling Bunaken and Siladen Resort
The snorkeling in Bunaken National Marine Park is full of colorful vibrant reefs with high biodiversity. The 343 square miles of marine park boast an astounding variety of hard and soft corals, many sea turtles, giant clams, butterflyfish, triggerfish, and a variety of other fish species. Bubble and carpet anemones with red, orange, and yellow clownfish are everywhere. And watch for the tiny bright spots that are nudibranchs on the reefs.
The island reefs start very shallow near shore, then drop off into steep walls that plunge down into great ocean depths. These depths create ocean currents that bring cooler waters and nutrients, which is one reason why the reefs are so full of life and healthy.
You will have two 60-90 minute boat snorkel sessions/in-water freediving lessons per day for six days from Siladen. The resort offers everything needed for training, including a pool for static breath-hold practice and a sea-view yoga shala that serves as both a classroom and relaxation space.
The Siladen Resort snorkel boats are large wooden boats with shade covered areas for getting on your gear, and also a sun deck. You will also find a toilet and fresh water soak and rinse tanks on board. Exiting the water is via a ladder on the side of the boat.
When it comes to an exclusive island experience Siladen Resort is hard to beat. Siladen Resort and Spa is set around a large pool, with villas dotted around the manicured garden and beachfront, each with ensuite facilities, air conditioning and private patio. The resort faces west towards the mountain island of Manado Tua and the gorgeous sunsets.
The private, well-appointed Beach View and Garden View Villas are either on or meters from a white sand beach with beautiful views.
The villas have en-suite open-air bathrooms, air-conditioning, a desk, TV, and private patios.
The restaurant is usually set up under the trees on the beach for lunch and dinner and in an open air dining room for breakfast. It serves an excellent and delicious mix of international and local dishes, usually buffet style. They are able to accommodate guests with special dietary requirements with prior notice.
There is a bar next to the pool with access to the beach where you can have a drink after your long day of snorkeling.
The resort has a full service spa where you can choose to pamper yourself with a massage or scrub.
About Snorkeling Bangka and Coral Eye Resort
For the next section of your trip you will be staying at the Coral Eye Resort on Bangka Island. You will have a chance to explore the reefs around the island of Bangka and other islands in the small archipelago. You will find several different habitats from beautiful pristine coral reef slopes, to sandy slopes, mangroves, and walls. These areas support a diverse population of fish and creatures.
You will have two 70-90 minute boat snorkel sessions/in-water freediving lessons per day for four days from Coral Eye. The resort offers everything needed for training, including a pool for static breath-hold practice and a classroom and relaxation space.
Expect to see coral covered rocks over black volcanic sand, inhabited by many fascinating invertebrates and fish. Hard and soft coral reefs that fringe these islands provide a home for a high diversity of fish and creatures including sea fans, beautiful sponges, cuttlefish, octopus, razorfish, and schooling juvenile barracuda. You may explore the roots of the mangroves that are home to sponges, flatworms, snails and small fish. And offshore the mangroves are seagrass beds that attract feeding dugongs.
Coral Eye Resort has a wonderful house reef that is lit perfectly by the late afternoon sun. It can be accessed at any tide either from the beach or the end of the jetty. You can snorkel the house reef to your heart’s content. While it is rare to be able to snorkel with dugongs, there is a resident one that inhabits the shallow waters surrounding the resort, so chances are a bit higher here for checking this sighting off your bucket list.
Your daily snorkel boat from Coral Eye Resort will be a large wooden boat built in the local style with plenty of space to gear up and to store items that need to stay dry. Each boat has a wooden top for sun protection. The boats are equipped with a marine toilet as well as a ladder to exit the water.
The Coral Eye Resort started life as a marine outpost. It has been retrofitted to be a unique boutique resort. The main building houses some guest rooms along with the lounge and dining area, a bar, a small library, a souvenir shop, and other functional rooms. There is a large terrace on the second level that overlooks the ocean, which is a nice place to relax after a long day of snorkeling.
