Siau Island Travel Guide: Tarsiers & Scenery In Sulawesi Indonesia

by David & Intan

Siau Island is a small, remote island with amazing nature in northeast Indonesia, and itโ€™s pretty easy to visit from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi.

Pulau Siau may not be very well known (at all), but it has many of the things that make Indonesia great: scenery, wildlife, and volcanoes!

Itโ€™s home to one of the worldโ€™s most active volcanoes (Mount Karangetang), which is almost constantly smoking, and frequently spitting out rocks and lava.

The island is also home to a unique species of tarsier called the Siau Island tarsier, and you can see these little bug eyed primates in the wild.

This travel guide will explain how to get there, and everything you need to know before you go!


Pulau Siau Island Gunung Karangetang Sulawesi Indonesia

Smoking twin craters on Mount Karangetang


 

Where Is Siau Island?

Siau Island (pronounced โ€˜see-owwโ€™) is located about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Manado, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Itโ€™s part of the far-flung Sitaro islands regency, which includes the volcanic islands of Siau, Tagulandang and Biaro.
 

How To Get To Siau Island

There are currently two ways to get to Siau Island.

The normal way is to take a 4 hour fast ferry from Manado harbor to Siau. The ferry is clean, safe, and runs daily in each direction. Itโ€™s like a big speed boat with air conditioning and comfy seats. The price is 220k Rupiah.

The other way is to take a domestic flight to the brand new Naha airport (NAH) on Siau. There are two flights weekly with Wings Air from Manado (MDC) and it only takes about 1 hour. You can shop for flights to Naha at Skyscanner.

If you go in the rainy season (November to April), you might want to avoid the ferry because the waves on the open ocean can be very choppy and scary. Otherwise, in normal months, the ferry is great.

Kalea Beach Resort Sulawesi       Pulau Masare Island Sulawesi

Pulau Mahoro Island Siau Indonesia Drone

Drone pic of Mahoro Island with Siau in the background


 

How To Get Around

You can get around Pulau Siau by car, scooter, or boat. Itโ€™s not a small enough island to be walkable.

Car pickup and dropoff at the harbor were included in the hotel price where we stayed (at the Kalea Beach Resort), and then we paid them for a few ojek rides (motorbike taxis) when we went tarsier spotting and when I climbed Gunung Karangetang.

You can expect to pay about 100k for a motorbike taxi ride from the south part of the island to the north, or vice versa, because it takes about 1 hour to drive from one end of the island to the other.

Motorbikes can be rented for about 50-100k per day in Ulu (the main town), and the roads are decent, but we didnโ€™t feel like self driving.

An island hopping tour to Mahoro is 800k Rupiah for the day (starting from Kalea), but you might be able to negotiate for less since itโ€™s a small boat and the islands are very close to Pulau Siau.

Pulau Siau Island Sulawesi Indonesia Pulau Mahoro Island

Pulau Mahoro is one of the islands you can visit near Siau


 

Best Things To See & Do In Pulau Siau

 

โ€ข Mount Karangetang (Gunung Karangetang)

The Karangetang volcano is the most amazing feature of Siau Island, and you canโ€™t go anywhere on the island without seeing it.

Itโ€™s one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, and the top has twin smoking craters. If youโ€™re lucky, you may even get to see it spouting molten lava and rock bombs at night, which it does pretty often.

You can climb to the top of Karangetang if youโ€™re feeling extra crazy, but to be safe most people only hike partway up the mountain and peep at the smoking craters from a distance (and even thatโ€™s a bit risky).

Needless to say, hiking this volcano is an amazing (but challenging) experience!

Read More: Best Hikes In Indonesia

Pulau Siau Island Gunung Karangetang Sulawesi Indonesia

Volcano in the clouds

Climbing Gunung Karangetang Sulawesi Indonesia

Climbing Karangetang

Pulau Siau Island Gunung Karangetang Sulawesi Indonesia

Smoking twin craters


 

โ€ข Mahoro Island (Pulau Mahoro)

Pulau Mahoro is a small island east of Siau that has nice white sand and some of the bluest water weโ€™ve seen in Indonesia, plus you can see the smoking volcano in the distance!

Itโ€™s easy to visit Pulau Mahoro (plus the other nearby islands) on a day trip from Siau since you can reach it in just 30 minutes by speedboat.

Thereโ€™s also a short trail to the top of the island, but we skipped it since I was planning to hike Gunung Karangetang the next morning.

Pulau Mahoro Island Siau Indonesia

Amazing beach

While we were on Mahoro, a local couple staying on the island asked us to give 50k Rupiah as a โ€˜cleanup feeโ€™ after their friends had a big party there.

