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The Togian Islands is a real tropical paradise with lovely powder white sand seashores lined in tropical rain forests and surrounded by pristine coral reefs in crystal clear water. This archipelago of 56 islands and islets is positioned in the midst of the Gulf of Tomini off the coast of Central Sulawesi. Protected by steady barrier reefs the islands are well-known for clear and calm waters within the sheltered space. Indonesia is made up by greater than 17 000 islands and the 56 islands of the Togians are among the many most distant. It takes 3 flights and a number of other boat and ferry rides to achieve the touristy Bali, so put together your self for an off-the-beaten-track journey when touring to the Togians. Being so distant protects a number of hidden treasures from world tourism; diving is superb on the pristine protected reefs, the nomadic tradition of the well-known ‘sea gypsy’ Bajo individuals continues to be preserved and it is among the solely locations on the planet the place you’ll be able to nonetheless swim alone with thousands and thousands of innocent jellyfish in Mariona Lake. Don’t miss our Complete Information to All of the Finest Diving in Indonesia.
Submit up to date – 10/5/2024
Touring Highlights of The Togean Islands
Exploring this hidden tropical paradise was an unbelievable expertise, all the pieces, beginning with the in a single day experience on a neighborhood ferry to going spearfishing with the legendary Bajo individuals.
Diving is the principle purpose vacationers discover their method right here. The fauna and flora on these remoted islands are unbelievable and many of the highlights are underwater. The water is crystal clear and we had over 30 m visibility on most of our dives, with diving various from massive fish, unreal coral, and tiny critters to diving on a WWII B24 Bomber wreck!
Many endangered species stay on the Togean Islands together with dugongs, hawksbill, and inexperienced sea turtles. It is among the solely populations of the large endangered coconut crab that you would be able to see strolling and climbing the bushes over these islands
The crystal clear, heat water and colourful coral reefs create some unbelievable areas for snorkeling across the Togian islands. Sadly, dynamite fishing and fish poisoning through the years have induced critical injury to accommodate reefs near many islands. Creating the Togian Nationwide Park improved management, schooling, and job alternatives associated to marine conservation and tourism. At your lodging or dive heart it is best to be capable of get data on one of the best snorkeling spots near your lodging and on boats that may take you on a snorkeling tour.
The tradition and way of life of the distinctive Bajau individuals “sea gypsies” individuals, dwelling of their floating homes is one thing as a real aquaholic I’ve at all times wished to see and revel in. You possibly can see how the nomadic individuals stay in concord with the ocean within the settlement of Pulau Papan. That is the final settlement of the genuine Bajau Laut individuals.
Chilling on the seashore was a particular spotlight. Enjoyable on white, empty pristine seashores with coconut bushes and heat, clear water is a part of a dream vacation.
Swimming in Mariona Lake, a jellyfish lake, the place thousands and thousands of those creatures misplaced the flexibility to sting, is considered one of solely a handful of locations the place the isolation of jellyfish rendered them innocent over thousands and thousands of years. Once we have been in Mariona Lake it was a magical expertise with hundreds of jellyfish in all places. I’ve heard reviews from surrounding dive faculties that almost all of the jellyfish died and that solely about 20% of the inhabitants (Might 2024).
Pulau Weh close to Sumatra is one other off-the-beaten-track little island in Indonesia the place we had a good time diving, see our Dive Information for Pulau Weh.
The place are The Togean Islands?
Sulawesi is considered one of about 17 000 islands that collectively kind Indonesia and is the 4th largest island in Indonesia following Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua. Sulawesi has an odd form with 4 ‘arms’ or peninsulas extending from the island’s physique. The Togian islands are within the Gulf of Tomini between the northern Minahasa and East Peninsulas.
Attending to the Togian Islands.
The Togian islands in Central Sulawesi can solely be reached by boat, from the north of Sulawesi the islands might be accessed from Gorontalo and the south from Ampana.
