Marine park and port fees on a Sulawesi liveaboard: who charges what

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.

Marine park and port fees sat outside the fare on the Sulawesi trips we could check. Operators bill a per-person, per-trip charge under names such as park fees or marine park and harbour fee, while a park ticket like Bunaken's is quoted per person per day. Do not compare the two directly, and ask what your trip charge actually covers.

Most confusion here comes from three different things being called a park fee. This page separates them by who states the charge and what unit it uses. Amounts sit in one place, the price table on this page, so the text can stay on what each figure means.

Are park and port fees in the fare?

Usually not, on the listings here, though you should check each trip. La Galigo lists visas, port clearances, ranger, anchorage, village and marine park fees among the items outside the fare on its Bangka, Lembeh and Sangihe trip. White Manta lists a marine park and harbour fee on its Lembeh and North Manado trip, settled before the trip. LiveAboard.com shows park and port fees for La Galigo as a required extra. Neptune Liveaboards says fares on its Wakatobi trips exclude park, port and environment fees.

That is four sources, and they cover a small part of the market. That does not settle every Sulawesi boat, so treat an included fee as something to confirm in writing and an excluded fee as the likelier starting point. Our guide to what a price includes and leaves out covers the other lines on the same invoice.

What do operators publish as a trip fee?

A single line, normally per person and per trip, with different names. The table lists the wording and the unit. Amounts are in the price table further down this page, apart from Mikumba's, which is on its own page.

Two details in that table change how you read a quote. The range LiveAboard.com shows for La Galigo spans all the routes of that boat, so it is not a Sulawesi figure, and the operator's own trip page is the better reference for that route. La Galigo also publishes two periods, which makes it the only forward-dated figure we found. Its later period is higher, so the departure date you choose can change this line even when the fare does not.

How does that relate to the park ticket?

A boat's trip fee and a park's daily ticket are separate things, and neither La Galigo nor White Manta breaks its trip fee into parts. La Galigo's list shows why that matters: port clearances, ranger, anchorage and village charges can sit alongside marine park fees. White Manta's single line combines marine park and harbour charges. Neither tells you how much of the total reaches a park, or whether any daily ticket is covered inside it.

Neptune ties its Bunaken figure to Government Regulation 36 of 2024, which sets the non-tax revenue tariffs of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, with a stated effective date of 30 October 2024, according to the BPK legal database. We have not read the park line itself. The Bunaken daily figures in the price table therefore come from third parties: a resort and an operator guide give the same entrance figure, and the resort adds a daily diving fee. Ticketing rules and the penalty the resort describes are on our page about the Bunaken entrance fee and e-ticket.

One comparison to avoid: dividing a trip fee by the number of days and setting it against a daily ticket. The trip fee may include port and harbour items, and a route may spend only part of its time inside a park. The result looks precise and tells you nothing. Ask instead:

• Is this line per trip or per day, and per person or per cabin?
• Which authorities or communities does it pay, as far as the operator can say?
• If the route enters Bunaken, does it cover the daily ticket and diving fee, and who buys the e-ticket?
• When is it due, and in which currency?
• If a government tariff changes after booking, who pays the difference?

Which park fees could we not confirm?

Two matter most: Wakatobi and the Togians. For Wakatobi, Neptune Liveaboards says rates were revised under the 2024 regulation and that locally quoted figures have not always kept pace. It gives no current figure, so none is printed here. For the Togians, part of the area became a national park in 2004 according to Wikipedia, but we have seen no official current entry or marine fee.

Older, lower Bunaken figures also still appear online, including on LiveAboard.com and on a resort rates page. They differ from the figure recent sources give, so do not budget from them. If a quote for any of these parks gives a figure, ask for the document behind it. A quote that lists no park line at all should prompt the same request. A boat trip that crosses several park areas should be able to say which ones it bills for and which it does not.

Keep a margin for this line when you compare trips. A lower fare with an unstated park fee has not told you the price yet. The guide to other charges besides the fare covers the rest of that list.

What other questions come up about park and port fees?

Are marine park fees covered by a typical booking?

No, not on the trips we could check. La Galigo and White Manta both list them outside the fare, and Neptune Liveaboards says the same of its Wakatobi trips, so confirm your own trip in writing.

Is a per-trip fee the same as the park ticket?

No. Operators publish a per-trip line that can also include port and harbour items, while Bunaken's ticket is quoted per person per day. Neither La Galigo nor White Manta splits its line into those parts.

Will these fees change in 2027?

Some will. La Galigo publishes a higher figure for June 2027 onward than for the period before it. We found no other forward-dated figure, so ask about your own departure month.

Can I pay the fee on board?

Not on White Manta's Lembeh and North Manado trip, where the fee is settled before departure. Other operators may differ, so ask when the fee is due and in which currency.

Is there a confirmed park fee for Wakatobi or the Togians?

No, not one we could confirm. One operator guide says Wakatobi rates were revised in 2024 without giving a current figure, and we found no official Togian figure.

Which sources support this page?

• JDIH BPK: Government Regulation 36 of 2024
• La Galigo: Bangka, Lembeh and Sangihe trip
• White Manta: Lembeh and North Manado trip
• LiveAboard.com, La Galigo listing
• Villa Queens: Bunaken e-ticket
• Neptune Liveaboards: Indonesia park fees and visa
• Neptune Liveaboards: Wakatobi liveaboard guide
• Wikipedia, Togian Islands
• Mikumba Diving: Sulawesi trip information and sample itineraries

How do I reach the desk?

Copy the fee line exactly as your quote words it and send it, with the route and departure month, to WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or bd@juaraholding.com. We will tell you what the published sources say about it. Payment is for your operator to request, and nothing here replaces that operator's invoice.