Banggai Islands

The Banggai archipelago lies east of the Sulawesi mainland off Luwuk, a scatter of islands with reef, seagrass and limestone coast, and it has a specific claim on attention. The Banggai cardinalfish, a small striped fish that occurs naturally only in this archipelago and nowhere else in the world, became one of the most collected marine aquarium species in the trade from the 1990s, taken in enormous numbers from a tiny range; it was listed as endangered, populations collapsed at many sites, and captive breeding and local management have since been developed to reduce pressure. It lives in association with sea urchins and anemones in shallow water and is easy to see snorkelling. The islands otherwise have very little tourism, with homestays and long ferry connections.

What you actually see

• The Banggai cardinalfish - endemic to this archipelago, endangered by the aquarium trade.
• Urchin association - the fish sheltering among sea urchin spines in the shallows.
• Limestone islands and reef - the coast and shallows across the group.
• Almost no tourism - homestays and ferries rather than resorts.

When to go

April to October. Four days.

Honest expectations

Getting there means flights to Luwuk and then ferries on limited schedules. Facilities are basic homestays. Do not buy or encourage the collection of the cardinalfish; the trade is the problem.

Nearby

Luwuk is on the Sulawesi mainland; the Togean Islands are north-west.