Bitung

Bitung is a coastal city at the north-eastern edge of the island of Sulawesi in the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi. It faces Lembeh Island, which forms two of the city's eight districts, and the Lembeh Strait, which is known for its colourful marine life and in particular its sea slugs. At the 2020 census the city had 225,134 residents, which made it the second most populated city in the province after the capital Manado. Bitung was named one of Indonesia's Special Economic Zones in 2014, with priority sectors in logistics, herbal pharmacy, fish processing and coconut processing, and it has an international ocean-going ship port. The Manado to Bitung toll road, about 39.9 kilometres long, opened on 25 February 2022, and a roll-on roll-off ferry linked the city with Davao in the Philippines from 2017 until the route ceased operating by 2019. Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve lies about an hour away. The climate is tropical rainforest with heavy rainfall all year.