Bus & Kijang
Buses and minibuses to Poso (80,000Rp, six hours), Ampana (100,000Rp to 150,000Rp, 12 hours) and Rantepao (180,000Rp, 20 hours) leave from Terminal Masomba ( GOOGLE MAP ), and also from bus company offices that are inconveniently dotted around the suburbs of Palu. Kijangs to Donggala (22,000Rp; for Tanjung Karang) 36km away leave when full from Terminal Tipo, about 5km northwest of Palu, but it’s easier to take an ojek (55,000Rp). There are three daily buses to Gimpu, Doda (132km, five hours) and Wuasa (105km, four hours) for Lore Lindu National Park, and shared Kijang (which leave when full) from Terminal Petobo, off Jl Prof Mohammed Yamin, about 6km southeast of Palu.
8Getting Around
Palu's Mutiara airport is 6km southeast of town; it costs around 45,000Rp to/from the centre in a metered taxi. Damri airport buses are scheduled to operate between the airport and city centre from late 2015.
Transport around Palu is by bemo; routes are flexible, so just flag down one that looks like it’s going your way.
Most taxis use meters.
Donggala & Tanjung Karang
%0457
Donggala is a sleepy port full of colourful houses, flowering gardens and lots of interesting local characters. From here it’s a short ojek ride to Tanjung Karang’s slice of white sand, studded with rickety beach bungalows, roaming buffalo and a decent dive centre.
The town was once a Dutch administrative centre and briefly the most important port in Central Sulawesi. When the harbour silted up, ships used the harbours on the other side of the bay, and Palu became the regional capital.
2Activities
The main attractions are sun, sand and water at Tanjung Karang (Coral Peninsula), about 5km north of Donggala. The reef off Prince John Dive Resort is good for snorkelling and beginner-level diving. Snorkelling gear costs €5 per day. Fun dives cost €29 (including equipment); PADI courses are also available here. The resort offers dolphin-watching tours.
4Sleeping & Eating
There are lots of budget bungalows and warungs along Tanjung Karang.
Natural CottagesBUNGALOW$$
(%0813 4147 1769; www.naturalcottages.com; bungalows 250,000Rp; W)
This small resort has a selection of ageing blue-roofed bungalows that enjoy a fine beachfront location. It's more geared at local tourists and, though the staff does its best, very little English is spoken.
Prince John Dive ResortRESORT$$$
(%0457-71710; www.prince-john-dive-resort.com; bungalows for 2 people incl 2 meals €70-110; a)
This lovely resort is reason enough to come to Tanjung Karang. Three classes of rustic-chic wood-and-stone bungalows enjoy sea views. It's a well-managed German-run place and the only dive resort in the Palu area. The beach here has a few umbrellas for nonguests to rent. Wi-fi is confined to reception and lounge areas.
8Getting There & Away
Kijangs to Donggala (22,000Rp) leave when full from Terminal Tipo, about 5km outside Palu. From Donggala you can catch an ojek the 5km to Tanjung Karang (8000Rp). A taxi/ojek from Palu costs around 120,000/55,000Rp.
Luwuk
%0461 / Pop 56,000
Set around a stunning natural harbour, Luwuk is the biggest town on Sulawesi’s remote eastern peninsula. It's a possible stepping stone to the Togean Islands (and the remote Banggai Islands). Long isolated from the rest of Sulawesi, Luwuk now sees a trickle of travellers, thanks to improved air links.
Nearby attractions include Air Terjun Hengahenga , a 75m-high waterfall 3km west of Luwuk; and the Bangkiriang Nature Reserve , 80km southwest of Luwuk, which is home to Central Sulawesi’s largest maleo-bird population.
4Sleeping & Eating
Good budget places are hard to find in Luwuk. There are ample restaurants and warungs along the seafront strip.
Maleo CottagesGUESTHOUSE$
(%0461-324068; www.maleo-cottages.com; Jl Lompobattang; s/d incl breakfast 180,000/200,000Rp)
Owned by a French–Indonesian couple (a marine biologist and a lawyer), this fine coastal place has simple, atmospheric cottages and rooms. Great meals are available. It’s a good place to arrange independent trips to the remote, beautiful Banggai Islands, liveaboards to the Togean Islands and rainforest treks. It's located 16km south of Luwuk, near the airport.
