Central Sulawesi - Indonesia

What to do - Highlights * Danau Poso * Lore Lindu National Park

Indonesia Travel Stories

Central Sulawesi

Regions of Sulawesi

• North Sulawesi
• Central Sulawesi
• South Sulawesi
• Southeast Sulawesi

Other Indonesian locations

• Bali
• Flores
• Gili Islands
• Java
• Kalimantan
• Komodo
• Lombok
• Maluku
• Sulawesi
• Sumatra
• Riau Islands
• West Papua
• West Timor

Central Sulawesi's 63,000km² is mostly mountainous with spectacular scenery including the impressive Lake Poso and the Lore Lindu National Park. The population of Central Sulawesi is around 2 million people.

The capital city of the Central Sulawesi province is Palu.

Lore Lindu National Park is accessible from Palu.

In the Bada and Besoa valleys are Bronze Age megaliths found in the highlands, both found in the southern section of the Lore Lindu National park.

The other nature reserves in Central Sulawesi include Peruhumperal Mountain Reserve, Tanjung Api Reserve and Morowali Reserve.

Danau Poso is the 3rd largest lake in Indonesia with Lake Towuti (also in Sulawesi) being the 2nd and Lake Toba in North Sumatra being the largest. Lake Poso is located 600m above sea level. One of the most impressive flora you'll found around Lake Poso are the wild orchids that grow on the banks of the lake.

On the northern shore of Danau Poso is the small village of Tentena. Close by you'll find two cave networks, Latea Cave and Pamona Cave which contains human skulls and bones from ancient burials.

Another trip worth making from Tentana is to Salopa Waterfalls. The falls collect in pools excellent for swimming surrounded by forest. To get to the waterfalls you need to take a small bus to the village of Tonusa then it is a 3km walk through the forest to get to the falls.

Last updated 18th June 2009

Getting to Central Sulawesi

Palu airport is called Mutiara airport. There are various airlines that fly into Palu from a number of different locations within Indonesia. The following airlines fly to Palu:

Batavia Air have direct flights to Palu from Balikpapan, Batam, Jakarta, Pontianak, Surabaya and Makassar.

www.batavia-air.co.id

Merpati Air have direct flights to Palu from Jakarta, Kendari, Luwuk, Makassar, Manado, Poso, Surabaya, Tolitoli and Yogyakarta. www.merpati.co.id

Sriwijaya Air have direct flights to and from Palu and Balikpapan, Jakarta and Makassar. www.sriwijayaair-online.com

Accommodation / Hotels in Palu

Palu Golden Hotel, a 2 star hotel, is located at Jl Raden Saleh 22 Palu. Ph: +62 451 421126 Located on the beach which is not great for swimming though the hotel has a pool. www.palugolden.com

Swiss-belhotel Silae Palu is a 4 star hotel in the centre of Palu's business district, 10 minutes from the city centre. Room rates start from US$65 per night. www.swiss-belhotel.com