For boat schedules see this Togian ferry transport desk.
From Wakai, you may get to virtually every other island in Togeans by public or non-public boats. Most resorts will decide up visitors straight from the harbor.
I traveled overland from south Sulawesi to Ampana and by Ferry to Wakai, from right here by boat to Kadidiri. From Kadidiri I traveled by ferry to Gorontalo in north Sulawesi and continued to Makasar. I went diving on the unbelievable Lembeh Strait and Bunaken from Gorontalo.
The workers at Black Marlin Lodge on Kadidiri helped us to discover a native skipper who took us to Mariona Lake and Pulao Papan.
For those who begin your Indonesia journey in Bali, go and dive the wreck of the USAT Liberty in Bali, considered one of my favourite shore dives wherever on the planet!
Which Togean Island to go to?
The three largest islands within the Togeans are Batudaka, Togean, and Una Una, most individuals arrive on the port of Wakai on Batudaka island. The principle islands have good lodging and services, however the hidden treasures are on the pristine little tropical islands unfold out within the Gulf of Tomini.
Kadidiri
Kadidiri is touristy by Togian requirements however is a small off-the-beaten-track island with few individuals. It was removed from busy or touristy, however we met extra younger vacationers right here than on the opposite islands we visited. Diving was good, with pristine reefs in crystal clear water. We organized native outrigger canoes/boats to take us to surrounding islands and websites the place we spent a few days.
Lodging:
- Pondok Lestari Kadidiri. primary homestay on the seashore with excellent opinions.
- Sundown Seaside is positioned on the beachfront in Batudaka, near Sundown Seaside. Fundamental homestay with good opinions.
Katupat
For those who actually wish to get away from the world, that is your house. There’s a homestay or two on the island, however is troublesome to ebook forward. There’s a small fisher village Lembanato on Katupat and the jellyfish lake Mariona Lake, is positioned on the island.
Malenge
Malenge Island is an actual off-the-beaten-track paradise, made up of two little islands – Papan and Kakoda Islands, which are linked by an 1800 m lengthy, wood, overwater path. The snorkeling was good from Malenge,
Pulau Papan
This small Bajau neighborhood related to Malenge Island by a protracted wood bridge was nice to see how these nomadic sea gypsies stay, nonetheless doing compressor diving and spearfishing with conventional gear. We requested round and stayed with among the native individuals, it was an excellent expertise they cooked rice for us and among the fish we speared. I imagine there are actually a number of guesthouses on the island.
Una Una
Una Una is a lovely volcanic island with black volcanic sand, and coconut palm bushes lining emerald waters on black seashores. Diving is nice with massive faculties of barracudas and horse-eye jacks, pristine wholesome coral reefs, turtles, rays, and reef sharks. It’s positioned fairly removed from the opposite islands.
Lodging – Pristine Paradise Dive Resort Una Una and Sanctum Una Una Eco Dive Resort
Diving within the Togian islands
Diving situations have been unbelievable on my dives with 30 m plus visibility and 31C water temperature. Within the heart of the Gulf of Tomini, this is named the calmest bay on the planet and I skilled nice situations diving right here.
Diving from Kadidiri – dramatic drop-offs, colourful pinnacles, and canyons with pristine reefs and exquisite marine life comparable to moray eels, turtles, faculties of barracuda, and attention-grabbing nudibranchs. The reefs listed below are stated to host 314 species of corals, 541 species of mollusk & 819 species of tropical fish. Close to the mangroves dive masters informed me that they had seen dugongs, sadly, we weren’t so fortunate!
Diving on the wreck of a B24 Bomber aircraft about an hour boat experience from Kadidiri was an attention-grabbing dive. The aircraft was a part of an American bomb squadron that crash-landed throughout WWII. Once we dived on the wreck the visibility across the aircraft wreck was not so good as we had on the reefs, it was lower than 10 meters. You possibly can penetrate the principle cabin and there have been fish, nudis, and gentle corals across the wreck.