Estrella HotelHOTEL$$
(%0461-312-8080; http://estrellahotel.id; Jl Mandapar; r incl breakfast from 688,000Rp; aiWs)
Overlooking Luwuk bay, around 2km south of the centre, this sleek business hotel has great facilities including a fine pool, fitness centre and good dining options. The modish rooms are stylish and spacious, and the staff is eager to please.
Hotel KaratonHOTEL$$
(%0461-21048, 0461-22618; http://hotelkaraton.com; Jl Dewi Sartika 123; r 280,000-330,000Rp, ste 440,000Rp; aW)
A good midrange place on the south side of the town centre. Clean, whitewashed, air-conditioned accommodation with fresh linen and flat-screen TVs in four price categories.
8Getting There & Around
Aviastar, XpressAir, Lion Air, Wings and Garuda all fly regularly to Luwuk airport, which is 12km south of the centre. There are several daily flights to Makassar and good links to Gorontalo and Palu. There's no bus service to/from the aiport; taxis charge around 55,000Rp.
The Pelni liner Tilongkabila links Luwuk weekly with Bau Bau and Bitung, and many stops in between; there’s a Pelni (%0461-23013; Jl Danau Limboto 74; h8am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat ) office in town.
One beat-up Honda Jaya bus leaves daily from Jl Santigiat at 7am for Ampana (68,000Rp, six hours); there are also more comfortable private minibuses (150,000Rp).
WORTH A TRIP
TANJUNG API NATIONAL PARK
The 4246-hectare Tanjung Api (Cape Fire) National Park is home to anoa (pygmy buffaloes), babi rusa (wild deer-like pigs), crocodiles, snakes and maleo birds, but most people come to see the burning coral cliff fuelled by a leak of natural gas. To get here you need to charter a boat 24km east around the rocky peninsula from Ampana. A visit to the park is more interesting at dusk.
Ampana
%0464
The main reason for travellers to come to Ampana is to catch a boat to/from the Togean Islands. It’s a laid-back, pleasant coastal town with a vibrant market and makes a good stopover while you recover from, or prepare for, an assault on the Togeans.
4Sleeping & Eating
A roster of excellent new accommodation options has opened in recent years. Warungs are plentiful along the seafront road Jl Yos Sudarso, just west of the main boat terminal.
Nebula CottagesBUNGALOW$
(%0464-21743; http://nebulacottages.weebly.com; Jl Tanjung Api 5; bungalows incl breakfast with fan/air-con 150,000/250,000Rp; aW)
A fine new place with tasteful, very spacious wooden bungalows that sit pretty in a coconut grove, close to the sea. The staff is eager to help and can help with motorbike hire. Breakfast is excellent, with lots of fresh fruit and good tea and coffee. Located 2.5km east of the centre.
Oasis HotelHOTEL$
(%0464-21058; Jl Kartini; r incl breakfast with fan/air-con from 120,000/200,000Rp; aW)
Oasis benefits from a central location and has functional rooms, some with air-con; however, the proximity to the sounds of karaoke, cockerels and a mosque's call to prayer are serious drawbacks.
oMarina CottagesCOTTAGE$$
(%0464-21280; www.marina-cottages.com; Jl Tanjung Api 33; cottages incl breakfast 150,000-550,000Rp ; aW)
Beautifully situated on a pebble beach 3km east of the centre, these 20 rustic, very well maintained cottages (in a wide choice of price bands) boast a lovely seafront setting. You couldn't wish for a nicer place for breakfast, beer or a meal (from 20,000Rp) than the idyllic restaurant, which makes the most of the views. Boats to Bomba leave from a jetty nearby.
Lawaka HotelBOUTIQUE HOTEL$$
(%0464-21690; http://lawakahotel.com; Jl Tanjung Lawaka 10; r 295,000-335,000Rp; aW)
A highly unexpected find in deeply provincial Ampana, Lawaka feels like a
hip hostel with its zany decor, cool cafe and urban art-enriched rooms that face a central garden. There's bike hire available, too. It's about 1km east of the centre, just steps from the coast.
