With the Tuna Tomini from Wakai (Togians) to Gorontalo

The farewell from the Togians was hard for us, but the journey continued on Thursday, August 3rd. There are 2 difficult options to leave the Togian Islands. Either like our arrival via Ampana to Luwuk (approx. 8h) or via Gorontalo (12h).

We decided on the 2nd option, a night ferry to Gorontalo, which only operates twice a week.

Reason: We heard from other tourists that there is an opportunity to snorkel with whale sharks in Gorontalo.

There is a ferry schedule, but they are only rough guidelines. The ferry was supposed to depart from Wakai at 4pm, but it didn't arrive until shortly before 7pm and left at 8pm - 'Indonesian time' as the locals would say.😅

On the ferry itself, there were different categories. Since we were on board for 12 hours overnight, we tried to get a captain's cabin so that we could sleep a little despite the waves. The additional charge was reasonable. We only had to pay the equivalent of €3.90 for a 12-hour journey and the cabin cost €18/person.

Many hotels assured us that we would have no trouble getting a cabin. However, the situation was different on site - chaos and unexpectedly many tourists wanting to board the Tuna Tomini ferry in Sulawesi. On top of that, there was a problem with the cabins as some double bookings occurred. We were lucky, got on the ship relatively quickly despite the chaos when the ferry docked, and immediately occupied our cabin on the top deck. Other tourists had also paid for a cabin in advance, but then had to switch to sleeping in dormitories& and sleep on thin mattresses with approximately 40 other people in one room.

After we had settled into our cabin for the first time, we went outside again to admire the starry sky& and the full moon. Finally, we passed by Kadidiri Paradise with the ferry, where the ferry made a lot of noise and we waved goodbye to the Togian Islands with flashlights. Then we enjoyed our delicious Nasi Goreng before resting.

A little refreshed, we arrived in the city of Gorontalo in North Sulawesi at 8am. We were lucky that the ferry's delay was not too long and we still had 2-3 hours for an activity in Gorontalo before continuing our journey to Yogyakarta.