A Banggai Islands tour starts in Luwuk, Central Sulawesi, and with us it runs from one day to six. Prices start at IDR 2,700,000 (about $151) per person for the one-day boat trip to Paisupok Lake and Puganda Beach, and reach IDR 8,175,000 for six days across the mainland waterfalls and the islands. Those are the rates with four people sharing.
Every package is a private trip for your own group, priced for one to four travellers, with car and boat transport and entrance fees included. Prices are from our tour pages in October 2026.
The seven Banggai Islands tour packages
- Length
- 1 day, 06:00 to 18:00
- Where it goes
- Paisupok Lake, Paisu Batango, Puganda Beach
- From, per person
- IDR 2,700,000
- Length
- 2 days, 1 night
- Where it goes
- Kamumu, Laumarang and Piala waterfalls, then the lake and Puganda
- From, per person
- IDR 3,750,000
- Length
- 3 days, 2 nights
- Where it goes
- Piala, Teletubbies Hill, the lake, Puganda, Kilo 5, Laumarang
- From, per person
- IDR 4,500,000
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Where it goes
- Luwuk town, Mokokawa and two more waterfalls, the lake, Kilo 5
- From, per person
- IDR 5,250,000
- Length
- 5 days, 4 nights
- Where it goes
- Salakan, Banggai Laut beaches, the lake, Mandel, Bone Pompon
- From, per person
- IDR 7,350,000
- Length
- 6 days, 5 nights
- Where it goes
- Three waterfalls, the lake, Salakan, Oyama, Bone Pompon
- From, per person
- IDR 8,175,000
- Length
- 6 days, 5 nights
- Where it goes
- Whale sharks in Gorontalo, night ferry, the lake, Sasundeng Cave
- From, per person
- IDR 7,500,000
| Package | Length | Where it goes | From, per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banggai one-day trip | 1 day, 06:00 to 18:00 | Paisupok Lake, Paisu Batango, Puganda Beach | IDR 2,700,000 |
| Waterfalls and islands | 2 days, 1 night | Kamumu, Laumarang and Piala waterfalls, then the lake and Puganda | IDR 3,750,000 |
| Island hopping | 3 days, 2 nights | Piala, Teletubbies Hill, the lake, Puganda, Kilo 5, Laumarang | IDR 4,500,000 |
| Paisupok Lake and islands | 4 days, 3 nights | Luwuk town, Mokokawa and two more waterfalls, the lake, Kilo 5 | IDR 5,250,000 |
| Banggai 5 days | 5 days, 4 nights | Salakan, Banggai Laut beaches, the lake, Mandel, Bone Pompon | IDR 7,350,000 |
| Banggai 6 days | 6 days, 5 nights | Three waterfalls, the lake, Salakan, Oyama, Bone Pompon | IDR 8,175,000 |
| Gorontalo to Luwuk | 6 days, 5 nights | Whale sharks in Gorontalo, night ferry, the lake, Sasundeng Cave | IDR 7,500,000 |
The car, the boat and the fuel cost the same for one traveller as for four, so the price per person falls as the group grows. On the three-day trip a solo traveller pays IDR 8,500,000, two people pay IDR 6,300,000 each and four pay IDR 4,500,000 each.
The same step-down applies at both ends of the list. The one-day trip is IDR 5,000,000 for a solo traveller, IDR 3,750,000 each for two and IDR 3,000,000 each for three. The five-day trip runs from IDR 13,250,000 solo to IDR 9,750,000 each for two and IDR 7,350,000 each for four. If you are two, ask us whether another pair is travelling on your dates.
Which package to choose
With a single spare day, the one-day boat trip leaves at 07:00, gives you two hours at Paisupok Lake and has you back at your hotel by 18:00. It comes on a local ship or, for IDR 3,000,000 per person with four sharing, on a speedboat. Both boats run the same stops at the same times.
Three or four days is enough for the lake and the waterfalls behind Luwuk. Day two of the three-day trip starts at 04:30 and puts you on Paisupok for three hours in the morning light, when the spring water is clear to the bottom.
For the islands almost nobody visits, take five days. The five-day Banggai trip crosses four hours from Luwuk to Salakan and spends a day among the empty beaches of Banggai Laut. The six-day trip visits the same coast and adds the mainland waterfalls.
Luwuk, Central Sulawesi
Three days: waterfalls, the lake and Puganda
Piala Waterfall and Teletubbies Hill on arrival day, then a boat day to Paisupok Lake, Paisu Batango and Puganda Beach, and Laumarang Waterfall before the flight out.
What the boat day to Paisupok Lake is like
On the three-day trip the boat day starts with a 04:30 pickup. The crossing takes an hour from 06:30, and you have Paisupok Lake from 07:30 to 10:30, with breakfast at the water. The lake is fed by springs, and from the jetty you can see the bottom. You may swim and snorkel the whole time, and freedivers can bring their own gear.
Paisu Batango comes next, a spring lagoon ringed by limestone and mangrove that sees fewer people than the lake. Lunch is on the sand at Puganda at 12:30, followed by two hours of white beach, a reef just offshore and swings hung over the shallows. The boat is back in Luwuk at 16:30, in time for a late swim at Kilo 5.
Renting a paddleboard or a small boat on the lake is the one extra to budget for. Our Paisupok Lake page has the detail on the lake itself.
