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25 Great Tours in Indonesia Java Paragliding Tour Indonesia is truly one of the world’s best sites for budding paragliders. Fly Indonesia Paragliding Tour (www.indonesia-paragliding.com) offers flying packages that are suitable for all pilots at a variety of flying sites across the archipelago. Launch yourself off a Hindu temple or soar over 20 km of coastal ridge before making an exciting landing. You can even take off from a volcanic mountain range and experience breathtaking panoramas before finally setting down on the biggest landing zone in the world, the so-called “Sea of Sand”. In Java, you can fly at Puncak in West Java, at Wonogiri in Central Java and at Mount Bromo and Mount Banyak in East Java. Discover the Real North Sulawesi North Sulawesi has always been popular for its amazing underwater diving havens. However the area offers so much more than that. The North Sulawesi Adventure Tour from Matahatikita Tours (www.matahatikita.com) consists of multi-day, monster tour packages that will take you on enjoyable hikes to tropical forests and volcanic mountains and on river rafting and snorkelling trips, as well as give you the opportunity to spot rare and exotic animals around Mount Tumpa Ilo-Ilo, the Tangkoko Nature Reserve and the Bunaken National Marine Park. Climb Rinjani Climbing Mount Rinjani (3,726 m), which lies on the island of Lombok, is certainly possible, although only a handful ever make it to the peak’s summit. Most stop at the crater rim in fact (approx. 2,700 m), where the views of the crater lake are simply mind-blowing. Making the extra 1,000 m ascent to the very top requires a fairly high level of fitness. Your best bet is to set out together with an organised trek, such as that offered by John’s Adventures (www.lombok-rinjanitrek.com), which runs a 3D/2N trekking package starting from Sembalun and ending in Senaru. Meet the Orangutans What’s a trip to Kalimantan without an up-close and intimate encounter with the island’s beloved, perennially popular king of the swingers, the Bornean orangutan? These adorable, intelligent primates attract countless tourists with their fascinating looks, intelligence and behaviour. Borneo Orangutan Adventure Tours (www.orangutanadventuretours.com) offers between three and six-day tours to observe these remarkable human cousins. Tours include trips to Camp Leakey, where the older orangutans are reintroduced into the rainforest, treks through the rainforest in search of other wildlife and treks to Pondok Tanggui, a second rehabilitation site. Frolic in Wakatobi’s Underwater Park Wakatobi is well-known among divers as one of the world’s best dive sites. And so no trip to Wakatobi is complete without a decent dive, or a snorkelling session at the very least. By far the best and most popular dive facility-cum-resort here is the Wakatobi Dive Resort (www.wakatobi.com), which offers seven-day packages which include accommodation, unlimited beach diving, three boat dives per day and all meals. The resort also offers an even more exotic liveaboard stay on its luxury dive yacht, the Pelagian. Tana Toraja Expedition The famed Tana Toraja, often dubbed the “Land of Heavenly Kings”, is replete with rugged mountains and verdant valleys which house a people whose love of religious spectacle is equalled only by their hospitality. With majestic panoramas, captivating villages and dramatic ceremonies, Tana Toraja is the undisputed highlight of any journey to Sulawesi. Adventure Indonesia (www.adventureindonesia.com) offers a four, five or six-day Toraja & Bugis Cultural Tour. The six-day tour is the most immersive and will allow you to spend over three days in the Land of the Toraja, observing its ancient inheritance, cultural performances and daily life. The tour starts and ends in Jakarta. Re-discover Bali in “The Thing” If you’re a hardcore Baliphile, then you may think you’ve seen everything that the island has to offer. Well, try this on for size. How about exploring Bali in a classic VW 181 convertible (or “The Thing”)? Bali Safari Tours (www.balisafaritours.com) offers a four-day VW tour that will take you to just about every site of interest in Bali. You will pay a visit to Lake Batur, drive along the Jatiluwih's rice terraces, stop by at coffee plantations, sail out to watch dolphins off the coast of North Bali and take a hike through the jungles. Birdwatching in Lore Lindu The Lore Rindu National Park is a habitat for numerous rare species, including 77 bird species endemic to Sulawesi. Sulawesi Tour (sulawesitour.com) offers a seven-day, bird-watching tour of this UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves designated national park, which will give you the opportunity to spot rare maleo, red-knobbed hornbills, anoa and tarsier. In addition to its rich wildlife, the park also