Diving from Una Una – good diving, greater than 30 dive websites lined in large followers and exquisite coral with marine life starting from pelagic species like rays and reef sharks, large faculties of fish, barracudas, jackfish to good macro diving with frogfishes, seahorses, leafy scorpionfishes and quite a lot of nudibranchs.
I had a good time right here, nevertheless it takes effort and time to get to the Togean islands. Touring just for Scuba diving, I’d reasonably go to Lembeh, Komodo, or Raja Ampat with extra spectacular reefs, fish life, and macro diving. See our information to one of the best diving in Indonesia
Dive Season within the Togian Islands
The Togian Islands might be dived all 12 months spherical, however March to December is seen as one of the best time to dive right here. That is the dry season making diving extra nice, however visibility and situations are good for diving all seasons.
Liveaboard diving across the Togian Islands
The Togian Islands are troublesome to entry and the right spot for an off-the-grid liveaboard expertise. 4 fashionable liveaboards function across the Togians.
The Sunshine
KLM Sunshine is a 30m intimate, luxurious liveaboard with double cabins outfitted with non-public bogs. Working across the pristine waters of Indonesia, residence to a thriving ecosystem of over 600 species of coral and 3000 species of fish. Diving facilities embrace a spacious dive deck, rinse tanks, dive station, Nitrox, and dive guides.
- from US$ 179 / day
- Connoisseur restaurant onboard, serving scrumptious meals
- a big solar deck with comfy seating
- Try the KLM Sunshine
Swim at Mariona Lake with the non-stinging jellyfish
Mariona Lake on Katupat, near the principle Togean island is considered one of 7 ‘jellyfish lakes’ on the planet. The well-known jellyfish lake in Palau was at all times on my bucket record, so I used to be tremendous excited after I discovered there was an analogous lake within the Togians. On this uncommon lake, jellyfish misplaced the flexibility to sting over thousands and thousands of years of geographic isolation. Swimming with hundreds of innocent jellies was a lovely and unreal expertise. To get to Mariona Lake ask at your visitor home for a ship contact, we have been 3 associates who shared a neighborhood boat and it didn’t price an arm and a leg. The existence of this particular jellyfish lake just isn’t very well-known, we have been the one individuals posing for selfies with the superior jellyfish once we have been there. I’ve heard from dive facilities that I corresponded with on the time of updating this submit that there are presently loads fewer jellyfish within the lake (2024).
Staying with a neighborhood Bajo household
I’ve been fascinated by the Bajau individuals of Indonesia and the Philippines ever since watching the documentary Human Planet. The digicam crew follows the lives of those Sea Gypsies dwelling a nomadic life on the ocean. The documentary exhibits the wonderful capacity the Bajau spearfishermen need to hunt underwater with very primitive tools and the way fishing is completed in these elements by compressor diving. We have been privileged to remain within the Bajau settlement Pulao Papan within the Togean islands and have the chance to fulfill a few of these distinctive individuals.
We paid a neighborhood boat proprietor at Kadidiri to take me and a couple of associates to Pulao Papan the place he spoke to some native individuals and arranged for us to remain in one of many homes on the water with a neighborhood household. The city doesn’t get many overseas guests and the children have been fascinated by us, following us in all places.
A number of the native fishermen have been fishing by doing ‘compressor diving’. They dive with a floor provide of air coming from a compressor on a ship and lay out an enormous internet on the ocean backside, just like how industrial divers work underwater. Whereas diving they chase all of the fish on the reef into the online and pull the online into the boat. This can be a harmful follow primarily due to the chance of decompression illness and could be very dangerous to the reef and marine life.
Diving with the Bajau individuals “sea gypsies”
The Bajo individuals do free dive spearfishing so they don’t use Scuba tools, they do that with out fins and a few of them nonetheless use conventional tools they make themselves, wood goggles and home made spearguns.
