Wakatobi, Tukang Besi

It is much easier to reach than Raja Ampat, with daily boats from Buton to Wanci, and from there to the other main islands.
Getting to Buton may just be easier via Makassar (several direct Pelni ships to Bau Bau) than detouring via boring Kendari.
There is losmen accomodation in Wanci, and tourist-oriented ones on Hoga.
Also, the whole archipelago is quite densly populated, so if you speak Indonesian, you could arrange to stay with locals pretty much anywhere.

Go to Hoga for snorkeling from the beach. there is a big and long house reef but it is in tidal waters.
search with "Operation wallacea" and have a look at http://www.pesisir.org/
on HOGA contact

geertjeberveling@yahoo.com for accomodation. She has some bungalows beside the Op Wallacea complex.

Hallo Laszlo,

thank you very much for all your help. are the tukang besi islands also touristy?
is it worth do go all the way from Balikpapan south to hoga?

when we flew over the dschungel from MDO to UP 15 years ago after trecking sela via nalca, nipsan, kosarek to angguruk (second: pogapa, ugimba, carstens, tempagapura) we saw in southeast sulawesi only primary forest like in former irian.
are there roads nowadays from kendari to luwuk or boats along the coast and out to the islands?
maybe some islands are nice to visit for snorkeling?

or do you know about islands north or west of kwandang for snorkeling?

we `ve been to tg. karang, togians and bunaken and do not want to go there today to avoid beeing disappointed.

another question: do you know an active volcano, not too hard to climb in sulawesi (not lokon).

thank you very much

Geri

Tukangbesi gets reliatvely few backpackers, but quite a lot of divers and youngsters on those expensive Operation Wallacea voluntourism packages.

ASFAIK there is still no road up the east coast, but there are boats between Kendari and Bungku, then Kolonodale and Baturube. I heard hints that the Salabangka Islands might be very nice, but not been myself.
Feel free to update me on these matters! ;-)

Dunno about the Kwandang area.

The only volcanoes in Sulawesi are the ones up north in Minahasa.

Maybe you you could hop on an overnight boat from Manado to Ternate - North Maluku has more active volcanoes, as well as very nice islands and rainforests.

Hallo Laszlo,

thanks a lot. So if volcanos we have to go to Minahasa area. Try to find out about Sobotan. We slept already on top of Gamalama. The other one on Tidure looks also very nice. Snorkeling was okay on Ternate, but once is enough. Halmahera would be nice, it is a long way.

The area north of kendari looks interesting, we will decide after derawan.
I think the weather is not the best at banggai and sabalangka in july and august as well as the bandas?

yesterday i talked with my friend about climbing carstenz via freeport (google winklerworld). if you are interested his girlfriend reached the stone korowai in 2007 from north and this was like 15 years ago in the yale area east of kosarek. see his reports. he told me that he would start in sorong to obi and other islands back to Ternate.

we will see which pelni mv will be in BP.

hear from you again.

Geri

I reached the stone Korowai from north in 1999, so I am quite happy with my own experience! ;-)

You are right about the weather in Banda and Banggai - but if I was really keen on them, I'd still go anyway.

Hi,
We're a small group travelling to indonesia next summer. Is it realistic that we fly to Wancy and then we look for an accomodation there, without reservation? I don't like resorts, I prefer to travel free from everything and to decide day by day what to do and where to go. I'd rather not to book (and pay) in advance. And I like to get in contact with local people, even if i don't speak indonesian (i'll do my best to learn the most importante words though!). what do you think? We are 8, but we travel free, so it could be that some of us will prefer the resort ... I already wrote to the dutch lady and I'm waiting for an answer ...

Thank you in advance, Ale.