Luwuk, Central Sulawesi
Paisupok Lake and Puganda in one day
Leave Luwuk at 07:00, swim Paisupok Lake for two hours, stop at Paisu Batango and eat lunch on Puganda Beach. Hotel pickup, the boat, entrance fees and a guide are included.
The waterfalls and hills behind Luwuk
Three waterfalls sit inland from town. Piala is the tiered one, with a pool to swim in at each level, and the three-day trip gives it two hours. Kamumu drops through tropical pine forest into clear pools, and Laumarang is the quietest, with one wide pool at its base.
Teletubbies Hill closes the day on several trips: rolling grass ridges above Luwuk Bay, at their best from 17:00. The four-day and six-day packages also give the first evening to the town, with the waterfront, the traditional market and Bukit Kasih Sayang, the hill where the bay lights up after dark.
What is included, and what is not
All packages include car and boat transport and entrance fees. Pickup, meals and a guide are included as listed on each tour page, so check the one you pick. Overnight stays are in hotels in Luwuk and simpler guesthouses and homestays out in the islands.
Flights are not included, and snorkel gear is rented or brought from home. The usual route in is a flight to Luwuk through Makassar, and our guide on how to get to the Banggai Islands explains the connections.
Flights into Luwuk are morning-heavy
Makassar to Luwuk takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, and most travellers sleep a night in Makassar on the way in. The longer packages are built around an afternoon arrival on day one.
Deposit, payment and cancellation
A 50% deposit confirms a Banggai trip, and the balance is due the day before it starts. If you cancel seven days or more ahead, 75% of what you have paid is refunded. Inside seven days it is 50%. Dates cannot be changed once a booking is confirmed, so a change request is treated as a cancellation.
Prices are set for the year and can be revised for fuel or new government rules. Bank transfer fees are paid by the sender.
Who these packages are wrong for
Anyone who needs a slow morning. The boat day on the three-day trip starts at 04:30, and the five-day trip leaves Salakan at 05:00 for the lake. The six-day package has two long transfer days: day three ends with a four-hour run from Puganda to Salakan, and day five is most of a day getting back to Luwuk.
Rooms out in the islands are guesthouses and homestays, with a fan or air conditioning and home-cooked meals. Mobile data is dependable in Luwuk and drops to slow 3G around Paisupok. Snorkelers usually ask about the small striped fish named after these islands, and our Banggai cardinalfish guide says where it lives.
The package that starts with whale sharks
The Gorontalo to Luwuk trip is the one package that does not begin in Luwuk. It opens with six hours beside the whale sharks on Tomini Bay, takes the overnight ferry to Pagimana and ends at Luwuk airport six days later. Sightings peak between May and July and are never guaranteed.
The whale sharks come in close to shore here, so you snorkel beside them from a small boat with no dive certificate and no long ride out to sea. The ferry leaves Gorontalo at 19:30 and lands at Pagimana around 06:00, and the first stop that morning is Piala Waterfall.
When to go, and what else to read
June to September is the driest stretch, with the calmest sea and the best visibility. The waterfalls run fullest between December and March, when the crossings to the islands are roughest.
Our Luwuk Banggai travel guide covers the region, and things to do in Luwuk Banggai ranks the stops.
Booking a Banggai Islands tour
Tell us your dates and how many of you are travelling, and we will quote the exact rate for your group size. Trips need at least two days' notice. You can plan your Banggai trip with us before you book flights.
Written by
Asik Travel Editorial
Local travel editors
We write from the islands we sell, with first-hand notes from our guides and operators.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Banggai Islands tour cost?
From IDR 2,700,000 (about $151) per person for the one-day trip and IDR 4,500,000 for three days, with four travellers sharing. Smaller groups pay more each: on the three-day trip two people pay IDR 6,300,000 each and a solo traveller IDR 8,500,000. Flights are extra.
How many days do you need for the Banggai Islands?
One day reaches Paisupok Lake and Puganda Beach from Luwuk. Three or four days add the waterfalls behind town. Five or six days are needed for Salakan and the empty beaches of Banggai Laut, because the crossing from Luwuk alone takes four hours.
Where do Banggai Islands tours start?
In Luwuk, Central Sulawesi, the town of Syukuran Aminuddin Amir Airport (LUW). Each tour page says whether pickup from the airport or your hotel is included. One six-day package starts in Gorontalo with the whale sharks, crosses by overnight ferry and finishes at Luwuk airport, so book that onward flight from Luwuk.
Are these Banggai tours private or shared?
Private. The car, the boat and the route are for your own group, and the rate card runs from one to four travellers. Because those costs are fixed, the price per person drops as the group grows. Four sharing is the cheapest rate and the one shown as the from-price.
When is the best time for a Banggai Islands tour?
June to September. It is the driest stretch, with the calmest sea and the best underwater visibility, and September is often the driest month. The waterfalls are fullest between December and March, but the sea crossings to the islands are roughest then.
What deposit does a Banggai Islands tour need?
A 50% deposit confirms the trip, and the balance is due the day before it starts. Cancel seven days or more ahead and 75% of what you have paid is refunded. Inside seven days the refund is 50%. Dates cannot be changed once the booking is confirmed, and trips need at least two days of notice.
