New Year on Togean islands, Java and Bali

Price

€2095

Days

Tour description

We begin with the celebration of an unforgettable New Year on the paradise Togean Islands. Imagine being with only a few like-minded people on a picturesque beach away from civilization. No tourists! And then we will visit the most stunning places on two main islands of Indonesia.

Feel like on another planet among the martian landscapes on top of Bromo and Ijen volcanoes
Watch traditional Kechak fire dancing in Bali
Jump in picturesque waterfalls in the middle of the pristine jungle
Visit the last sea nomads of the world - Sama-Bajau people

Tour departures

28 December 2024 - 11 January 2025

€2095

Book

The price of the tour includes

Four domestic flights: Jakarta - Makassar, Makassar - Luwuk, Palu - Makassar, Makassar - Surabaya; All accommodation, including twin and triple rooms of tourist class hotels; All transportation including buses, boats, ferries, hired and public transport; Entrance fees to temples, parks and other attractions; Island-hopping trips in Togean islands; Rafting and surfing in Bali; All meals during our stay on Togean islands + breakfasts in some hotels during the rest of the trip; Professional guiding services.

What is NOT included

Flight to Jakarta and from Bali back home. (Let us know if you need help finding the best deals); Indonesian visa ($35); Insurance (mandatory); Diving (from $33 per dive or PADI Open Water diving course including 5 dives, test and certification – $390); Snorkeling ($7-10 per day for snorkeling gear rent); Meals ($8-15 per person per day).

Tour map

Tour itinerary

Day 1-3

Ampana, New Year on the island

On Day 1, we arrive in Jakarta, the bustling capital city and the meeting point of our group trip to Indonesia. Here we will have a welcome dinner and do some sightseeing (depending on your arrival time). Next morning, we start our all-day journey to Paradise: first, a flight to Makassar, the biggest city of the Sulawesi island (2 hours), and then another flight to Luwuk (1 hour) and a car to Ampana (5-6 hours on the way). This small sleepy town is the gateway to the Togean Islands. We will walk through the authentic city visited by very few foreigners and spend the night in the hotel.

In the morning on Day 3, we take a speedboat to the main port of Togean (1.5 hours on the way). From here we take a boat to our bungalows on the beach - and we are in paradise! Imagine kilometers of the cleanest beach, clear turquoise water, picturesque wild jungle, lack of roads and communication. We will celebrate New Year on the beach of a very small beautiful island. We will swim, eat food cooked on the fire, dance and enjoy the complete absence of the so-called civilization.

Day 4-8

Uninhabited islands and beaches, Villages of Sama-Bajau people, Jellyfish lake, Diving and snorkeling

We continue our guided tour to Indonesia and spend five unforgettable days on the pristine Togean Islands. We will explore tiny uninhabited islands to find cozy beaches and beautiful places. Let's see a jellyfish lake, take a walk through the jungle to meet the hornbills and hunt for coconut crabs. Be sure to explore the underwater world - after all, these waters are home to the 96% of the coral species existing in the world!

We will also meet the last sea nomads - the Sama-Bajau people. Some of them live in the villages on the water in small wooden houses on stilts. We will explore the streets of this unusual settlements, play with curious children, get acquainted with the local way of life and walk the hill to appreciate the views.

On the fifth day after breakfast, we bid farewell to Togeans, return to Ampana and drive to Palu (from 8 hours on the way).

Day 9-11

Sunrise on top of the Bromo and Ijen volcanoes, Madakaripura waterfalls, Bali

In the morning, we will take a flight from Palu to Surabaya (1.5 hours) and take a minibus to the village of Cemoro Lawang (3.5 hours), where we check into a hotel. Very early in the morning we take jeeps to the crater of the volcano to a height of 2.329 meters above sea level and enjoy an incredibly beautiful sunrise. Watch the first rays of the sun illuminate the horizon, flooding the valley and neighboring volcanoes with pink light. What a daily miracle happens every morning in the world, while most people are sleeping! Feel the power of our planet under your feet - we are standing at the crater of an active volcano, which last erupted in 2015!

We will walk along the crater, and then return to the hotel for breakfast. After some rest, we leave for Bondovoso (6 hours on the way) and check into a hotel near the Ijen volcano. On the way, we will stop at the Madakaripura waterfalls. To get to the highest 200-meter waterfall, we have to wade under falling jets of cool water!

Very early in the morning we begin our walk to the top of the Ijen volcano. In about an hour and a half we will get to the edge of the crater at an altitude of 2,350 meters above sea level. Even from afar, we observe a strange blue glow in the dark. We come closer and see how hundreds of people carry large baskets out of this huge blue flame. What a mystical sight! This is the acid lake in the crater of Ijen volcano, and men who work on its shores are workers who extract sulfur here every night.

We walk down to the hotel. After breakfast we take a bus and a ferry to Bali (2-3 hours on the way) where we continue our small group trip to Indonesia. We check into a hotel in the north of the island and enjoy the volcanic beach.

Tour leaders

Oleksandr Levytskyi

tour leader

Is this trip for you?

The trip is of light physical grade. Expect long city walks, and two night bus trips. We will also take four domestic flights, and several long daytime rides in hired minivans with sightseeing on the way. Accommodation in double/twin rooms of tourist class hotels. Every room will have attached bathroom with hot water, and wi fi internet. Accommodation on Togean islands can be chosen in additional options.