Bunaken park entrance fee: the e-ticket, the daily rate and the older figures still online

By Sulawesi Liveaboard Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Published fares are not our offers, and fees change.

Recent sources state a daily Bunaken National Park entrance fee for foreign visitors, and one adds a daily diving fee; both appear in the price table on this page. They come from a resort and an operator guide, not the park office, so confirm with the office before you rely on them. The lower figures online are older.

What do recent sources state as the daily fee?

Two sources give the same daily entrance figure for a foreign visitor. The site villaqueens.com, run by a Bunaken-based resort, states it along with a second daily line for diving. Neptune Liveaboards, in its guide to Indonesian park fees, gives the same entrance figure per person per day and ties it to the 2024 tariff regulation. The amounts sit in the price table on this page, with the month we checked them, so that a correction needs making in only one place.

Agreement between two commercial sites is decent evidence, but it is not an official notice. This table shows what each source is able to tell you, and where its limits lie.

We have not found a park-office page that states the fee, and that gap is the reason for the caution on this page. When you contact the office, ask for the current foreign-visitor rate, the diving line, the length of time a payment covers, and whether the amounts differ for your dates.

Why do you still see a lower figure online?

A lower daily figure with a yearly cap still appears on LiveAboard.com and on one resort's rates page. That resort page dates its figure to 2015. It conflicts with the sources above, one of which cites the 2024 regulation, so it is not repeated here.

Old fee figures survive for a simple reason. Nobody is obliged to update a travel page when a tariff changes, and a page can stay easy to find for years after its numbers have gone stale. Neptune's guide makes a similar point about Wakatobi, saying that rates there were revised under the same regulation and that locally quoted figures have not always kept pace.

When you find a Bunaken figure on any page, run through these checks before you budget around it:

1. Does the page give a year for the figure, or only for the article?
2. Does it name the regulation behind the figure?
3. Does it mention electronic ticketing? A page that does not may have been written before June 2025.
4. Does it state whether the amount is per day, per trip or per year?
5. Does the seller have a reason to quote the fee low, such as keeping a package total attractive?

A page that fails most of these checks can still be useful for other things. Just do not take your fee budget from it.

How does the e-ticket work?

Everything on this page about the e-ticket comes from the resort, and none of it from the park office. The resort states that the park moved to electronic ticketing only, effective 1 June 2025. It also states that visitors inside the park without a valid e-ticket incur a penalty of five times the standard fare.

Because that is a serious consequence resting on a single commercial source, it is worth settling the details before you arrive. Neither source says where the ticket is officially sold, whether a boat or resort can buy it on your behalf, or what proof a ranger will ask to see. Put these questions to your resort, your boat or the park office:

• Who buys the ticket, you or the operator, and when?
• Does one purchase cover several days, or is it bought day by day?
• What do you carry to show it, and does it need a signal to display?
• If your plans change and you enter the park a day later, what happens to the ticket?
• Is the penalty applied per day, per person or per visit? The resort page does not settle this for us.

What regulation sits behind the tariff?

Government Regulation 36 of 2024 sets the non-tax revenue tariffs of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the JDIH BPK legal database gives its effective date as 30 October 2024. That is the instrument the operator guide points to. The linked record is the regulation's listing and not the park-by-park annex, so the Bunaken line is not quoted here.

Knowing the shape of the park helps you estimate what a daily charge means for your own trip. Bunaken was established as a national park in 1991 and covers 890.65 km², 97% of it marine habitat, according to Wikipedia. It takes in five islands: Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Lembeh and Bangka are not among those five, so a boat or resort itinerary that splits its time across North Sulawesi may spend only some of its days inside the park. Our page on Bunaken and Lembeh liveaboard trips explains how those two areas fit together.

Who pays when you travel by boat?

You do, in the end, but the way the charge reaches you varies, and the boat examples here cover other routes. La Galigo lists park fees per person per trip on its Bangka, Lembeh and Sangihe trip, and names marine park fees among items outside the fare. White Manta lists a combined marine park and harbour fee per person on its Lembeh and North Manado trip, settled before departure, and the routes page explains why that trip is not read as a Bunaken trip. So neither charge can be read as the Bunaken daily rate. A lump sum for a whole trip may blend several parks and ports.

LiveAboard.com lists 5 liveaboards for Bunaken. For any of them, ask whether the entrance and diving lines are inside the fare, billed by the operator as an extra, or left for you to pay directly. Then ask how many park days the charge assumes. Our guide to marine park and port fees sets out the published trip charges.

If you stay on land instead, the question does not go away. The Murex sample package in the price table covers 12 nights across Manado, Bangka and Lembeh and leaves out the Bunaken entrance fee, so a package total may still need that line added for each day you spend in the park. Neptune's own guide says a liveaboard is not required for Bunaken and that a resort can be the more sensible choice for a focused week.

What other questions do divers ask about the Bunaken fee?

Is the Bunaken entrance fee charged per day?

Yes, according to both the resort and Neptune's guide, which state it per person per day. Ask the park office whether that still holds for your dates.

Is there a separate charge for diving in Bunaken?

Yes, according to villaqueens.com, which lists a daily diving fee on top of the entrance fee. It stands alone on that line, so confirm it before you budget.

Can I pay at the park without an e-ticket?

No, if the resort page is right. It says ticketing has been electronic only since 1 June 2025 and that being inside the park without a valid e-ticket brings a penalty. Sort out the ticket before your first day in the park.

Does a liveaboard fare include the Bunaken fee?

Not necessarily. On La Galigo's and White Manta's routes, operators list park charges outside the fare or settle them before the trip. Ask the operator for the treatment of this fee on your own sailing.

Will the Bunaken fee change in 2027?

We do not know. We have seen no 2027 rate, so the figures describe the position when we checked them and do not forecast it.

Which sources support this page?

• Villa Queens: Bunaken e-ticket
• Neptune Liveaboards: Indonesia park fees and visa
• JDIH BPK: Government Regulation 36 of 2024
• Murex: Passport to Paradise sample package (PDF)
• LiveAboard.com: Bunaken
• Wikipedia: Bunaken National Park
• La Galigo: Bangka, Lembeh and Sangihe trip
• White Manta: Lembeh and North Manado trip
• Neptune Liveaboards: Bunaken diving guide

How do I reach the desk?

Going to Bunaken and unsure how the fee applies to your plan? Tell the desk your dates, your boat or resort, and how many days you expect to spend in the park. We will tell you what the published sources support on WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or at bd@juaraholding.com. Only the park office can settle the tariff itself.