Togian Islands - Promoting Bali

The Togian Islands form a fragmented, 120-kilometre-long crescent across the shallow blue waters of Tomini bay, their steep grey sides weathered into sharp ridges capped by coconut palms and hardwoods. The exceptional snorkelling and diving around the islands features turtles, sharks, octopus, garden eels, and a mixed bag of reef and pelagic fish species. On the down side, there are also nine depots in the Togians dealing in the live export of seafood to restaurants in Asia; many of these operations employ cyanide sprays, which stun large fish but kill everything else - including coral.

From west to east, Batu Daka , Togian and Talata Koh are the Togians' three main islands. The main settlements here are Bomba and Wakai on Batu Daka, and Katupat on Togian. Wakai is something of a regional hub, with transport out to smaller islands. There are no vehicle roads or widespread electricity in the Togians and, with all travel by boat, you'll find it pays not to be on too tight a schedule; most accommodation places offer day-trips and shared transfers. Tourism in the islands is budget-oriented but good, and prices usually include meals. July through to September are the coolest months, when winds interrupt ferries and make for poor diving.

Even scheduled public inter-island transport services are notoriously unreliable. Aside from the weekly Poso-Gorontalo ferry, which stops in Ampana and then travels Wakai-Katupat-Malenge-Dolong-Gorontalo before returning along the same route, at the time of writing you could (with luck) count on the following: Ampana-Wakai/Wakai-Ampana (5 weekly; Rp11,000); Ampana-Bomba/Bomba-Ampana (daily; Rp11,000); Wakai-Bomba/Bomba-Wakai (daily; Rp10,000); Wakai-Katupat/Katupat-Wakai (3 or more weekly); Wakai-Kadidiri/Kadidiri-Wakai (daily; free/Rp2500 depending on accommodation at Kadidiri); Wakai-Malenge/Malenge-Wakai (1-2 weekly). Elsewhere, there's bound to be something along eventually if you can afford to wait, or you can charter a motorized outrigger at about Rp20,000 an hour.