Dive Sites in Indonesia

Dive Sites in Indonesia.

Alor Archipelago

With more than 17,508 islands, Indonesia presents ample diving opportunities. With 20% of the world's coral reefs, over 3,000 different species of fish and 600 coral species, deep water trenches, volcanic sea mounts, World War II wrecks, and an endless variety of macro life, scuba diving in Indonesia is both excellent and inexpensive. 

Bunaken National Marine Park

Bunaken National Marine Park, at the northern tip of Sulawesi, claims to have seven times more genera of coral than Hawaii, and has more than 70% of all the known fish species of the Indo-Western Pacific. According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on Earth. 

Moreover, there are over 3,500 species living in Indonesian waters, including sharks, dolphins, manta rays, turtles, morays, cuttlefish, octopus and scorpionfish, compared to 1,500 on the Great Barrier Reef and 600 in the Red Sea. Tulamben Bay in Bali boasts the wreck of the 120 metres (390 ft) U.S. Army commissioned transport vessel, the Liberty. Other popular dive sites on Bali are at Candidasa and Menjangan. Across the Badung Strait from Bali, there are several popular dive sites on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. Lombok's three Gilis (Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan) are popular as is Bangka. 

Tulamben Bay in Bali

Some of the most famous diving sites in Indonesia are also the most difficult to reach, with places like Biak off the coast of Papua and the Alor Archipelago among the popular, more remote, destinations for divers.

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Nature Tourism

Nature Tourism.

Karimun Jawa

Indonesia has a well-preserved, natural ecosystem with rainforests that stretch over about 57% of Indonesia's land (225 million acres), approximately 2% of which are mangrove systems. One reason why the natural ecosystem in Indonesia is still well-preserved is because only 6,000 islands out of 17,000 are permanently inhabited. Forests on Sumatra and Java are examples of popular tourist destinations. Moreover, Indonesia has one of longest coastlines in  the world, measuring 54,716 kilometres (33,999 mil), with a number of beaches and island resorts, such as those in southern Bali, Lombok, Bintan and Nias Island. However, most of the well-preserved beaches are those in more isolated and less developed areas, such as Karimun Jawa, the Togian Islands, and the Banda Islands.

Coral Reef at Nias Island

Sianok Canyon at Bukit Tinggi-West Sumatra

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Historical Context

Historical Context.
The service and hospitality sector that linked to travel and leisure probably already exist since ancient Indonesia, especially ancient Java circa 8th century. Some panels in Borobudur bas-reliefs depicted drink vendors, warungs (small restaurant), and there is a building depicting people drinking, dancing and having fun, seems to describe tavern or lodging. The historical record about travel in Indonesia can be found since 14th century. The Nagarakertagama reported about King Hayam Wuruk's royal travel throughout Majapahit realm in East Java with large numbers of carriages, accompanied by nobles, royal courtiers, officials and servants. Although it seems as stately affair, for some instances the king's journey is somewhat resembles modern day tour, as the king visited numbers of interesting places; from temples such as Palah and Jajawa, to enjoying mountain scenery, having bath in petirtaan (bathing pools) and beach. The 15th-century travelogue of Bujangga Manik, a travelling Hindu scholar-priest from Pakuan Pajajaran, reported about his travel around Java and Bali. Although his travel was a pilgrimage one; visiting temples and sacred places in Java and Bali, sometimes he behaves like a modern day tourist, such as sitting around fanning his body while enjoying beautiful mountain scenery in Puncak area, look upon Gede volcano that he describes as the highest point around Pakuan Pajajaran (capital of Sunda kingdom).

Fort Rotterdam in Makassar, Indonesia

Initially the tourism, service and hospitality sector in Dutch East Indies were developed to cater the lodging, entertainment and leisure needs of domestic visitors, especially the wealthy Dutch plantation owners and merchants during their stay in the city. In the 19th century, colonial heritage hotels equipped with dance halls, live music and fine dining restaurants were established in Dutch East Indies urban areas, such as Hotel des Indes (est.1829) in Batavia (now Jakarta), Savoy Homann Hotel (est.1871) in Bandung, Hotel Oranje (est. 1910) in Surabaya, and Hotel De Boer in Medan. Since the 19th century Dutch East Indies has attracted visitors from The Netherlands. The first national tourism bureau was the Vereeeging Toeristen Verkeer, established by Governor General of Dutch East Indies in early 20th century, and shared their head office in Batavia with Koninklijke Nederlansch Indische Luchtfahrt Maatschapijj (part of KLM) that began to fly from Amsterdam to Batavia in 1929. In 1913, Vereeneging Touristen Verkeer wrote a guide book about tourism places in the Indies. Since then Bali become known to international tourist with foreign tourist arrivals rose for more than 100% in 1927. Much of the international tourism of the 1920s and 1930s was by international visitors on oceanic cruises. The 1930s did see a modest but significant influx of mainly European tourists and longer term stayers to Bali. Many came for the blossoming arts scene in the Ubud area, which was as much a two-way exchange between the Balinese and outsiders as it was an internal phenomenon.