contains megaliths dating from before 1300 AD. Java-Bali Volcano Adventure Ever wonder what makes a volcano tick? Well why not embark on an educational adventure exploring volcanoes sprawled across Java all the way to Bali with Volcano Adventure Indonesia (VAI, www.volcanoadventureindonesia.com). From Anak Krakatau, Papandayan and Galunggung to Merapi, Welirang, Arjuno, Semeru, Bromo, Kawah Ijen and Mount Batur, there’s no shortage of volcanic vistas to check out. The tour also offers you the chance to observe and directly interact with locals at each particular site, and did we mention that you’ll be trekking through Java all the way to Bali? That’s right, you’d better book that month-long holiday, because this tour will take you a whole 23 days to complete. Cruise the Mahakam River Embark on an unforgettable tour cruising down Borneo’s mighty Mahakam, the largest river in East Kalimantan. Along the way you’ll get to see how communities live and how life flourishes on this revered, life-giving river. Eco Tours Indonesia (www.ecotoursindonesia.com) offers several Mahakam River Tours, all of which will take you on a journey deep into the heart of Borneo, through Muara Muntai to Lake Jempang and Mancong Village. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by a special welcome ceremony from the Dayak Benuaq tribe in front of one of their unique long houses and, depending on the length of your tour, the trip can extend all the way to Tenggarong, Loa Janan and then on to a victorious finish in the city of Balikpapan. Cave Tubing at Pindul Cave This unassuming cave, located about two hours from downtown Yogyakarta, promises a unique and quite unforgettable adventure: cave tubing. As its name suggests, you’ll be floating on an inflated rubber tube down a peaceful underground cave river. To ensure perfect levels of safety, you’ll be equipped with a floating device, rubber safety shoes, a helmet and a headlamp, as well as the company of a qualified instructor who will ride alongside you, making this tour suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. Please email dewabejo@hotmail.com to make a reservation. Pekalen River Whitewater Rafting Regulo Arus Liar (www.reguloadventure.co.id) has been offering whitewater rafting tours since 2002, and likes to refer to its tours as “outdoor learning” or “one-stop adventure”. The various tour packages on offer explore the beauty of the Pekalen River in East Java and include Adventure Rafting, Fun Rafting, Eco Rafting, Oto Rafting, Moonlight Rafting and Camping Rafting. Each of these tours promises adventure aplenty and other outbound, adventure activities are also offered by this operator. Jungle Trekking from Tangkahan to Bukit Lawang Covering an area of some 17,000 hectares, Tangkahan in North Sumatra is perennially popular with visitors eager to experience its elephants, orangutans and tropical-rainforest panoramas. The Tangkahan Tourism Foundation (www.tangkahanecotourism.com) is the main tourism arm of the Tangkahan area and offers various attractive tour packages, including two-day jungle treks through the Mount Leuser National Park by elephant, accompanied by mahout (elephant trainers). There’s also a more extensive 4D/3N jungle patrol from Tangkahan to Bukit Lawang, also on elephant back. Jeep Safari in West Java Bimex Tours and Travel (www.bimextours.com) will take you on an off-road adventure in 4WD jeeps that will reveal some lesser-known natural gems to the north and south of Bandung in West Java. These hidden attractions remain well below the radars of most casual tourists, and many of these objects are hidden atop pristine hills and can only be reached via an off-road vehicle. Some examples of these secret attractions are the pottery workshop in Plered, the Jatiluhur Dam, Garut, Mount Papandayan, Ciwidey, the Rancabali tea plantation, the Situ Patenggang area and the famous white crater of Mount Patuha. Laskar Pelangi Tour in Belitung Belitung Island Tour Operator (www.belitungisland.com) offers various attractive packages that show off the pristine beauty of Belitung to tourists. One of the more interesting packages on offer is the Laskar Pelangi Tour, a unique tour that traces the footsteps of the characters from the wildly popular “Laskar Pelangi” (“Rainbow Troops”), a popular novel and Indonesia’s biggest box-office smash of all time. As well as exploring the island and its beautiful beaches, the tour will also take you snorkelling, kayaking and cycling, and even offer you a short culinary tour. Mentawai Siberut Island Trekking Adventure Indonesia (www.adventureindonesia.com) offers exotic tours to some of the remotest areas in Indonesia, including jungle exploration to the wild heart of Siberut Island, which lies off the coast of West Sumatra. The real highlight of the journey is the chance to meet the native of Siberut, traditional