About

About Murex Manado

Located in Tateli, one hour south of Manado’s airport, the Murex Manado resort is spread out across beautiful landscaped gardens along the coast with stunning views of Manado Tua volcano and Bunaken Island. The resort first opened its doors in 1988 and has been one of the leading companies involved in diving tourism and conservation in Sulawesi ever since. Originally a small, family-run dive resort set up by Dr Hansie Batuna, Murex Manado has since grown in size and scope - opening Murex Bangka to the north in 2001 - but has always retained its focus on providing the same fantastic service and family atmosphere that first attracted divers over 30 years ago.

The resort’s location south of Manado means that the islands of the Bunaken Marine Park are between 30 and 45 minutes away from the resort, but the muck sites along the coast are just a short boat ride away. Murex Manado also offers a range of day trips and tours within North Sulawesi including day trips to Bangka Island with its soft corals and vibrant reefs and across to the Lembeh Strait with its spectacular muck and critter diving. Guests can also combine all of North Sulawesi’s diving highlights into one trip with Murex Resort’s ‘Passport to Paradise’. Or, explore the Minahasan Highlands and climb Mahawu volcano, visit Lake Tondano, Waruga with its Minahasan stone graves or Tangkoko Nature Reserve in search of Sulawesi’s endemic animal species.

Explore the resort

Manado Murex resort combines casual with classic and places an emphasis on friendliness, a family atmosphere and great service. The resort buildings and rooms have been carefully situated throughout the landscaped gardens ensuring a tranquil and relaxing stay amidst the well-maintained tropical backdrop. The lush gardens feature lily ponds, spring fed streams, mature fruit trees and shady palms as well as several species of orchids and tropical flowers. At the heart of the resort, overlooking the ocean, is the restaurant and outdoor dining area where guests can enjoy buffet style meals that combine a mix of International and Asian dishes cooked using fresh local ingredients.

Additional resort facilities include a nature spa, ocean view infinity pool, flat-screen television, and a sea front gazebo – the perfect place for enjoying a cold drink while watching the sunset over Bunaken Marine Park.

Murex Manado is family friendly and can arrange childcare for guests upon request. The resort has stand-up paddleboards, a rope swing, junior life jackets and small sized snorkelling masks and fins. High chairs, cots and toys can be arrange with prior notice.

Diving from Murex Manado

As the pioneers of underwater exploration in and around North Sulawesi, guests can be sure that the diving experience at Murex Manado is nothing short of exceptional. The knowledgable and professional dive guides have thousands of dives in the region, and also undertake intensive courses in marine biology and underwater photography training to ensure guests receive the best underwater experience possible.

The dive centre offers modern equipment for hire, nitrox and a range of PADI courses, and runs daily two or three-dive trips to Bunaken Marine Park. Or, guests can choose to spend their afternoons diving the coastal muck sites in search of critters. Each of the resort’s dive boats are fitted with the latest safety equipment and have been designed specifically for diving operations. The large fleet of seven boats means that the dive centre offer a more flexible dive schedule as well as catering for requests from groups or individuals for private boats.

Conservation at Murex Manado

The founder of Murex Resorts, Dr Hansie Batuna, was as passionate about conservation, the environment and local communities in North Sulawesi as he was about providing an exemplary dive travel experience. He played a key role in the creation of the Bunaken Marine Park as well as the North Sulawesi Watersports Association, an organisation that strives to promote environmentally-responsible solutions to problems in marine tourism. Today the NSWA conducts education campaigns to help protect the incredible reefs and marine life and is an official forum for all the marine tourism operators.

Murex Resorts have removed single use plastics such as plastic bottles and straws from their properties, and recycle other waste such as packaging, paper and food as much as possible. The company also provides environmentally-friendly toiletries for its guests, has fitted energy efficient appliances and will start to use solar energy in the resorts.

The Murex Resorts employ over 180 staff, 95% of which are from the local area. Some of the staff have been with the company since it first started in 1988 and the company remains passionate about training and developing local people and creating opportunities for employment. Murex also directly supports local schools and provides a staff college fund. Both resorts employ strict snorkelling and diving guidelines for their staff and guests, are actively involved in marine clean-ups and mooring programmes and are supporters or the North Sulawesi Watersports Association and other environmental groups. Each of the Murex Resorts encourage their guests to join in the clean-up activities and actively promote and support global projects such as Earth Day. They work with local conservation groups and villages - ones they know from experience - and promote and encourage guests to visit and learn about these projects. The company also has a responsible tourism statement that is presented to its guests as part of an initial briefing.