Experience the best of Manado

Manado spreads along a curving bay on the northern tip of Sulawesi, with volcanic peaks rising behind it and the cone of Manado Tua across the water. The city is the heartland of the Minahasa people, who are mostly Christian, and its streets hold churches as well as mosques and Chinese temples. A waterfront promenade is lined with seafood stalls at night.

Bunaken National Marine Park, a short boat ride offshore, has steep coral walls and clear water, and the Lembeh Strait near Bitung is a diving area known for small, unusual creatures. In the cool highlands inland, Tomohon has volcanoes and flower nurseries, Bukit Kasih is a hillside with sulphur vents, and Lake Tondano is a popular lake, while Tangkoko Nature Reserve shelters tarsiers and black crested macaques.

Manado cooking is famously hot: tinutuan, a porridge of rice, pumpkin, corn and greens, begins the day, followed by cakalang fufu, smoked skipjack tuna, and fish in woku spices with dabu-dabu, a raw chilli and tomato relish. The drier months from May to October suit diving, and the rain falls hard in the wet season.