Things to do in Selayar Island, from the kettle drum to the outer islets

By Selayar Island Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Fares and rates change, and nothing here is medical or legal advice.

The main things to do in Selayar Island are swimming and snorkelling off beaches and islets, local boat trips, walking Benteng, visiting the Nekara museum, old villages and tomb complexes, and riding out to waterfalls and viewpoints. Visitor numbers are small and facilities thin, and a long boat trip to the atoll is possible if you have days to spare.

What are the main things to do in Selayar Island?

This list of what to do on Selayar Island follows the regency's own inventory: its list of leading attractions and the distances in its tourism master plan, with press and operator reports added where they say more. An entry means a place is recorded. It does not mean a guide, a ticket desk or a boat will be waiting. A 2018 Universitas Negeri Makassar study found 16 marine sites unmanaged, a fair warning about how much arranging you do yourself.

For a shortlist of the sea, Tempo, citing the regency agency in January 2022, names ten marine destinations: Takabonerate, Bahuluang, Pasi Gusung, Baloiya, Punagaan, Pinang, Bonetappalang, Pa'badilang, Tamamelong and Karang Indah. The table sorts those and the land sites by type.

What can you do in and around Benteng?

Start on foot. Sulawesi.com points to a beachfront walk and a working market in town, and the Ministry of Tourism notes a Dutch prison from the 1890s on the town square. The regency plan says the building has kept its function since Dutch times, so treat it as something to look at from the street. For food, Sulawesi.travel, a tour operator's guide, names gogos, pisang ijo and grilled fish.

A scooter widens the range. TurtlePhD, a traveller's blog, reports hiring one in Benteng and driving the west-coast road, and the undated rate it reports is in the price table on this page. Within easy reach, the plan lists Appabatu beach at 4 km, Balang Kalambu natural baths at 6 km and Babaere at 9 km. Baloiya, which the plan describes as a curved white-sand beach, lies about 11 km out, and the Ministry says it stretches some 3 km. Our page on Selayar Island beaches names the calm ones near town. The regency's older data limits main-island restaurants to two districts, so a packed lunch is sensible for most day trips. Rooms in town and on the coast are compared under where to stay on Selayar Island, and beach lodges under Selayar Island resort.

Which sea and island trips can you make?

One islet trip is Gusung, about 30 minutes by lepa boat from Benteng according to The Jakarta Post in 2016, with old Dutch copra warehouses and beaches to the south. The regency plan adds a lagoon, mangrove forest and underwater scenery, and TurtlePhD describes coves, rock arches and a jungle walk to a swimming cave, reached by private boat. Our page on Pasi Gusung Island gathers the detail.

Further out, the regency list gives Bahuluang Island a villa, a restaurant, a prayer room, the Liang Lipang cave, fishing, diving and snorkelling. It lists Tambolongan by joloro for snorkelling, diving and fishing, and Polassi adds trekking at Buki Nane. Wikipedia lists Pulau Kambing in the straits from Benteng and reports sharks, bumphead parrotfish and cuttlefish there, partly unsourced, so read that as a divers' note. Our Selayar snorkeling page sorts the water by access. With a tank, start with Selayar Island diving.

Wind picks the coast. Wikipedia notes that big waves hit the west side from October to March and the east side from April to September, so a boat day should go to the sheltered shore. On land by the sea, the regency list records a turtle conservation area at Sumingi, by road, with hatchling release, snorkelling and traditional food. A release depends on nesting and hatching, so ask first and do not build a day around it. Our note on Kampung Penyu covers the west-coast turtle project.

Which heritage sites can you visit?

The headline object is the Nekara drum, which Kompas attributes to the Dongson culture at 300 BC and reports as claimed to be among the largest in the world. Kompas places the Museum Nekara 300 m from the find site and says it holds Chinese ceramics, so ask whether the drum itself is on view. Our Selayar kettle drum page covers its measurements and the disputed find date. Kompas also records two large anchors and three cannons from the 17th century at the Giant Anchor Museum in Bontosunggu.

Two old settlements are still lived in. The Jakarta Post reported in 2016 that about 176 people lived in the Gantarang hamlet, whose Awalludin Mosque, built in 1605, is surrounded by old tombs of the Gantarang kingdom. A Tata Loka study puts the old village about 15 km by road from Benteng. See our guide to Gantarang Lalang Bata. The same report puts Bitombang around 7 km from central Benteng, with 20 sappo langkasa, traditional wooden houses on a hillside. A 2017 Universitas Airlangga study adds that blacksmith communities welcomed the researcher and that visitors can see iron tools made traditionally. Our Bitombang village page has more.

For a quieter stop, the regency plan describes the Silolo complex of the Buki and Bontoangun kings, with 256 graves about 20 km from Benteng, and the Bontobangun fort of coral stone, 2.5 m high with a cannon, a ruined mosque and tombs. The plan also describes a sea-bathing ritual called Anrio' Sappara on 27 Syafar and a traditional Mauludan with decorated eggs. Both follow the Islamic calendar, so the date moves each year. Ask locally before you plan around them.

Are there waterfalls and viewpoints inland?

