This exciting 12-day voyage takes you along the eastern seaboard of Sulawesi, and across the Flores Sea to the Komodo National Park, where you can encounter the fearsome Komodo dragons in their natural island habitat. Cruising from the North Sulawesi city of Gorantalo and heading south to Labuan Bajo in Flores, explore the many islands and atolls of this spectacular region, with the opportunity to engage in a whole host of activities, which include visiting remote villages and meeting hospitable local people, snorkelling on beautiful coral reefs, trekking, possible encounters with whale sharks and manta rays, endemic birds and colonies of nesting seabirds, and Komodo dragons. Spend your time swimming, kayaking, and stand-up paddle-boarding, as well as simply enjoying the pleasure of cruising across the tropical seas on your splendid traditional pinisi ship.
Highlights
Discover the beautiful Togean archipelago, visiting various islands
Visit a local village market at Pulau Poson
Enjoy a fantastic BBQ on the exclusive beach of Banggai Island
Explore Wakatobi National Park, famous for its colorful coral reefs
Involves minimal physical effort and is typically associated with leisurely activities. Activities are low-intensity or last less than a few hours each day.
Around 1pm, you will be met at the airport and transferred to Gorontalo Harbour where your beautiful boat, Katharina, will be waiting. Your tour leaders will give a safety briefing and you can get settled into your new home, before heading off on an overnight crossing to the Togian Islands, a picturesque archipelago of 56 islands and inlets, located in the Tomini Bay. Formed by volcanic activity, the islands are a tropical paradise, covered with lush rainforests and surrounded by ancient coral reef formations.
At dawn there will be a special ceremony as you cross the Equator before reaching the volcanic island of Una-Una. Later, you will do an easy trek within the surroundings of Binaguna village, where you can expect to see a variety of birds. Before lunch you have the opportunity to snorkel at Tanjung Kalama on the north side of the island, and then during lunch you cross over to Pulau Togian. In the afternoon you visit Danau (Lake) Mariona, on the north side of the island to snorkel with thousands of multi-hued stingless jellyfish. The rest of the afternoon will be spend at nearby paradisical spots such as Karina Bay for snorkeling and other kinds of water sports. In the evening move to nearby Pulau Malenge.
You will set out at dawn for a trekking and bird-watching excursion on Pulau Malenge. Start your four-hour walk from Tanjung Malenge, on the southwest side of the island, and end up on the north side. Mid morning, you will take the dinghies to go snorkelling at the famous Atoll Hotel California Reef, north of Pulau Malenge. In the afternoon you can visit a sea gypsy village on the south side of Pulau Talatakoh. These are the Bajao people who build their homes on stilts over the sea. Historically, Indonesia has had many nomadic tribes often referred to as ‘sea-gypsies’ due to the fact that they mainly travelled and lived in boats. On Talatakoh you will get a glimpse of how the formerly nomadic Bajau have adapted to life in a static village. Nevertheless, still being so close to the water, the tribe’s dependence on the sea is not lost. Their children are introduced to the sea at a young age and grow accustomed to living and playing within the ocean environment. Visit a sea gypsy village and climb a hill on Pulau Papan, east of Pulau Malenge; there is good snorkelling nearby. Cruise overnight to Banggai Island.
In the morning you will tour the village of Banggai using bentor (motorised pedicab) transport. Visit the market, the Sultan’s Palace, a grave of kings of the past, and the ceremonial house (Rumah Adat) of one of the main indigenous tribes. At the harbour you might see the beautiful Banggai cardinal fish, hovering in groups in the calm shallows. The tranquil bays of Banggai and its neighbouring islands are the only places on Earth where you can see these tiny, exquisite fish in their natural habitat. Sadly, they may soon be gone from the wild because they are being collected for the aquarium trade faster than they can reproduce in nature. In the afternoon, you will have ample time for water sport activities near Tanjung Mosongan, southwest of Banggai, with its beautiful shallow reef and a waterfall that cascades directly into the sea. Cross over to Pulau Bandang, which has a nice beach and a lovely reef. In the late afternoon you will cruise to the Sulawesi mainland to the Morowali National Park.
At dawn you will have the opportunity for some interesting trekking through the Morowali National Park to find the isolated Wana tribe in the forest. From the village, you will return to the beach using longboats across a fast running river, an unforgettable experience. Later, set off on an overnight cruise to Pulau Padei in the Manui Archipelago.
Day 6: Pulau Padei Kecil | Wakatobi National Marine Park
In the morning you can enjoy some splendid snorkelling in front of Pulau Padei Kecil. After this, you will visit the well-organized sea-gypsy village of Samarengga on Pulau Padei Besar. Hopefully you will have time to do some more snorkelling at the beautiful reef here before departing for the beautiful Wakatobi National Marine Park, famous for its colourful coral reefs, white-sand beaches, mangrove forests, traditional weaving villages, blacksmiths and historical ruins.