I do a whole lot of free-dive spearfishing at residence in South Africa and was very excited to go spearfishing with an knowledgeable utilizing these conventional strategies.
I attempted utilizing the genuine Bajau goggles, a wood body fitted with a glass lens. It was troublesome to see with the goggles leaking. I imagine a whole lot of the Bajo divers use trendy masks these days, they have been, nonetheless, diving barefoot, and never utilizing fins actually makes it loads more durable to dive deep.
Carrying no fins with a gun in a single handcrafted it troublesome to dive deep. I managed to dive to 17m, however I might positively not attain the depths Subin did within the documentary!
Diving with the native home made weapons, these spearos are restricted to focusing on smaller fish. The weapons are simply not robust sufficient to shoot larger sport fish.
The weapons are powered by a few rubbers minimize from automobile’s internal tubes. To extend the gap they’ll shoot, among the weapons are very massive with barrels as much as 2m lengthy.
I imagine spearfishing is a really selective and environmentally pleasant method of fishing and didn’t shoot a whole lot of fish, since I used to be not eager to shoot small reef fish.
There was a few nice-sized blue fin trevally searching within the shallows. These sport fish have been nonetheless very skittish once we received within the water. Approaching them with stealth was not very profitable with out carrying fins. We might thus by no means get shut sufficient to spear them and the weak automobile tube-powered spearguns weren’t highly effective sufficient to attempt to hunt these larger fish.
Mariona Lake and Pulao Papan have been magic and are a little bit of a mission to get to. Experiencing these locations is certainly definitely worth the effort in case you journey to the north of Sulawesi.
Hike up at Una Una volcano
An superior day hike by means of the gorgeous jungle up the volcano and into the crater. Arrange a information at your lodge. Contained in the crater you’ll be able to go for a swim and see indicators of volcanic exercise; boiling water, steam, and sulfur. The hike takes about 5 hours.
Extra Sulawesi adventures!
- Heading North. – Funeral ceremonies, hanging graves, espresso farms, and a loopy bus chase in Tana Touraja.
- South Sulawesi. – Not well-known because the north, however Pantai Bira has a whole lot of potential. We did some good dives within the space.
- North Sulawesi. – Diving the well-known partitions of Bunaken and the magical creatures of Lembeh Strait. One take a look at our pictures and you’ll perceive why this place is a photographer’s dream!
Going to Bali? Try our Full Information to Dive and Journey Bali
Occurring a dive journey? – Dive Journey Packing Listing+Suggestions
Extra Diving in South East Asia
Sipadan in Malaysia and Komodo Nationwide Park in Indonesia are my two favourite areas to dive on the planet. See in these articles why I like these dive spots.
Dive Nusa Penida close to Bali is a good spot to combine a seashore vacation or some browsing with diving. You possibly can dive at this little island near Bali with manta rays many of the 12 months.
The Perhentian Islands in Malaysia are lovely with crystal clear water and wonderful seashores, that is additionally an excellent place to mix an island vacation with studying to dive. Koh Tao in Thailand is named probably the greatest locations on the planet for any dive coaching, see our assessment of our favourite dive faculties on Koh Tao.
Swimming with whale sharks is a bucket record expertise for a lot of who love the ocean, the Philippines has some unbelievable areas for this expertise. Try our Whale Shark Swimming Information for the Philippines and our ideas on Swimming with Whale Sharks in Oslob.
Indonesia just isn’t solely about diving, take a look at 17 Superior locations in Indonesia our information on get from Bali to Flores, and a few actions and locations to not miss in our Nusa Penida island information.
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The robust half of Stingy Nomads, a nomadic aquaman that might be comfortable to spend all his life within the water diving, browsing and spearfishing however typically has to compromise with Alya and go climbing as a substitute. Campbell is answerable for all our marine adventures and following them with write-ups. He loves touring, braai (BBQ in South Africa), pink wine and spending the day in a wetsuit.
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