Hotelupwell.com – Indonesia is an archipelago country and has many cool tourist destinations. One of the mainstay destinations is marine tourism.
Marine tourism is one way for tourists, both local and foreign, to appreciate the beauty of Indonesia’s oceans.
Reported by detikTravel from the official website of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, marine tourism is a natural tourism activity that takes place in coastal and/or marine areas which includes beach tourism, seascape tourism and underwater tourism.
Maritime tourism destinations in Indonesia are a place for holidays with the family. Interested in making marine tourism your next vacation spot? Read the full review until the end
7 Recommendations for Marine Tourism in Indonesia
The following are marine tourism locations in Indonesia that will fascinate detikers with the beauty of the sea.
1. Gili Trawangan
Gili Trawangan is one of a group of small islands from the Three Gilis: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air, abbreviated as Gili Tramena. The location is west of Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara.
Quoting the official website of the West Nusa Tenggara Province Tourism Office, this island has stretches of white sand and charming views of the blue sea. Activities that are quite popular here are diving and snorkeling. Visitors can also surf, kayak, and even release baby turtles into the open sea.
2. Derawan Islands
The Derawan Islands are an archipelago located in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan.
Quoting the official website of the East Kalimantan Provincial Tourism Office, in the Derawan Islands, there are several very important coastal and small island ecosystems, such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove forests. Apart from that, various protected species can be found here, such as green turtles, hawksbill turtles, whales, dolphins, clams, coconut crabs, dugongs and barracuda fish.
There are 4 famous islands in this archipelago, namely Derawan Island, Maratua, Sangalaki and Kakaban. On Derawan Island itself, detikers can rent bicycles around the island, play on the white sand beach, snorkel, and even see turtles laying eggs at night. Detikers can also visit Gusung Pasir Sanggalau, a mound of clean white sand which can be reached by speedboat for about 20 minutes if the water is low.
On Maratua Island, there are residential villages. Here, detikers can visit the Halo Tube Cave which can be accessed by land and sea during high tide. There is also a dive spot called Turtle Traffic, where visitors can swim with turtles.
What about Sangalaki Island? Here, there are no residential areas. Here is an exclusive resort and TWA (Natural Tourism Park) which functions to preserve marine biota, especially habitat for green turtles and hawksbill turtles. Here, detikers can see the process of hatching turtle eggs, see turtles laying eggs, and releasing hatchlings into the sea. Detikers can also swim with manta rays around Sangalaki Island, you know.
Lastly is Kakaban Island, which is also an uninhabited island. The main attraction on this island is the brackish water lake in the center of the island and surrounded by quite dense forest. In the lake, there are many jellyfish that have undergone an evolutionary process so that they have lost their ability to sting. So, detikers can swim with jellyfish without fear of being stung.
3. Wakatobi
Wakatobi Regency is located in Southeast Sulawesi province. Here, there is the Wakatobi National Park which stores marine biodiversity. According to the official website, detikers can enjoy various marine tourism activities here.
For example, exploring the farthest island in Wakatobi National Park, namely Cowo-Cowo Island. This island has wide sand beaches, clear sea, rows of beautiful coconut trees, and unique coral reefs.
Not only that, this island is a hatching location for turtles that come up to lay their eggs, so it is used as a turtle monitoring location.
If you want to dive, Sombu Dive in Wakatobi National Park is one of the popular diving spots. The attraction of this diving spot is the midnight snapper fish (Macolor macularis). Apart from that, this dive location is suitable for beginner divers.
4. Natuna Islands
Natuna is one of the districts in the Riau Islands province. Quoting the official website of the Natuna Regency Tourism Office, this archipelago is located in the northernmost part of the Karimata Strait.
Natuna Regency has various natural tourist attractions, including marine tourism. Detikers can visit various islands in the Natuna Islands, for example Senua Island which is surrounded by white sand beaches and clear water so you can see the seabed.
There is also Sahi Island, a small uninhabited island that can be reached on foot when the sea water is low. The sea around this island has beautiful and charming coral reefs. Detikers can enjoy swimming, snorkeling or fishing.
5. Labuan Bajo
When talking about marine tourism, most people probably immediately think of Labuan Bajo. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has even designated Labuan Bajo as a super priority destination. Labuan Bajo is in Komodo District, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province.
One of the very interesting marine tourism spots in Labuan Bajo is Pink Beach. The sea is blue and clean, and just as the name suggests, the sand on this beach is pink. This color comes from microscopic animals and reddish coral rock fragments around the coast.
In Labuan Bajo, detikers can also visit Komodo National Park. The area consists of several intersecting islands, namely Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Padar Island, and several other islands in the surrounding area. Here detikers can see the Komodo dragon directly, an ancient animal in the form of a giant lizard that is known to only exist in Indonesia.
6. Bunaken
Bunaken is an island located in the northern part of the island of Sulawesi. Administratively, Bunaken is part of the city of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province. Bunaken Island is part of the Bunaken National Park, a conservation area with stunning underwater natural beauty.
Quoting the official website of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, there are at least 4 dive spots that are often visited, namely Malcolm, Bethlehem, Emma Point and Fish House.
Apart from that, there are 2 snorkeling spots that are busy visiting, namely Emma Point and Fish House. Divers will be pampered with the beauty of thousands of types of tropical fish and coral reefs.
7. Raja Ampat
One of Indonesia’s famous marine tourism locations is Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is a district in the province of Southwest Papua which consists of 610 islands, most of which are small, uninhabited islands and do not yet have names.
One of the archipelago groups in this district is the Raja Ampat Islands, one of the most popular diving destinations in Indonesia. Divers are treated to the beauty of a very diverse underwater ecosystem.
The underwater ecosystem in Raja Ampat is very well preserved. In 2022, Raja Ampat received the Blue Park Award by the Marine Conservation Institute for its excellent marine conservation.
Since this award was launched in 2017 until now (6/5/2024), there have been 30 marine protected areas throughout the world that have received this prestigious award.
