Lekuan 3 is the third of the Lekuan sites on the south side of Bunaken Island, and the sheltered one: it is very protected, so there is usually very little to no current. The site mixes sandy slopes, coral outcrops and walls covered in soft corals, anemones and hard corals, with coral gardens in the shallows. Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and reef sharks work the face, and it turns over completely at night.
Also known as Lekuan III.
Where it is and how deep
1.6057° N, 124.7685° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
Lekuan 3 is the most sheltered of the three Lekuan sites — very protected, with usually very little to no current — which is why it gets used for check dives, courses and night dives. It is not one clean wall face either: the site mixes sandy slopes, coral outcrops and walls covered in soft corals, anemones and hard corals, and it runs down to 30 metres. Pick a band and work along it at your own pace rather than having the water set it for you.
The face produces a mix of resident fish and passing animals. Schools of Heller's barracuda and squid hang off it, blue spotted stingrays sit on the sand, and pufferfish and anemonefish work the coral. Bumphead parrotfish and napoleon wrasse come through at size, with eagle rays, reef sharks and tuna out on the open side.
Because the water is usually still, this is one of the sites used after dark. A night dive here turns up octopus and cuttlefish out hunting, pleurobranchs on the coral, many different kinds of shrimp and crab in the cracks, and bioluminescence in the water when you cover your torch. By day or night the dive ends the same way, up onto the coral gardens in the shallows, which are shallow enough to snorkel.
Marine life and season
- Napoleon wrasse
- Reef sharks
- Eagle rays
- Barracuda
- Tuna
- Stingrays
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Squid
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Bunaken: May–October dry season gives the clearest water; some rain and runoff November–April.
Know before you go
- Still water and a face with no bottom in view make depth easy to lose track of — check the gauge on a fixed interval rather than by feel.
Questions divers ask
Is Lekuan 3 a good night dive?+
Yes. The site is very protected with usually very little to no current, and after dark it produces octopus, cuttlefish, pleurobranchs, many kinds of shrimp and crab, and bioluminescence in the water.
How deep is Lekuan 3?+
The dive runs to a maximum of 30 metres. The site is a mixture of sandy slopes, coral outcrops and walls, with coral gardens in the shallows, so the profile is a band along the face rather than a descent to a bottom.
Sources
- Lekuan 3 dive site — PADI Travel
- Diving sites Indonesia: Manado, Bunaken — Dive The World
- Lekuan 3 — Scubago
In The Logbook
- Bioluminescence: why the sea glows at nightNight diving · 7 min read
More dive sites in Bunaken
A reef so long one dive doesn't cover it
Wall
Fissured wall with pygmy seahorses, and a night-dive standby
Five hefty giant clams lying in a row on the sand
Perhaps ten green turtles live on this wall alone
Wall
Whip corals along a drifted wall, with bumpheads passing
An amphitheatre-shaped wall worked by reef sharks
Wall
Turtle city: greens and hawksbills on the wall off the village
Wall
Whitetip sharks resting in caves down the wall
Similar dives elsewhere
Step off the jetty onto a wall with resident sharks
Slope to a 40-50 m wall, finished on the reef top next door
Shafts of light in a cracked cavern on the north wall
The corner where Cabilao's sharks are seen, wall to plateau to wall