Travelnsj
Contributor
Has anyone been to the Togian Islands? If so can you compare to Wakatobi or the Lembah Straits?....any info is appreciated.
Togian Islands
- Thread starter Travelnsj
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
OP
Travelnsj
Contributor
From what I am finding out.....go to Lembeh Straits!.....it can take up to 12 hours on a ferry to get to the Togians and some of the places that maybe a closer journey are not safe to go out of.....I guess that is where some of the Rebel action is still happening.
Bora_Horza
Contributor
I visited the Togean islands in 2002 - I arrived in the main town there (Wakai) then got one of the waiting boats to Kadidiri (probably the most popular/accessible island with resorts there). Beautiful place - blue blue water, white sand beaches, lush green jungle and palms. Simple accommodation at the time - electricity very limited, and mandi style bathrooms. But the food was nice, and snorkelling was fun.
Lots of useful info at http://www.sulawesi-info.com/togianislands.html The place I stayed at was http://www.kadidiri-paradise.com/
I did my OW course there, so I can't say too much about the diving.. However the B-24 liberty bomber wreck which crash landed in the water was a good dive (machine guns and tyres and propellers and everything still there!), and a trip to Una Una island (active volcano) had lots of fish. I also heard some talk on some good deep wall dives (as a new OW I couldn't do these), like Taipi Wall or something?
Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of bomb fishing going on when I was there - you could hear a 'boom!' while snorkelling almost every day. Also one thing to be careful about is malaria - this is present, so use DEET repellent and tablets..
Even so, a very rich marine environment, and the above water scenery was stunning! A trip to Taipi island is well worth doing. There were also stilt villages where the sea gypsies / Bajo people live.
The best way to get to the Togeans would be from Manado, then either catch a bus (full day travelling) to Gorontalo, or there are now flights from Manado to Gorontalo. Then AFAIK there is a weekly ferry from Gorontalo to Wakai in the Togeans... Personally I would avoid the southern approach via the Poso region if visiting again (i.e Palu > Poso > Ampana), as there is a weird atmosphere after the communal violence in 2000 between the Christian and Muslim communities there. I did this route in 2002 - lots of police/army checkpoints, burnt out houses, etc.
The guy who taught my OW course also worked at Wakatobi - from what I picked up Wakatobi has much better coral (with prices to match!), but the charm of the Togean islands is its isolated, untouched atmosphere, friendly people, beautiful scenery, and the diving is good. Its still the most picture perfect 'desert island' destination I've ever visited (my avatar photo was taken one sunset at Kadidiri!).
Lots of useful info at http://www.sulawesi-info.com/togianislands.html The place I stayed at was http://www.kadidiri-paradise.com/
I did my OW course there, so I can't say too much about the diving.. However the B-24 liberty bomber wreck which crash landed in the water was a good dive (machine guns and tyres and propellers and everything still there!), and a trip to Una Una island (active volcano) had lots of fish. I also heard some talk on some good deep wall dives (as a new OW I couldn't do these), like Taipi Wall or something?
Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of bomb fishing going on when I was there - you could hear a 'boom!' while snorkelling almost every day. Also one thing to be careful about is malaria - this is present, so use DEET repellent and tablets..
Even so, a very rich marine environment, and the above water scenery was stunning! A trip to Taipi island is well worth doing. There were also stilt villages where the sea gypsies / Bajo people live.
The best way to get to the Togeans would be from Manado, then either catch a bus (full day travelling) to Gorontalo, or there are now flights from Manado to Gorontalo. Then AFAIK there is a weekly ferry from Gorontalo to Wakai in the Togeans... Personally I would avoid the southern approach via the Poso region if visiting again (i.e Palu > Poso > Ampana), as there is a weird atmosphere after the communal violence in 2000 between the Christian and Muslim communities there. I did this route in 2002 - lots of police/army checkpoints, burnt out houses, etc.
The guy who taught my OW course also worked at Wakatobi - from what I picked up Wakatobi has much better coral (with prices to match!), but the charm of the Togean islands is its isolated, untouched atmosphere, friendly people, beautiful scenery, and the diving is good. Its still the most picture perfect 'desert island' destination I've ever visited (my avatar photo was taken one sunset at Kadidiri!).
Similar threads
