As Gorontalo lies only about 60km south of the Celebes sea coast, the latter is easily reachable and there are some beautiful unspoiled islands in front of the coast here. The main access to the islands of Bogisa, Saronde, Mohinggito, and Lampu is through the port of Kwandang. The port lies about 3km north of Kwandang village.
Now technically it is possible to visit one or 2 islands on a day trip from Gorontalo as it is only 60km/2hours with an angkot from terminal Telaga (25k/person). Now this has some drawbacks: you will only have a short time on each island and the private boat to the islands is rather expensive/ overpriced (400-800k/day). It makes more sense to come here for a weekend, arriving on Friday and leaving Sunday afternoon: in 2021 there was a free transport provided from the government/Pelni on weekends (Gandha Nusantara 05) to one (maybe two) islands of choice per day and it goes both on Saturday and Sunday. Check this in advance and register with the Pelni office in Gorontalo. The boat is the big one on the photos below, and yes, it will go even if you are the only passenger.
Where to sleep in Kwandang: basically there are only 2 places
- Penginapan Mega mulya Emil: this is the basic one of the two – it has clean fan rooms with private bathroom for 100k/night, and more spacious and comfortable AC rooms for 250k/night. On a walking distance from the terminal of Kwandang; to Kwandang port (3km) you can walk or take a bentor (10k for 2people).
- Hotel Bidadari: this is the best place Kwandang has to offer – not that you get anything comparable with Gorontalo for your bucks. 200k for fan room and 300k/night for AC room.
Food in Kwandang is difficult – there is some indonesian staple food (but it doesn’t taste good). The only decent food we found at Rumah Makan Adila (~40k/meal seafood).
The islands – 4 of them, actually 5 because there is also pulau Huha.
pulau Saronde
This is the most popular and hyped one – it also has (foreign owned) accommodation (Saronde island resort, starts from 660-770k/day for 2 with food). Now the island comes with a serious drawback, ie the entrance fee of 25k/person. We didn’t visit this island – ran out of time on the other ones and the seascapes are similar anyway. The good reefs are on the north side and it is far swimming there from the beach for Pulau Saronde. Watch out for jelly fish.
Pulau Bogisa
The island which is mostly known for its sandbar in front (which changes shape regularly due to the currents). The island is inhabited and there are no facilities whatsoever. Entrance is free. No idea if the snorkeling is good – the reefs around the islands are mostly good on north oriented, meaning that for Bogisa you’ll need to swim far on the east coast or have a boat to reach the west coast.
Pulau Mohinggito
Looking like a butterfly from the sky, this island has nowadays also a “resort” (locally owned, ranging from 300k for small bungalow to 500k/night for a larger family one with AC). Entrance fee for the island is 10k/person. Now if you come with a private boat it can go to the jetty in front of the beach where the resort is; if you come with the Gandha Nusantara 05 you need to be transferred to a smaller boat to get to the island (~10k/person).
There is coral all around, but it is the best towards the north side. See our snorkeling spots which we checked below:
The underwater inside the bay looks like this – don’t forget to have a look at the pontoon in the middle of the bay as a lot of colorful corals are growing onto it:
On the north side (there is a path from the resort to the northern beach) the seascape looks like this:
Pulau lampu
Both Lampu and Huha are the less frequently visited islands. Lampu has as only inhabitant the lighthouse crew, while Huha is inhabited. Entrance fee for Lampu is free – you’ll even get a free of charge coconut for visiting the lighthouse crew and they’ll be happy to show you around the island. It still has a house from dutch times (18th century?) in good shape. If you are visiting the island with a private boat they will drop you close to the beach, but if you are coming with the Gandha Nusantara 05 you’ll have to swim to the beach (100-150m) as there is nobody to transfer you to the island – consider it as an adventure as we did.
Just as for the other islands here the best reefs are located towards the open ocean – meaning the northern side of the island. See below for our snorkeling spot.
Underwater it looks like this:
Costs indicated in this post reflect what we payed in 2020-2021 visiting the area.
Caution (read this!): the activities described above are suggestions, certainly if it comes to hiking up a mountain or going to snorkel off shore. It is made with the best intentions, but paths might move or be suddenly blocked, coral might die, crocodiles might suddenly appear,… To cut the crap: you break a leg, you drift away on the sea, get attacked by horny/jealous/whatever animals, you have a motorcycle accident, and all the rest – it is NOT our responsibility. If you feel unsure, do take a guide (even if we think it is not necessary) and an insurance, as in the end it is YOUR responsibility to doing anything suggested on this page in case it goes wrong. AND DON’T LEAVE YOUR TRASH BEHIND although it is tempting to leave it all on the spot.
Indonesia on a shoestring 