Indonesia Travel Guide

If you’re in South Sulawesi, there is another place you may visit near Tanjung Bira that is also the perfect place for paradise getaway. It gives comfort and relaxing holiday since not many tourist visits this place but you don’t have to doubt its beauties because it has just exactly the criteria for tropical paradise. The island is called as Selayar. It can be reach both by plane from Makassar or boat from Bira Harbor. If you prefer for plane, you should pay for about $ 25 one way. It’s scheduled only twice a week so you need to book long before you arrive otherwise you won’t get the ticket. It takes less than one hour if you go with plane. But if you’d like to take the boat, at first you need to reach Bira which takes 5-6 hours from Makassar by bus or other public transportation. The ferry is scheduled twice a day which leaves at 10 AM and 3 PM. It only costs $ 4 – $ 5 one way so it’s considerably very cheap. It needs about two hours before you arrive in Selayar.

If you take the ferry then you need to take land transportation that takes you to downtown in an hour. For me personally Selayar is the only island where I find peace and relaxing time. Local people are also very friendly and the food is delicious. Unlike any other islands that lack of public facility, Selayar has all of it. The electricity is 24 hours on, several ATM can be found around and it also has good internet connection so though you may have some works to do, you can still do it while having a holiday.

Selayar island has nice beaches with white sand and beautiful water. If you’d like to travel around the island, you can rent a car which cost $ 30 for 12 hours. It’ll be cheaper if you had friends to share the cost. There are several places you can visit: Big Nekara, Big Anchor, Baloiya Resort, Liang Kereta and Padang.

Baloiya Resort has beautiful beach and nice place to have a romantic dinner. I recommend you to go to Padang. It’s a traditional village that located about 30 minutes from downtown. What makes it interesting is because you can see local sheep that eats paper. It truly exists and it’s surprising. The sheep eat paper isn’t because they don’t like to eat vegetables or leaves, but because they can’t find vegetations around the environment.

Selayar has more to offer because you can also try to have fun dive in Gusung. Guided with professional and experienced divers, you only need to pay $30 for one dive. It’s widely opened for everyone who wants to give it a try though they may haven’t done it before. And even if you can’t swim, you still can do it. It’s a worth it shot. You’ll see for the first time the amazing of underwater beauties where you can be really close to corals and fishes. The guides are very good divers so you don’t have to worry about the safety.