Yes. The regency plan lists Suttia waterfall about 20 km from Benteng, Patikore waterfall at 24 km, Eremata at 13 km, Ereposo cave at 32 km and the Tajuiya old well at about 30 km. It gives distances, not trail conditions or water flow. Sulawesi.com's rain table shows August as the driest month, so ask whether a fall is running before you ride out in the dry months.

For a view, the regency list names Puncak Tanadoang in Bontomarannu, reached by road, with a viewing tower, restaurant, villa and camping. Wikipedia separately mentions a viewpoint at Puncak, a one-hour trip uphill that sees both coasts. They may be the same place.

Forest wildlife is mostly reported by operators. Selayar Dive Resort mentions birds, monitor lizards, wild boar and, with luck, tarsiers in the east-coast forest, and Selayar Eco Resort says tarsier families live behind Pinang beach. The Ministry of Tourism says tarsiers and wild boar can be seen at Baloiya. Our Selayar tarsier page weighs those reports.

Can you hike on Selayar Island?

Yes, on a small scale. Journey Beyond the Horizon, a travel blog dated October 2025, says low rainforest hills fill the interior, with trails known mostly to Indonesians and more adventurous foreigners. It calls Bontosikuyu the highest point at 607 m, and Puncak Pusera, at 525 m with meadows on top, the most visited peak. It adds Bolonglangi, with an unofficial campsite, and Bontona Tihu, both northeast of Benteng by narrow local roads, and Air Terjun Jammeng, a seven-cascade waterfall about 1 km inland from the east coast.

The heights conflict. Wikipedia's archipelago article, in text derived from the 1911 Britannica, has the island's central chain reaching 5,840 ft, about 1,780 m, at Bontona Haru, far above the blog's figure, and neither cites a survey. Bontosikuyu is also a main-island district, so ask locally which hill is meant. We found no published trail map, grade or guide service. Go with someone local and carry your own water.

Can you reach the atoll from Selayar?

Yes, as a long trip that needs its own days. The Ministry of Tourism calls Taka Bonerate a 530,765-hectare park and the third-largest atoll region after Kwajalein and Suvadiva. Published times differ, partly because the starting points differ. The regency plan gives about 3 hours by motorboat from Pattumbukang ferry port to Tinabo. Sulawesi.com says 4 to 6 hours each way by chartered boat from Pattumbukan. The regency's attraction list gives 8 hours by motor boat from Benteng town.

The price table on this page shows one published charter figure, and our page on how to get to Selayar Island gives the road time to Pattumbukan. Other boat, scooter and entry costs are gathered under Selayar Island travel cost. This site does not cover the park in depth. To see how the trip fits with everything else, read our Selayar Island itinerary page.

What else do visitors ask about Selayar?

Is Selayar Island touristy?

Not on the regency's count: 195 foreign visitors in 2022, the latest year in its tourism plan, after a 2019 peak of 1,068.

Where can I see tarsiers in Selayar?

The Ministry of Tourism names Baloiya, and Selayar Eco Resort says tarsier families live in the rainforest behind Pinang beach. Selayar Dive Resort mentions them in the east-coast forest, with luck. No source can promise a sighting.

Is Selayar Island good for snorkeling?

The regency lists snorkelling at Liang Kareta, Bone Malea, Pasi Gusung, Pa'badilang and Punagaan, and at several islets. The calm side changes with the season.

Can I go fishing around Selayar Island?

The regency list records fishing at Bahuluang and Tambolongan. Ask a local boat owner what is allowed and which side is sheltered on the day.

How do I visit Liang Tarrusu in Selayar?

Sulawesi.travel, a tour operator's guide, places it near Benteng and describes it as calm with few facilities. Ask your lodging in town for the route and carry your own food.

Which sources support this page?

• Kepulauan Selayar tourism office, list of leading attractions, 2024 (PDF)
• Kepulauan Selayar tourism master plan, RIPPARKAB 2023-2025 (PDF)
• Universitas Negeri Makassar: marine site management study, 2018
• Tempo: ten marine destinations, January 2022
• Sulawesi.com, tour operator: Selayar Island destination page
• Indonesia Ministry of Tourism: Selayar
• Sulawesi.travel, tour operator: Selayar Island travel guide
• TurtlePhD, traveller's blog: Selayar guide
• The Jakarta Post: Selayar Islands, April 2016
• Wikipedia: Selayar Island
• Kompas: traces of the spice route in Selayar, November 2023
• Tata Loka: study of Gantarang old village
• Universitas Airlangga: indigenous tourism study, 2017
• Selayar Dive Resort, operator: the island
• Selayar Eco Resort, operator page
• Indonesia Ministry of Tourism: Taka Bonerate National Park
• Sulawesi.com, tour operator: Selayar Island travel guide
• Journey Beyond the Horizon (travel blog, October 2025): Selayar Island guide
• Wikipedia: Selayar Islands

How do I reach the desk?

If you have settled on a few of these and want help with boats or a driver, message the desk on WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or at bd@juaraholding.com, naming the places and the month. We do not operate trips, so any arrangement is set out in a written offer first. Because a request can end in a paid booking, we have a commercial interest; the disclaimer explains how that works.