Hotel des Indes, Jakarta

Tourism more or less disappeared during World War II, Indonesian National Revolution and in the early years of the Sukarno era. On 1 July 1947, the government of Republic of Indonesia tried to revive tourism sector in Indonesia by establishing HONET (Hotel National & Tourism) led by R. Tjitpo Ruslan. This new national tourism authority took over much of colonial heritage hotels in Java and all named as "Hotel Merdeka". After Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference in 1949, this tourism authority change its name to NV HORNET. In 1952 the President formed the Inter-Departement Committee on Tourism Affairs that responsible to explore the possibility to reestablish Indonesia as world's tourism destination. National pride and identity in the late 1950s and early 1960s was incorporated into the monumentalism of Sukarno in Jakarta— and this included the development of grand multi-storied international standard hotels and beach resorts, such as Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta (est.1962), Ambarrukmo Hotel in Yogyakarta (est.1965), Samudra Beach Hotel in Pelabuhan Ratu beach West Java (est.1966), and Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Bali (est.1966). The political and economic instability of the mid-1960s saw tourism decline radically again. Bali, and in particular the small village of Kuta, was however, in the 1960s, an important stopover on the overland hippy trail between Australia and Europe, and a "secret" untouched surf spot. In the early-to-mid-1970s, high standard hotels and tourist facilities began to appear in Jakarta and Bali. After the completion of Borobudur restoration project in 1982, Yogyakarta become a popular tourist attraction in Indonesia after Bali, mostly attracted to this 8th-century Buddhist monument, surrounding ancient Javanese temples and Yogyakarta Sultanate palace. From this period to the end of the Suharto era, governmental policies of the tourism industry included an array of regulations and developments to encourage increasing numbers of international tourists to both visit Indonesia and stay longer.

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Garuda Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia airplane with Visit Indonesia logo
In late January 2011 Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik announced that "Wonderful Indonesia" would replace the previous “Visit Indonesia Year” branding used by the nations official tourism promotional campaigns, although the logo of stylized curves Garuda remain. The minister announced that in 2010, foreign tourists visiting Indonesia touched 7 million and made predictions of 7.7 million in 2011. He was reported as describing the new branding as reflecting "the country’s beautiful nature, unique culture, varied food, hospitable people and price competitiveness.

Garuda Indonesia with Visit Indonesia logo

We expect each tourist will spend around US$1,100 and with an optimistic target of 7.7 million arrivals, we will get $8.3 billion,‖ from this. The Culture and Tourism Minister added that 50 percent of the revenue would be generated from about 600 meetings, conventions and exhibitions that were expected to take place in various places throughout the country 2011. He further added in the announcements of January 2011 that his ministry would be promoting the country’s attractions under the eco-cultural banner.

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Tourism in Indonesia

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. The vast country of sprawling archipelago has much to offer; from natural beauty, historical heritage to cultural diversity. In 2012 the tourism sector contributes to around US$9 billion of foreign exchange, and is estimated will surpassed US$10 billion in 2013. The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors. In year 2012, 8,044,462 international visitors entered Indonesia, staying in hotels for an average of 7.70 nights and spending an average of US$1,133.81 per person during their visit, or US$147.22 per person per day. Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China and Japan are the top five source of visitors to Indonesia.

Mount Kerinci

Both nature and culture are major components of Indonesian tourism. The natural heritage can boast a unique combination of a tropical climate, a vast archipelago of 17,508 islands, 6,000 of them being inhabited, the third longest shoreline in the world (54,716 km) after Canada and the European Union. It is the worlds largest and most populous country situated only on islands. The beaches in Bali, diving sites in Bunaken, Mount Bromo in East Java, Lake Toba and various national parks in Sumatra are just a few examples of popular scenic destinations. These natural attractions are complemented by a rich cultural heritage that reflects Indonesia's dynamic history and ethnic diversity. One fact that exemplifies this richness is that 719 living languages are used across the archipelago. The ancient Prambanan and Borobudur temples, Toraja, Yogyakarta, Minangkabau, and of course Bali, with its many Hindu festivities, are some of the popular destinations for cultural tourism.
 

Parangtritis Beach

Tourism in Indonesia is currently overseen by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism. International tourism campaigns have been focusing largely on its tropical destinations with white sand beaches, blue sky, and cultural attractions. Beach resorts and hotels have been developed in some popular tourist destinations, especially Bali island as the primary destination. At the same time, the integration of cultural affairs and tourism under the scope of the same ministry shows that cultural tourism is considered an integral part of Indonesia's tourism industry, and conversely, that tourism is used to promote and preserve the cultural heritage.
 

Some of the challenges Indonesia's tourism industry has to face include the development of infrastructure to support tourism across the sprawling archipelago, incursions of the industry into local traditions (adat), and the impact of tourism development on the life of local people. The tourism industry in Indonesia has also faced setbacks due to problems related to security. Since 2002, warnings have been issued by some countries over terrorist threats and ethnic as well as religious conflicts in some areas, significantly reducing the number of foreign visitors for a few years. However, the number of international tourists has bounced back positively since 2007, and reached a new record in 2008 and then made a new record every year and in 2012 set at 8,044,462 foreign tourists.
 

In 2013, based on World Economic Forum survey, Indonesia got Tourism Competitiveness Index score 4.0 and rank at number 70 (up from number 74 in 2011 and number 81 in 2009) from 140 countries. Aspects that need to be improved in order to move up the rank ladder are; tourism and ICT infrastructures, health and hygiene, environmental sustainability, and affinity for travel and tourism.

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The Best Destination of Indonesia

The Best Destination of Indonesia...

Bali Island

Bali is an island and the smallest province of Indonesia, and includes a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east, and has its capital of Denpasar at the southern part of the island.

Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat

Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat is the primary kraton of the Yogyakarta sultanate. The sultan and the royal court has its traditional seat there. The complex consists of a number of low-lying buildings such as audience halls, museums, and the residences of the sultan and the queen. 

Tanjung Tinggi - Belitung Island

The beach was famous by the local movie called Laskar Pelangi. Start from it people were curious and want to visit the beach even more. Perfect for swimming or just laying at the beach and relaxing. No wave so that it's save even for kids. Love the big granite stones as well.

Raja Ampat Islands

Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.

Mount Semeru

Semeru, or Mount Semeru, is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java. The stratovolcano is also known as Mahameru, meaning ;The Great Mountain.

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