Lake Tondano

Danau Tondano fills a caldera at around six hundred metres in the Minahasa highlands, about forty-six square kilometres and the largest lake in North Sulawesi, ringed by villages, paddy and the volcanoes of the highland belt. It supplies irrigation and hydroelectric power downstream and its fish - carp, tilapia, the small nike - are farmed in floating cages across large parts of the surface and eaten at the shore restaurants. The lake is in trouble: sedimentation from erosion in the catchment and nutrient loading from the cage farming have made it steadily shallower and more eutrophic, water hyacinth spreads, and rehabilitation has been declared a national priority more than once. Bukit Pinaras and the Sumaru Endo viewpoints look down on it, and the Waruga stone tombs of the Minahasa are nearby at Sawangan.

Highlights

• A caldera lake - forty-six square kilometres, the largest in the province.
• Floating fish cages - the aquaculture covering much of the surface.
• Visible eutrophication - shallowing, weed spread and declining water quality.
• Shore restaurants - the freshwater fish served at the villages round the lake.

When to go

All year; drier August to October. Half a day.

Good to know

The lake is degraded and the water is not clear - this is a working and troubled lake, not a scenic one. Facilities are shore restaurants. Boat prices are negotiated.

Nearby

Tomohon is west; the Waruga tombs at Sawangan are north; Manado is beyond.

Key facts