8Information
Check http://infotogian.weebly.com for information about the town and the Togean Islands.
Ampana has plentiful banks and ATMs.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Access to Ampana will really take off when Garuda and Lion Air begin planned flights to Makassar. At the time of research the only connections were infrequent Aviastar flights to Palu, Luwuk and Gorontalo (on an 18-seater plane); check http://infotogian.weebly.com for the latest schedule. The airport is 7km east of the centre.
Bus & Minibus
Minibuses travel each day to Luwuk (150,000Rp, six hours, departing 8am), Poso (75,000Rp, five hours, departing 10am and 5pm) and Palu (150,000Rp, 12 hours, departing 10am and 5pm). There are also additional but much slower and less comfortable buses on these routes.
Boat
Boats to Poso, Wakai (in the Togean Islands) and beyond leave from the main boat terminal at the end of Jl Yos Sudarso, in the centre of Ampana. Boats to Bomba in the Togeans leave from a jetty in Labuhan village, next to Marina Cottages.
Togean Islands
Yes, it takes determination to get to the Togean Islands, but believe us, it takes much more determination to leave. Island-hop from one forested golden-beach beauty to the next, where hammocks are plentiful, the fish is fresh and the welcome is genuine. Most islands have only one or two family-run guesthouses, while popular Kadidiri has a small but lively beach scene with night-time bonfires and cold beers all around.
The rich diversity of marine life and astonishing coral formations in the Togeans are a magnet for divers and snorkellers; there are several professional scuba schools for training, courses and recreational dives. For truly spectacular diving, Una Una fits the bill perfectly.
When you decide to pull yourself out of the water, there’s a surprising variety of wildlife to look for in the undisturbed and wild jungles, as well as other remote beaches to find. Seven or so ethnic groups share this region, but all are happy to see visitors and are exceptionally hospitable.
Most rooms are in wooden cottages and right on the beach. Bathroom facilities range from communal and rustic to private and porcelain. Prices are usually per person and rates include three local meals. It is a good idea to bring along some snacks and treats. Beer, soft drinks and mineral water are all available from shops and homestays.
Bring plenty of cash as there are no banks in the islands. If your hotel or guesthouse has a faint mobile signal it is sometimes possible to pay by credit/debit card – but don't count on it.
2Activities
The Togeans are the only place in Indonesia where you can find all three major reef environments – atoll, barrier and fringing reefs – in one location. Two atolls and their deep lagoons lie to the northwest of Pulau Batu Daka. Barrier reefs surround many islands at the 200m-depth contour (5km to 15km offshore), and fringing reefs surround all of the coasts, merging with sea grass and mangroves. There is also a well-preserved sunken WWII B-24 bomber plane (at a depth of between 14m and 22m).
The mix of coral and marine life is spectacular and unusually diverse. Dynamite and cyanide fishing has damaged some reefs in the past but recovery is well under way and many others remain untouched.
Highlights include spectacular open-water topography, with coral canyons, plunging drop-offs and some truly giant gorgonia corals. Reefs teem with hundreds of species of tropical fish, and macro life including seahorses, painted frogfishes and leaf scorpionfishes. Most sites in the Togeans rarely invite 'big stuff' but passing pelagics (including) hammerhead sharks are sometimes seen and schooling barracuda are regularly encountered. Colonies of dugong are also present.
Prices start from €25 per dive and PADI courses are available. Dive conditions (most of the year) are perfect for the inexperienced, with water temperatures of 28°C to 29°C, fine visibility and gentle currents. Pulau Kadidiri is the best place to organise activities.
Trips to a 'jellyfish lake', where you can swim with stinger-free jellyfish (one of only three places in the world where this is possible), cost from 50,000Rp per person. This trip can be organised from many places around the islands, as can treks around volcanic Pulau Una Una and to isolated beaches.
CONSERVATION OF THE TOGEAN ISLANDS
Home to more than 500 types of coral, 600 reef-fish species and an estimated 500 mollusc, Teluk Tomini around the Togean Islands is one of the richest reef areas in all of Indonesia. In 2004 the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry signed a bill that turned 362,000 hectares of this fragile area into a national park; this was great news to conservation groups, but some local NGOs claim national-park status restricts local livelihoods and leaves the region open to other types of exploitation.