hunter-gatherer clans who are now coming into contact with the modern world for the first time. You will stay as guests of a local kerei (medicine-man) in an uma (traditional house). Track Down the World’s Smallest Primate The 9,000-hectare Tangkoko Nature Reserve is home to the last surviving crested black macaque (a species of black monkey indigenous to North Sulawesi), as well as the world’s smallest primate, the spectral tarsier. Manado Safari Tours (www.manadosafaris.com) offer one or two-day safari tours through the national park and the chance to see these adorable yet elusive creatures. Canyoning in Flores Canyoning is a fun outdoor adventure involving descent into a canyon by means of caving, walking, wading, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, sliding down natural slopes, and even swimming in whitewater. Adventure and Spirit (www.adventureandspirit.com) explores and puts up new canyoning routes in Indonesia for tourists to experience, including in Flores, where a collaboration with Swisscontact WISATA (www.florestourism.com) aims to develop canyoning, while keeping its natural wealth safe and its local economy protected. Dive at Indonesia’s Kilometre Zero Pulau Weh (Weh Island), is Indonesia’s most north-western island and offers truly world-class diving, clear waters and impressive underwater landscapes. Here, where the Andaman Sea meets the Indian Ocean, the deep waters and currents around the island sustain an unbelievable amount and variety of marine life, ranging from tiny critters to grand pelagics. One of the tour operators that provides diving package in this area is the Lumba-Lumba Diving Centre (www.lumbalumba.com). Banda Sea and Halmahera Cruise The Seven Seas (www.thesevenseas.net) is a traditional Bugis ship equipped with eight large rooms and bathrooms, and has been operating for over ten years as a highly-regarded liveaboard option. One of its best tour packages explores the Banda Islands, which are known as spectacular snorkelling and diving havens. The Banda Sea supports one of the world’s richest collections of coral life, and numerous idyllic islands, both large and small, are scattered around this part of the world, including Buru, Halmahera, Ambon, Seram, Kei and many, many more. Carstensz Pyramid Expedition The Carstensz Pyramid, which rises an eye-watering 4,884 metres above sea level, is one of the so-called “seven summits” (the highest mountains of the seven continents). Initially, expeditions to this primeval ice-region required an astoundingly complex procedure of permission from the local government and this has, alas, continued until the present. With the help of Dr. Werner Weiglein (www.papua-explorer.de) though, co-founder of the Baliem Valley Resort in Wamena, you can rest assured that you won’t have to worry about the bureaucratic headaches. Birdwatching in East Nusa Tenggara The Jakarta-based Indecon (www.indecon.or.id) offers ecotour packages to East Nusa Tenggara, an exotic region which features some of Indonesia’s best bird diversity. Birds endemic to Lewa and Sumba include the apricot-breasted sunbird, the Sumba jungle flycatcher, the cinnamon-banded kingfisher, the endangered Sumba hornbill and some spectacular parrot species, such as the marigold lorikeet and the red-cheeked, great billed and eclectus parrots. Whale Shark Encounter in Teluk Cendrawasih Have a burning desire to see whale sharks up close and personal one day? Simply head down to Teluk Cendrawasih National Park in West Papua, where over 50 whale sharks swim freely the year round in the Kwatisore. Office of Balai Besar Taman Nasional Teluk Cenderawasih (62 986 212 303) or Bram Maruanaya (62 812 489 1651). Wildlife Adventure in Kalimantan Kalimantan’s many national parks and reserves provide excellent opportunities to spot endemic wildlife, and many of the species to be found here are endangered. Primates such as the orangutan, Mueller’s Bornean grey gibbon, the pig-tailed macaque and the slow loris are just some of the species you’ll experience under the thick canopies of Kalimantan’s rainforests. One of the tour operators offering the chance to explore the island’s rich interior is X-Treme Borneo (www.extremeborneo.com). Liveaboard Trip to Komodo An alternative way to relish and experience the mystique of Komodo Island is by admiring it from aboard a traditional phinisi boat. The Felicia (www.felicia-liveaboard.com) is a pinisi boat that was custom designed for such a purpose, and this 30-metre long floating hotel was manufactured in Tanjung Bira in South Sulawesi. The boat houses six bedrooms which come complete with their own bathrooms. One of the most popular packages offered on the Felicia involves an exploration of Komodo Island and a number of top diving spots en route. © 2006 - 2010 Garuda Magazine, All Rights Reserved - Site by Indesain Studios