I donโ€™t mind paying for trash cleanup, but we never saw them do any cleaning all day (just napping), so we gave 20k and explained the reason.

There was some trash on the island, but not too bad. Overall, itโ€™s one of the most beautiful beaches weโ€™ve seen in Indonesia.

If you explore the backside of the island by boat, it even has multiple caves (including one you can go inside) and a rock arch on the sea.

Mahoro Drone

Drone pic of Mahoro Island

Pulau Mahoro Island Siau Indonesia Drone

Small islands around Siau


 

โ€ข Masare Island (Pulau Masare)

This is another small island near Pulau Mahoro, with more of the same white sandy beaches and turquoise water.

You can easily visit it together with Mahoro, and Iโ€™ve heard the snorkeling is good at this one, but we didnโ€™t try.

From Mahoro, you can reach this island in only 10 minutes or less.

Pulau Masare Island Sulawesi

Arriving at Masare Island

The island is home to some rare Maleo birds, an endangered species thatโ€™s endemic to Indonesia (only found in Sulawesi and Buton).

The Maleo birds lay their eggs under the sand, and then the hot sand incubates them in the sun. Neat!

The shape of the island even looks like a bird from above.

Pulau Masare Island Siau Indonesia

Drone views

Pulau Masare Island Siau Indonesia

Pulau Masare from above


 

โ€ข Siau Island Tarsier Spotting

Siau is home to its own unique species of tarsier, called the Siau Island tarsier. These are little bug eyed primates that hunt insects in the dark.

There are lots of tarsiers in the southern part of the island, and you should definitely spend at least one evening seeing them!

Our hotel (Kalea) arranged 2-3 hours of tarsier spotting for 150k Rupiah, including transport for both of us.

Siau Island Tarsier Pulau Siau Sulawesi Indonesia

Siau Island Tarsier

We actually had even better luck finding tarsiers here than at the Tangkoko Nature Reserve in north Sulawesi. We saw several, and heard even more chirping in the night.

Remember to keep your distance and donโ€™t use a camera flash (small handheld lights are okay). The Siau Island tarsier is critically endangered, so you donโ€™t want to stress the little guys.

I used a stock lens for these pics, but with a proper camera setup and a long range lens Iโ€™m sure you could do much better.

Siau Island Tarsier Pulau Siau Sulawesi Indonesia

Hiding in the leaves


 

โ€ข Temboko Lehi Beach (Pantai Temboko Lehi)

This is a hot spring beach on the northwest side of Siau island.

The source of the hot water is from underground fissures at the foot of the Karangetang volcano, and the water is actually too hot to swim in directly, although thereโ€™s a safe pool near it the locals can show you.

Temboko Lehi is unique for being the only hot spring beach in Indonesia! In fact, these are very rare anywhere on Earth. I think there are only a handful worldwide.
 
 

Where To Stay In Siau Island

 

โ€ข Kalea Beach Resort

We stayed a few nights at the Kalea Beach Resort, which is the main place to stay in Siau, located on the south end of the island.

Itโ€™s set on a rocky beach with views of the volcano in the distance, a nice breeze, and tiny hermit crabs walking on the sand. We even heard tarsiers in the trees at night.

The rooms are very basic but comfy enough, with flush toilets and a hand shower. They donโ€™t have A/C, but the fan is enough to keep you cool at night.

Everything needs a bit of upkeep and a bed net would be nice, although we saw very few mosquitoes. The hotel staff was nice and helpful, and they were willing to negotiate on the prices.

We paid 500k per night during Corona, and that included transfers to/from the harbor and 3 meals per day for both of us. All of the food was amazing.

You can contact them via WhatsApp at โ˜Ž +62 821-8773-3163.

Kalea Beach Resort Sulawesi

Volcano views from the Kalea Beach Resort

Siau Island Tarsier Pulau Siau Sulawesi Indonesia

Feels likeโ€ฆ weโ€™re being watched!


 

โ€ข Other Accommodation

There are lots of basic homestays popping up in Ulu, the main town on Siau Island.

My top recommendation would be Little House, which is located in the main town right by the harbor, and has its own little restaurant and a minimarket nearby.

Keep in mind itโ€™s a very basic homestay, but they have double bedrooms or family rooms available with A/C, hot showers, and TV. Prices range from 220k to 550k per night, depending on which size and type of room you choose.

Coincidentally, itโ€™s owned by the same people as the Kalea Beach Resort, so the contact number is the same (+62 821-8773-3163). The woman who manages Little House is very friendly and helpful even though they donโ€™t speak much English.

After I hiked Karangetang, they let me use the shower at Little House and cooked us a free breakfast even though we werenโ€™t staying there!

