To get in to Sulawesi Island is too easy, you may need to know which cities, or provinces did you want to visit. Sulawesi Island or Celebes is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. The island is surrounded by Borneo to the west, by the Philippines to the north, by Maluku to the east, and by Flores and Timor to the south. It has a distinctive shape, dominated by four large peninsulas: the Semenanjung Minahassa; the East Peninsula; the South Peninsula; and the South East Peninsula.
Sulawesi Island is the world's eleventh-largest island, it consist of six provinces : Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South East Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi. West Sulawesi is a new province, created in 2004 from part of South Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are Makassar, on the southwestern coast of the island, and Manado, on the northern tip.
All the provinces has accessible from major cities in Java, Bali, Sumatra, etc ... and also can be access direct from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by direct flight, currently (at the time this article published), there is a direct flight served from Kuala Lumpur to Makassar, or direct flight from Singapore to Makassar, also direct flight from Singapore to Manado.
Most of the cities in Sulawesi Island also can be access by ship (PELNI), from Java, Bali, Lombok, Bima, Labuan Bajo, Kalimantan, etc ... most of the ship destination are Makassar, Pare-Pare, Manado, Palu, Bitung, Gorontalo, Kendari, Bau-Bau.
For Sulawesi inter provinces also has accessible by a ferry, for example from Bone (South Sulawesi) to Kolaka (South East Sulawesi), From Tanjung Bira to Selayar Island (both in South Sulawesi), From Ampana to Togian Island (Central Sulawesi), Togian Island (Central Sulawesi) to Grontalo, Selayar Island (South Sulawesi) to Flores (Nusa Tenggara Timur), for more detail of the ship and ferry schedule you may can visit PELNI website.
International Flight to Sulawesi :
- From Kuala Lumpur to Makassar flown by Air Asia with direct flight.
- From Singapore to Makassar flown by Silk Air with direct flight.
- From Singapore to Manado flown by Silk Air with direct flight.
Domestic Flight to Sulawesi :
All main cities in Sulawesi Island can be access by flight from Major city in Indonesia, most flight hub. is in Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogya, Bandung, Bali/Denpasar, Lombok, Papua, Sorong, Ternate, Ambon, Kupang, Balikpapan. From some cities in Sumatra and Kalimantan must be stop/transit in Jakarta or Surabaya.
- Should you want visit Makassar, Tana Toraja, Selayar Island, Takabonerate National Park, Tanjung Bira, Sengkang and Mamasa (West Sulawesi) then you have to fly to Makassar.
- Should you want visit Wakatobi National Park and Labengki Island then you have to fly to Kendari.
- Should you want visit Togian Island then you have to fly to Palu, or Luwuk Banggai or Gorontalo.
- Should you want visit Lore Lindu National Park and Parigi then you have to fly to Palu.
- Should you want visit Manado, Bunaken National Park, Bitung - Lembeh Strait, Bangka Island, Sangihe Talaud, then you have to fly to Manado.
Leave Together.
You may have to know about taking leave together, in Indonesia call it “Cuti bersama or libur bersama”. There are extended day holiday for government offices and some Business, nevertheless, recently most companies have chosen to close their offices during “Cuti bersama or libur bersama” days as well. The "Cuti Bersama" is always happend during Idul Fitri, Idul Adha and Christmas to New Year Eve. During these time especially for Idul Fitri and Christmas to New Year Eve, most of the transport (train, ship, and flight) usually full booking, here the detail of Public Holiday in Indonesia.
