The Togean Islands

a beautiful remote tropical paradise in Central Sulawesi

 
 

The Togean islands are a beautiful, remote tropical paradise in Central Sulawesi. The archipelago is comprised of 56 islands and you will see island after island on the boat ride there! There are many different islands you can stay on depending on what you want - whether you want just a relaxing beach vacation, a diving vacation, or a rustic adventure vacation, you have it all there. We stayed on Kadidiri Island for our 5 days there, the island known for its paradise beach vacation vibe and the most popular island to visit. While we loved our time there, we also wished we had more time to explore other islands. The Togeans are a wonderful place to enjoy paradise in a remote place that not many people frequent!

Watch our Youtube video about our time there here!

Contents

Getting to the Togean Islands

Where to stay & what to do in the Togeans

How long to stay in the Togeans

Getting to the Togean Islands

  • From Makassar:

    • First, you’ll take an 8 hour bus ride to Tana Toraja

    • Then, a 14 hour bus ride to Tentena

    • Then, a 5 hour car ride to Ampana (private car is 1,000,000 IDR ($62) for up to 5 people)

    • Then, a 3 hour ferry ride to Wakai, the main town of the Togeans (110K IDR ($7) per person)

    • From Wakai, you can arrange a small boat to take you to where you want to go in the Togeans (200K IDR ($12) for up to 4 people)

    There is a small speedboat that goes from Ampana to the Togeans daily, but it often sells out ahead of time, so contact your homestay host to help you purchase tickets asap. There’s also a slower and cheaper public boat, but it only goes from Ampana to the Togeans on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, so make sure to check the schedule and plan accordingly!

    To purchase boat tickets, you can do so through your homestay host or go to the harbor ahead of time to purchase them in-person directly.

  • From Manado or Tomohon:

    • 9 hour car ride from Manado/Tomohon to Gorontolo (shared car is 350K IDR / $21 per person)

    • 13 hour overnight ferry from Gorontolo to Wakai, the main town of the Togeans (115K IDR / $7 per person)

    • From Wakai, you can hire a small boat to take you to where you need to go in the Togeans (200K IDR / $12 for up to 4 people)

    The ferry from Gorontolo to Wakai only runs every Tuesday and Friday at 5:00pm, arriving in Wakai the next morning. Be sure to plan accordingly! We purchased tickets through Harry & Mimin Homestay in Gorontolo. They can help you purchase tickets going either direction even if you are not staying with them. It’s quite confusing to try and purchase them on your own, so I would recommend this option.

    The ferry ride is a long overnight journey. There are 3 classes: VIP, regular, and sitting-only. I would highly recommend VIP class, an AC cabin with small, individual mattresses. Normal class does not have AC and has even smaller mattresses, with hundreds of people next to each other. Sitting-only class is above deck and has seats similar to half-reclining bus seats. VIP tickets cost 238K IDR ($15) from Wakai to Gorontolo, and 115K ($7) from Gorontolo to Wakai.

  • Luwuk is a small airport in Central Sulawesi, and the closest airport to the Togeans. It’s the most expensive, but the quickest option if you are trying to go to the Togeans directly. If you fly into Luwuk:

    • It’s a 6 hour car ride to Ampana (private car is 1,000,000 IDR ($62) for up to 5 people)

    • Then, a 3 hour ferry ride to Wakai (110K IDR ($7) per person)

    • From Wakai, you can arrange a small boat to take you to where you want to go in the Togeans (200K IDR ($12) for up to 4 people)

    See the above information (from South Sulawesi) about the boat schedule from Ampana to Togeans.

Here’s the boat schedule between the Togeans and Ampana / Gorontolo. All buses and private car rides can be arranged with the help of your homestay host in Ampana and Gorontolo.

Where to stay & what to do in the Togeans

There are many different islands you can stay on in the Togeans depending on what you’re looking for! Most places are resort-style where you pay a per person per day price that includes lodging and 3 meals a day. Meals are all shared family style amongst the guests, which creates and nice familial atmosphere at the resort. Resorts here are very inexpensive (we paid $26/person/day) and have more of a rustic feel, so expect nice, but not super luxury. It’s better this way :).

