Pastel-painted apartments front Manado's seas, where the rare Coelacanth, a rare Dinosaur-like fish, was caught alongside other marine organisms found nowhere else in the planet. Rare aquatic species like these are the raison d'être why tourists get wet in Manado, an ecotourism hotspot for its lush mountains and scuba diving and snorkeling sites like Bunaken, one of the finest, most well-kept marine parks in Indonesia.
Manado's Sam Ratulangi International Airport is one of the main entry points to Indonesia. Thousands annually arrive in the airport to climb the active volcanoes of Lake Tondano, Lokon, Klabat and Mahawu as a side-trip to the hiking trails of Tangkoko National Park, home to tarsiers and macaques that play with humans every afternoon. Dutch colonial fortresses, the shopping malls of Piere Tendean Boulevard; the local handicrafts of B.W. Lapian Street; and the 19th-century Ban Hin Kiong Buddhist temple are also popular stops for tourists exploring on ojeks (motorbike taxis).
Manadonese food is famous throughout Indonesia because of its spiciness. The likes of ikan mas bakar rica or grilled spicy fish cooked in coconut shell and ayam rica-rica or grilled chicken topped with chili-onion paste, usually make tourists grope for more glasses of saguer or palm juice.