Diving swarm sets record

A stunning 2486 people entered the sea off the North Sulawesi capital’s Malalayang beach on 16 August. They remained submerged together for at least 31 minutes to take the record for “Most People Scuba Diving Simultaneously”.

Confirming that it had sanctioned the record, Guinness World Records described the event as “amazing and well organised”. It eclipsed by a large margin the previous record of 958 people who dived together in the Maldives in 2006.

The event was run as part of the Sail Bunaken maritime festival, held to promote Manado as a holiday destination. A cabinet minister and two governors joined the divers. Only 51 foreign divers took part.