Dataset on quantifying the beach litter from Manado Bay (northern Sulawesi, Indonesia), which lies in the Coral Triangle, over a 5-year period (2018-2022).

Data is presented on the macro and meso size, weight, and number of items for a variety of beach litter types collected from Manado Bay, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, which lies within the Coral Triangle. The data, both raw and partly processed, were collected over 5 years (2018 to 2022) using the internationally standard method for monitoring marine debris, which has been adopted by Indonesia. The classification is based on 9 material types: (1) plastics (PL), (2) foamed plastics (FP), (3) cloth (CL), (4) glass and ceramics (GC), (5) metal (ME), (6) other type of litter (OT), (7) paper and cardboard (PC), (8) rubber (RB), and (9) wood (WD), and further broken down into subcategories. These data show an increasing trend of waste, with plastic bottles (<2 L) reaching peak weights of 1,125.46 g (2020) and 807.68 g (2022), and clothing waste soaring to 6,088.80 g (2022). These data are compatible with data collected on marine litter pollution in other parts of Coral Triangle, as well as the rest of the world. We anticipate that these will be of value for researchers and other stakeholders, providing information on marine litter for monitoring and decision making purposes.