Arriving at Wangi-Wangi, the main island of Wakatobi, you will tour around the island, visiting the capital Wanci, a seaweed farm, and a traditional weaving community. In Desa Liya, you can see the impressive remains of Benteng Lya Togo, a fort with a mosque on the compound. If time allows, you can also take a look at the interesting ruins of Benteng Mandatitonga Fort. Wakatobi is widely recognised as having the highest number of reef and fish species in the world, so later cruise to Pulau Hoga, were you can experience some superb snorkelling in the afternoon. Visit the partly reconstructed Benteng Ollo, another fort with a mosque inside, on Pulau Kaledupa. In the evening head further south to Pulau Tomia.
Start the day with snorkelling at the Wakatobi Resort House Reef of Pulau Tomia, later cruising to Binongko Island to visit a village famous for its blacksmiths (known as Tukang Besi). Here watch them making machetes (parang). After lunch depart on an overnight passage to the distant island of Kakabia.
Early in the morning arrive at Kakabia, and the Katharina will circle this bird island, allowing you the opportunity to watch thousands of sea birds (brown boobies, red footed boobies, frigate birds) flying around or sitting in the bushes and trees. During the rest of the day (depending of the weather), spend your time on the beach, snorkelling, swimming, kayaking, paddle-boarding, and seabird watching. In the late afternoon, commence your overnight crossing to the Bonerate Archipelago.
In the morning, visit the neat village of Lambego on Pulau Kalao. Here you can observe the building process of the traditional wooden boats that cross the Indonesian seas. Afterwards there will be fabulous snorkelling in front of this village, where there is a very attractive small beach. Those who are interested in bird watching can spend the morning trekking near the village. In the afternoon visit Pulau Tertera, on the north-east side of Bonerate, for either snorkelling or bird watching.
Waking up early, you will go ashore on Rinca Island for a ranger-led nature trek in search of the fearsome Komodo dragons. Rinca is also well known for its diverse wildlife, so you may spot monkeys, wild buffaloes and deer as well. From the top of the hills, the scenery is breathtaking. After returning to the boat, cruise to the gorgeous Pantai Merah ‘red-beach,’ which takes its name from the particles of red coral mingled with the sand. Here swim and snorkel over one of the richest reefs in Eastern Indonesia, relishing the unforgettable spectacle of the region’s many varieties of coral and marine life. With over 1000 species of fish in the waters of the national park, there is much more to this wildlife reserve than just dragons, and here enjoy hiking up the nearby hill, beachcombing, snorkelling or simply relaxing in the shade of the trees. Later cruise to Karang Makassar (Manta Point) to search for, and hopefully snorkel with, the giant manta rays that inhabit these waters; drifting on the current above one of these majestic creatures is an experience that will remain with you forever. Cruise to Kalong Island at sunset to witness the spectacular sight of hundreds of thousands of flying foxes emerging in a steady throng from the forest as they head to a feeding site on mainland Flores. After this, the crew will build a bonfire and prepare a beach barbecue as a final celebration of our memorable voyage.
Day 12: Bidadari Island | Melo | Disembark
1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch
Wake up off the white sand beaches of Bidadari Island have breakfast and then head off for a very short cruise to Labuan Bajo. At about 9am leave the boat for a trip to the village of Melo. Here, local ‘strongmen’ will perform the ‘Caci,’ a ritual whip-fight between two rivals in which the players, each armed with a rattan shield and a whip, will try to hit each other while dancing to the rhythm of traditional acoustic instruments. The men of Western Flores are famous for this test of daring and skill, requiring lightning quick moves to dodge the infliction of a wound. The winner is loudly applauded and cheered by the village. Besides this, the cultural group will also showcase other traditional dances. After the performance, have lunch on the boat before transferring you to the airport for your flight back to Bali.
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$7,250
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Cabin Deck
Cabin Deck. Spacious, air-conditioned twin-share cabins with twin bunks or double beds. Private bathroom with toilet, washbasin, and hot shower.
Notes
- All rates are quoted in USD and represent cost per person, based on double occupancy.
- Cabins are available for single occupancy at 1.75 times the published rate.
Our guide and driver were very good with their knowledge and were very helpful with our questions. It was a very pleasant visit that would have been impossible to do on our own. Hotels and restaurants were fantastic. The special places we got to go to, like the kitchens, were great. Enjoyed the entire trip!
Meyer Smolen
TrustScore 4.8 | 174 reviews
TrustScore 4.8 of 5
Based on 174 reviews on
1 day ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
