Curious to know what are some best tourist attractions in Maluku? Here are top seven places to visit in Maluku that must be in your itinerary list.

1. Bair Island

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Bair Island is touted as the Maluku’s Raja Ampat. This island is located in Tual City, Central Maluku Regency and is filled with beautiful mangrove forests. On this island visitors can enjoy the natural scenery while diving, snorkeling or just sunbathing on a boat.

To get to this island, visitors must depart from Kei Islands, which was first known already as a main tourist destination in Maluku. For visitors who want to overnight in Bair Island, resorts on Kei Islands can be an option due to the unavailability of resort facilities on Bair Island. The virginity of the island makes visitors feel like they are on a private island.

2. Maitara Island

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Next best places to visit in Maluku is the Maitara Island. It is one of the islands in the North Maluku District, precisely between Ternate and Tidore Islands. The island is known for being clean, has exotic beaches, white sand and bluish clear sea water.

In addition to its natural beauty, visitors can also snorkel around Maitara Beach to see its underwater beauty filled with coral reefs and eye-catching fish. To see the hidden beauty of Maitara Island, visitors can use a speedboat departed from Ternate Island and the journey will take around 30 minutes.

3. Ora Beach

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This beach is located on Seram Island, Central Maluku Regency and its beauty is often juxtaposed with the Maldives and Bora Bora in France. To enjoy the beauty of the beach here, you must have a minimum savings of IDR5.000.000 considering the access to the location requires several times changing transport service.

Although it’s quite expensive, the amazing natural beauty of Ora Beach will pay off all the costs and fatigue you feel. The beach has also lodging facilities, local guide services as well as beautiful snorkeling and diving spots that will pamper tourists.

4. Hatupia Cliffs

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Still on the same location near the Ora Beach, there is a high rock cliff and named Hatupia by the local community. To get to this cliff, it takes about 15 minutes from Ora Beach. This cliff is located on a hill and around it there is very clear sea water along with white sand.

Thanks to the clarity of the water, the location around the cliff is commonly used by tourists as a snorkeling area. Underwater scenery such as coral reefs and small fishes will be seen very clearly.

5. Hoko Waterfall

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Hoko Waterfall is located in Hoko Village, Kei Islands, Southeast Maluku Regency. This tourist attraction presents extraordinary views accompanied by clear blue water with a depth less than two meters. The visitors can enjoy not only the beauty of the waterfall but also can test the adrenaline by climbing the cliffs that have a small fault for footrests.

6. Siwalima Museum

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Siwalima is a museum that was built during the colonial period in Indonesia. The building was built on a hill and overlooking the Ambon Bay. So that every tourist who visits this museum will be able to witness the beauty of the bay which is quite exotic from a height. This has become one of main attraction in Maluku and at the same time visitors can learn the historical objects inside the museum.

Beside watching the panorama of the bay from the top of the hill, tourists also have the opportunity to view the history of Ambonese society in the era of the struggle. And at the location there is an officer on duty to guide tourists by telling the historical story behind the objects available in the museum.

7. Sawai Village

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Sawai is one of the oldest villages in Indonesia. This village is located in North Seram District, Central Maluku Regency. It is said that this village existed before the arrival of the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch to Indonesia. The area of Sawai Village is around 15 hectares with a population of around 4,000. According to hereditary stories, Arab traders who came to Seram Island were the first people to build this village. This can be seen from the development of culture related to middle east customs, such as stringed music, robe clothing and building architecture.

Now Sawai Village is part of the Manusela National Park along with five other hamlets, which are the Opin, Rumaolat, Olong and Besi. The village location is in the vicinity of the bay so that the waters are clear and calm.

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Manusela National Park is a conservation area with an area of around 189,000 Ha. The location of this area covers almost 75 percent of Central Maluku Regency. This park is a combination of two nature reserves, which are the Wae Nua and the Wae Mual along with the entire expansion of its territory.

However, administratively the Manusela National Park area is part of the North Seram District with its capital Wahai and the South Seram District with its capital Tehoru. This National Park is truly vast and has natural wealth as well as beautiful panoramas that has been known to foreign countries.

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The contours of the area in Manusela National Park are very diverse. Starting from the mountains, small hills, pristine tropical forests, mangrove forests as well as the ocean with coral reefs that are very beautiful. In fact, it is said that the Manusela National Park is the most beautiful natural conservation area in Indonesia.

Various activities can also be carried out in Manusela National Park, ranging from rock climbing, hiking mountain, camping, snorkeling to diving that can also be conducted in various locations with different attractions.