The Togeans are a stunning place to simply just be and get away from it all. There’s not much cell service throughout the islands and wifi is limited, so it’s a wonderful place to truly disconnect and just be in nature.

Kadidiri Island

This is the most popular island to stay on, and here it really feels like a relaxing tropical paradise. We stayed at Kadidiri Paradise. While the property was beautiful, right on the beach, and it really felt like paradise, it also was a larger resort that felt somewhat impersonal and not particularly homey or cozy. Overall, I would recommend it as a solid option where you will feel in paradise for a relatively good price, but not have the most blown away experience.

What to do on Kadidiri

  • We spent our days in Kadidiri swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, playing beach volleyball, working on our computers (offline), reading, and just relaxing. It was a perfect place to be able to explore the marine life, read and work on our own things, and have plenty of time to just be with each other, soak it all in, and relax.

  • Explore other islands by boat. Kadidiri Paradise offered boat trips to take you around to explore other islands and snorkeling spots. You can also take a kayak out and explore other nearby islands yourself. We kayaked twice and visited a nearby lagoon, as well as a small island where we had a private beach all to ourselves.

  • You can take diving trips organized by the resorts as well

 

Our beachfront bungalow at Kadidiri Paradise for only $26/person/day including 3 meals a day!

 

Malenge Island

The most remote of the islands, this is an adventurous destination and while we sadly didn’t make it here, we heard it was many people’s favorite island. A friend of mine who stayed here, described it as the ultimate holiday retreat feeling, away from everything. They highly recommend staying at The Cliff Resort for the ultimate holiday treat.

What to do on Malenge

  • Malenge Island is mainly for relaxing at the beach and snorkeling at reefs close to the few resorts on the otherwise full grown jungle island

  • You can also visit Pulau Papan to see the Bajau community: people that live on the water

  • ⁠⁠Diving is possible also, though not the main diving place in Togeans

  • You can go to Jelly Fish Lake (Mariona Lake) and Karina beach on a day trip, but its actually closer to Kadidiri

 

View from the Cliff Resort on Malenge Island

Cliff Resort at Malenge Island

 

Una Una Island

Una Una is the main diving destination in the Togean Islands. However, there’s only black sand beaches and is considered less beautiful scenery if you’re looking for a relaxing beach vacation. ⁠⁠Currently there are only two dive resorts, next to each other. The diving is great, but the facilities are not really luxurious. They are both located at a house reef where you can snorkel as well.

There is also a volcano crater on the island that you can visit, which we heard people say was cool to visit.

 
 

Bomba Island

This is the first island you’ll arrive at when you approach the Togeans. It has a more rustic and authentic middle-of-nowhere island feel. We didn’t stay here ourselves but read good things about Poki Poki, Araya Dive Resort, and Poya Lisa Cottages.

Where should you stay?

Go to Malenge for a stunning away-from-it-all holiday retreat. Go to Kadidiri for a relaxing beach paradise. Similar to Malenge but more popular and commercial. Go to Una Una for diving. And while I haven’t been to Bomba or know anyone that has, go to Bomba for a more rustic adventure also in a relaxing beach paradise. If you have time, I would highly recommend staying longer and visiting multiple islands to get a feel for multiple places. Your accommodation can help you arrange a private boat charter between islands.

How long to stay in the Togeans

The ferry only goes between the Togeans and Gorontolo (in the north) twice a week, so this is usually a limiting factor for most people’s stays. Some people only stay for 2-3 days and choose one island to relax on, while others stay for over a week on a couple different island and relaxing.

We spent 5 days in the Togeans and stayed on Kadidiri island the entire time. While it was perfect for a relaxing beach vacation, we wished we had a few more days to explore other islands and make more of an adventure out of all the Togeans have to offer!

In our ideal world, we would have preferred to have about a week and split our time between 2 different islands. Due to the ferry schedule though, it was either 5 days or 9 days, and 9 was too long for us. If possible, I would recommend spending 1 week so that you can have relaxing beach time, adventure time, and get to experience what the different islands have to offer.