Nutmeg Spice Mace Sulawesi Indonesia

Siau may not be part of the original โ€œspice islandsโ€ (Maluku), but it has the same nutmeg industry

Tropical Bay

Views of Siau from Mount Karangetang


 

Other Tips For Siau Island

  • ATM: There are several working ATMs in Ulu town. We used BNI and it gives the smaller 50k Rupiah notes.
  • Credit Cards: No credit cards were accepted anywhere when we visited. Youโ€™ll have to pay everything by cash or bank transfer.
  • Electricity: The whole island has 24/7 electricity, although we had a couple of 15 minute outages at Kalea.
  • Cell Service: Telkomsel has good 4G reception all over the island. We used this for a hotspot at times since we never had WiFi.
  • WiFi: There is basically no WiFi on Siau Island, although Iโ€™m sure that will change soon. Kalea told us theyโ€™re planning to add it soon.

 

When To Visit Pulau Siau

Pulau Siau has a tropical rainforest climate similar to Manado and the rest of North Sulawesi.

The rainiest months are November through March, so try to avoid these if you can.

Happy travels!
 

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14 comments

peter dunn August 25, 2021 - 4:03 am

Thanks for a great read and photos on Siau. Hope to get there when it’s possible. We did Sangihe a couple of years back and loved it. ๐Ÿ™‚

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David August 26, 2021 - 2:04 am

Thanks Peter, I’m sure you’d love Siau! It’s an amazing island.

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Jade December 30, 2022 - 5:29 pm

How long did you spend on Siau Island? I would love to visit but I’m just figuring out how long I would need to see these places.

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David & Intan December 30, 2022 - 5:44 pm

Hi Jade! One full day or two is enough since it’s a small island. You can spend the first day island hopping and then see the tarsiers that evening. And then climb Karangetang the next morning if you’re interested (or just watch it from the beach at Kalea). I climbed Karangetang the same morning that we took the ferry back to Manado, so it’s possible if you start early.

Reply
Jade Wilkes December 30, 2022 - 8:43 pm

Thank you so much for your reply. It’s so hard to find out information in English so that’s really useful. I’m planning a trip to Sulawesi and basically using your articles as my main reference haha. We’re also going to Lambengki because of your blog.

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David & Intan December 30, 2022 - 9:12 pm

Nice! Have a great trip to Sulawesi and feel free to ask me any questions!

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Victor August 10, 2022 - 9:23 am

Thank you for your complete information about Siau Island.
I plan to go there hopefully next month

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David & Intan August 10, 2022 - 4:24 pm

Great! Have a nice trip! We’re happy to help with any questions.

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Marie March 31, 2023 - 10:44 am

Hi David & Intan, I live in Siau for 1 year with my husband 5 years ago. I just wanted to add that there is also amazing diving there and if people are interested they can dive with Limangu Diving, owned by some local friends.
Makalehi is also an island you can go to from Pehe in Siau and it’s worth the trip!

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David & Intan March 31, 2023 - 2:22 pm

Great! Thanks Marie! I knew about the heart shaped lake at Pulau Makalehi but we didn’t get a chance to visit it when we were in Siau.

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Laura June 22, 2023 - 9:31 am

Hello we want to go in Siau for one week in February. How rainy is the climate ? We are an italo-french family of four, with two kids.

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David & Intan June 22, 2023 - 4:57 pm

Hi Laura. February is the rainy season, but I’m sure you could still have a good visit. Just plan your activities for the morning when it’s usually clear.

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Vinsensia Sekar August 11, 2023 - 4:10 am

hai! saya akhir juni lalu mengunjungi Siau juga hingga awal Juli tahun ini. cuaca di hari-hari tersebut sangat cerah dan saat saya berada disana saya merasa senja menuju malam langit masih sangat cerah dibandingkan dengan di Surabaya, tempat saya berdomisili saat ini, ataupun jogja, tempat tinggal saya semasa kecil. hilang dari hiruk pikuk surabaya sejenak ke Siau ternyata membuat saya dapat menikmati udara yang segar sekali. meskipun disana tidak banyak warung makan di daerah Ondong, tempat saya singgah, tapi perjalanan pantai menuju bukit-bukitnya membuat saya betah karena sangat indah. sayang saya tidak punya kamera yang bagus jadi tidak mengabadikannya dengan baik. gunung dan pantai. 2 hal sekaligus yang saya nimkati di 1 pulau. masih banyak cerita lain yang saya ingat dari kunjungan ini.

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David & Intan August 11, 2023 - 4:29 am

hai! senang mendengar kalau anda menikmati waktu di Siau. ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ™

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