The Togeans’ shaky ecological record really started when cyanide and dynamite fishing was introduced to the islands in the early 1990s. While this initially boosted the local catch, it also caused untold damage to fragile reef ecosystems. By the early 2000s locals (often with help from local NGOs and dive centres) began to understand the destructiveness of these practices and many returned to traditional fishing techniques. Some villages even began creating their own protected areas and helping to patrol reefs against illegal fishing. Today, islanders are hailing larger fishing yields closer to home and also the presence of healthy coral beds – proof that reef protection works.
Despite this, the Togeans are relatively poor islands and the fishing ain’t what it used to be. The fishing of valuable Napoleon wrasse (for foreign Chinese restaurants) has all but wiped such fish out of these waters, and resulted in a catastrophic increase in the number of crown-of-thorns starfish, which destroy coral at an alarming rate.
Pulau Kadidiri–based Black Marlin Diving and other scuba schools are lobbying the Indonesian government to safeguard the islands' officially protected status with patrols against illegal fishing; they are also lobbying for the area to be declared a Unesco World Heritage site.
8Getting There & Away
Yes, it's complicated. There are many ways to get to the Togeans, but all of them are time-consuming and none of them straightforward. Firstly the islands have no airport, so the only access is by boat. The two gateway cities are Ampana and Gorontalo. Consult the excellent www.infotogian.weebly.com for up-to-date information as schedules change regularly. It's also essential to factor in some wiggle room when travelling, as breakdowns and bad weather can affect ferry sailings, particularly in the rainy season (roughly from November to early April).
If you're travelling overland from South Sulawesi (including Tana Toraja), Ampana is the logical gateway. Six ferries run from there per week to the Togeans. Ampana also has a new airport, but was served by very limited flights at the time of research. Luwuk and Poso have more reliable air connections, but both towns are a six-hour overland trip from Ampana.
Gorontalo, in North Sulawesi, is the other main gateway. The city has excellent flight links to Makassar, very reliable air and bus links to Manado and a twice-weekly overnight boat to the Togeans.
Representatives from many of the resorts and hotels meet ferries at arrival points in the Togeans, and often shuttle you to your accommodation free of charge.
From Ampana
Ferries depart Ampana for the Togean Islands daily except Friday. The route is Ampana–Wakai–Katupat–Malenge–Dolong; the arrival time in Dolong is 8.30pm. Note on Monday and Thursday the ferry leaves at 9am and sails to Wakai only.
Ferry Route Fare (Rp) Departure Time
Ampana–Wakai 52,000 10am
Wakai–Katupat 60,000 2.30pm
Katupat–Malenge 66,000 4.15pm
Malenge–Dolong 72,000 5.45pm
In the reverse direction the ferry leaves Dolong at 10pm on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, calling at all the stops. On Monday and Saturday it only operates from Wakai to Amp
ana.
To head directly to Bomba it’s possible to take small local boats (34,000Rp, three hours) that leave on Monday, Thurday and Saturday from a jetty in Labuhan village, Ampana, next to Marina Cottages.
From Gorontalo
From Gorontalo the KM Tuna Tomini sails directly to Wakai (economy class/air-con cabin for four 64,000Rp/500,000Rp, 13 hours) on Monday and Thursday and is the easiest option from this direction if you want to get to Katupat, Kadidiri or Bomba. On the way back, the boat departs Wakai on Thursday and Sunday at 5pm.
Alternatively, you could head to Bumbulan port (a three-hour taxi or four-hour bus ride from Gorontalo) and catch the KM Cengkih Afo to Dolong on Walea Kodi Island (economy class 56,000Rp, five hours) on Sunday and Thursday at 9am; it returns the same days at 4pm, arriving at the ungodly hour of 2am in Bumbulan.
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE TOGEANS
There's no internet in the Togean Islands and mobile phone reception is patchy at best. While many guesthouses have an email address and phone number, you may have to wait a few days or more before anyone writes back or returns your call. Except in high season (August) you won't need a reservation anyway and can just turn up.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 132