For hiking lovers, this nature tourism area has Mount Binaiya which is the highest mountain in Maluku. This mountain is quite friendly to climb, of course, with licensing procedures in accordance with applicable regulations. Binaiya location is right in the middle of Seram Island and already has safe hiking access and has amazing scenery.

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For those who don’t like mountains, the north coast of Seram Island also holds extraordinary charm. Various types of coral reefs and beautiful marine ecosystems are ready to welcome those of you who want to snorkel or dive in the region. Moreover, various attractive and beautiful resorts are also can be found in this coastal area and are ready to bring anyone who visits to be amazed by the beautiful charm of the Manusela National Park.

Various flora and fauna typical of Maluku can be found in this National Park. Some of them are the Eucalyptus, Banyan, Mangrove, Ketapang, Cypress and many more have become the park’s natural vegetation. For fauna, large birds such as Cockatoo, Cassowary, Nuri and Kasturi or animals such as Kuskus, Deer, Mapea, Weasel and several others are the permanent residents of Manusela National Park. In fact, their existence is immediately protected under a law that forbids anyone to hunt in Manusela National Park area.

Manusela National Park is a very valuable “treasure” of Indonesia. Moreover, its existence is an important asset for the future of the Indonesian people both in the forestry and tourism sectors.

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But unlike other mountains, Dukono has a volcanic crater with intense activity. Dukono Mountain also has many craters that are still actively spitting out their lavas, which is a difference among other volcanoes in Indonesia. The active craters are the Malupang-Warirang crater. Until now it has been recorded that Dukono Volcano has erupted 21 times.

During first violent eruption in 1550, the lava released by Dukono filled the strait between Halmahera Island and the northern slope of Mount Mamuya. The eruption reached a scale of 3 from the Volcanic Explosivity Index.

After the first eruption, Dukono no longer spewed its lava and was declared passive until 1861-1869 the eruption returned but not as powerful as the first eruption in 1550. After that the eruption occurred again in 1901. The eruption occurred around the central crater and the terrain.

During 1933-1939, Mount Dukono erupted more powerful than the previous eruption but not as powerful as the first eruption which made village activities around the mountain hampered due to damage occurred as a result from the eruption.

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Since 1933 until now, activity in the Dukono Volcano has continued to increase, such as the release of thick black smoke from the crater and the occurrence of minor eruptions around the mountain area.

The geological data of the Dukono Volcano can be concluded if the eruption issued by the Dukono Volcano is an explosive eruption and an effusive eruption that initially occurred at the time of the first eruption to the present time which still ejects the same lava.

As a natural tourist attraction, Dukono is the only volcano that is still active today in North Halmahera. Therefore, although a little dangerous, it is one of the best tourist destinations that you should visit if you are on vacation in North Halmahera.

In Indonesia, of the many active volcanoes, Dukono together with Mount Lokon in North Sulawesi are the two most frequently on alert (level 2). Every year since 1933, Dukono has recorded eruptions. Eruption is the activity of releasing the magma from under earth’s surface which is usually marked by the sound of thunder.

Travel to Dukono Volcano

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It takes around 5 to 6 hours to climb Dukono. The climb can be started from Mamuya Village or Ruko Village. Before making the climb, you should first ask about the current status of Dukono at the Volcano Observation Post in the village of Mamuya. Then ask about the safest path to take. The small road directly in front of the observation office is the starting road to the top of Dukono. You should then be accompanied by a local guide.

During the trip to Dukono Peak, you can also find Halmahera birds that live around this area. Some of the birds are Nuri, White Parrot, Eagle and Crow.

Climbing Dukono is getting difficult when you arrive at the volcanic rock area after you pass the forest. The terrain is quite steep and narrow so you must be careful. One interesting thing about this volcanic rock area is the story that this place is often used by local people for hunting deer (in local language called: “mangasu”).

After passing through the difficult hills, you will see the Dukono Volcano, which is next to Karianga Mountain. Dukono Mountain activities are currently taking place in Malupang Wariang Crater which is almost round in shape with a diameter of 360 m and has a depth of 230 m.

Climbing Preparation

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You should prepare climbing equipment in advance and also prepare machetes because the path you take is sometimes blocked by shrubs. Also prepare some equipments to spend the night at the summit because if you are lucky then you will witness Dukono’s flare at night.

To climb to the top is about 14.3 Km, which is usually started from the road which is located right in front of the Volcano Observation Post in Mamuya Village. If, you want to shorten the trip, you can also rent a motorcycle taxi to pass through a resident plantation area.

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