Your group will be occupying the separate Beach View and Garden View Villas. The interior of these villas are the same. All villas have an open-air en-suite bathroom with a hot shower, air-conditioning, ceiling fan, high-quality mattresses and cotton linen, and mosquito nets on the windows. The villas have a water dispenser and coffee and tea facilities as well as a mini bar. There is 24-hour electricity and free internet connection.
The Garden View Villas sit behind the Beach View Villas, but have all the same amenities, except the view of the beach.
Coral Eye’s restaurant offers a selection of seasonal dishes combining cuisines of Indonesia and the Mediterranean. Meals are eaten communally at the central table in the main building, encouraging socializing with your fellow guests. They can cater to most dietary limitations with prior notice.
Trip Details and How to Sign Up
This is a small group charter and we expect it to fill quickly. Your spot is reserved with your deposit. Contact Ben below for deposit instructions.
Trip Date:
June 4-17, 2027 – Available.
Trip Price:
$7850 US per person (twin/double share) in Garden View Villas at Siladen and Coral Eye
$8450 US per person (twin/double share) in Beach View Villas at Siladen and Coral Eye
Single Supplement: Garden View $1750 US or Sea View $2000 US
The initial deposit for this trip is $400 US per person. At 12 months before departure there is a $600 US per person interim deposit, and at six months there is another $1000 US per person interim deposit. The final balance will be due three months before departure. A few payment options are available including debit and credit cards.
Individual travelers – Ben will happily find someone of the same sex for you to share a room with. If he cannot find you someone, no single supplement surcharge will apply.
Inclusions:
- 1 night at a Jakarta hotel with dinner and breakfast
- Domestic flights and transfers, includes 44lbs (20kg) luggage allowance on flights – Jakarta – Manado – Jakarta
- 7 nights Siladen Resort in a Garden View or Beach View Villa, Double Occupancy with full board
- 12 boat snorkel sessions over 6 days in Bunaken
- Boat transfer from Siladen to Coral Eye, including snorkel session
- 5 nights Coral Eye Resort in a Garden View or Beach View Villa, Double Occupancy with full board
- 8 boat snorkel sessions over 4 days in Bangka
- Complimentary WiFi
- Guide and freediving instructors from Ben’s Team
- Services of local snorkel guides
- Bunaken Marine Park entrance fee
Exclusions:
- International flights and visas
- Gratuities
- Equipment rental
- Travel and cancellation insurance (recommended)
- Health insurance (compulsory)
- Soft drinks and alcoholic drinks, laundry and general sundries
- Spa services
Trip Organizers
Ben and his U.K. based team are the organizers and leaders of this trip (more about them below). Galen & Nicole from TropicalSnorkeling.com are promoting this trip, but all signups, trip organization and payments are made to and managed by Ben’s team. TropicalSnorkeling.com does receive a referral fee in exchange for promoting the trip, at no extra cost to attendees.
How to Sign Up or Learn More?
Use the contact form below to contact Ben and his team to request more information about them and express your interest in signing up. They will get back to you shortly with full details.
More About Ben and Our Partnership
Ben (pictured with Nicole) is our friend and snorkeling trips partner. He and his team are based in the U.K. and have over 20 years of experience guiding in Asia and beyond. He has been running his own business since 2010 and is primarily offering guided snorkeling trips, but he started with diving. He began offering snorkeling specific trips because he was aware that snorkelers often get the short end of the stick when thrown in with divers. He and his team love the freedom and low stress of snorkeling, and are very aware of the different needs of snorkelers versus divers, in terms of the reef depth, and calm surface conditions needed.
From our experience going on some of his snorkeling trips we found them very well organized, the guides were fantastic and very helpful, and the underwater experiences were exceptional. Snorkeling groups really get the benefit of all of Ben and his guides’ years of experience in the water, and with different resorts and liveaboards.
All of his trips are small groups of 12-18 guests, or with a similar ratio of snorkelers to guides. These are premium trips including nearly everything you will need, accommodation, meals, transportation, and more.
His company is licensed and insured. Barring extreme circumstances they do not cancel trips.