Sombori Islands: What They Are, How to Reach Them, What You See

A lot of pages treat Sombori as if it were a single island you buy a ticket for. It is not. Sombori is a scattered group of limestone islands, and the only way to see it is from a boat that moves between them over several days.

The other thing worth clearing up immediately: Sombori and Labengki are not the same place, and they are not even in the same province.

Where Sombori is

The Sombori islands sit in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi, which in Indonesian is Kabupaten Morowali, capital Bungku. The islands fall under the district of Menui Kepulauan, the Menui Islands, a district of a little over 127 square kilometres with a population in the low ten thousands. The village of Mbokita is often described as the gateway to the group.

Labengki, by contrast, is in North Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. The two island groups face each other across a stretch of water, and a single boat trip covers both, which is why the names are almost always written together. But they're two administrations, two provinces, and two fairly different landscapes.

If you have been reading around and come away confused about which is which, that's not you. Most of what is published blurs them. We wrote a separate page on how Labengki and Sombori differ precisely because the question keeps coming up.

The landscape here is limestone karst, and it is more broken up than Labengki. Towers and ridges of rock rising straight out of shallow water, narrow channels between them, and pockets of enclosed water tucked behind walls you would sail past without noticing.

Getting to Sombori

There are two realistic approaches, and they suit completely different trips.

From Kendari, by boat, as part of a Labengki and Sombori itinerary. This is what we do and it is how most visitors arrive. You fly into Haluoleo Airport (KDI) at Kendari, transfer north by road to Tanasa Port, and travel by wooden boat. Sombori is worked into the itinerary over one or more days, with the Labengki side covering the rest.

From Kolonodale or the Morowali side, overland then by boat. This is the Central Sulawesi approach. It is a long overland leg from either Kendari or Palu before you get anywhere near a boat, and it only makes sense if Sombori is your single destination and you are already travelling in Central Sulawesi.

Two constants either way. There's no scheduled public ferry to these islands. And boats leave in the morning, which means an evening arrival in your departure city the night before.

The full mechanics of the Kendari route are on planning a Labengki trip end to end.

What you actually see

The viewpoints

Puncak Kayangan is the reason a lot of people come. It is a short but steep climb up from the water onto a limestone ridge, and from the top you look out over a cluster of karst islands sitting in shallow, pale water. It is the image that appears on almost every article about this region.

You'll see the name spelled several ways. Kayangan, Khayangan and Kahyangan all circulate, and English-language sites often call it Sombori Hill. There are two viewpoints referred to as Kayangan 1 and Kayangan 2. We cover the climb, the timing and which one is which on the Kayangan viewpoint above the karst cluster.

The caves

Goa Berlian, Diamond Cave, is named for stalactites that glitter when light gets into the chamber. Morning is when the light does something worth photographing. The approach is a scramble up rock rather than a walk, and it is not for everyone. Details on Goa Berlian, the cave that catches the light.

Goa Allo is a wet cave. When the sea drops, the interior becomes a still, clear pool. When it doesn't, you don't go in. Tide governs this one entirely.

The lagoons and the jellyfish

Enclosed pools of still water sit behind the karst walls, some of them barely connected to the sea. One of them holds jellyfish, and it appears to be a recent addition to itineraries here rather than a long-known stop.

A caution, because it is repeated everywhere and it is wrong: you'll read that stingless jellyfish exist in only three places on Earth. They do not. Jellyfish lakes are documented at Kakaban in Kalimantan, in the Togean islands, in Palau, at Misool in Raja Ampat, and here. It is an unusual thing to swim in. It is not a thing that exists in three places.

Mbokita

Mbokita is a Bajo village built on stilts above the water, and it is the closest thing Sombori has to a town. The Bajo are a maritime people with a long history across this part of Indonesia, and Mbokita is a working village where people live and fish, not a heritage exhibit.

We visit it as a village visit, which means going at a reasonable hour, asking before photographing people, and buying something if there is something to buy.

Mbokita sits inside a marine conservation area. The Kawasan Konservasi Perairan Daerah Kabupaten Morowali, the regency's marine conservation area, was established by a Morowali regent's decree in 2013 and covers around 41,342 hectares, divided into two zones of which one is Sombori. Desa Mbokita falls within it.

There's no visitor fee collected at Mbokita, and no village retribution anywhere on the route. Entrance costs are inside the package, so you turn up owing nothing.

More on the Bajo stilt village at Mbokita.

Beaches

Several, mostly white sand, mostly reached by wading in from the boat because there are no piers. Air Kiri is the one named most often on the Sombori side.

How Sombori fits into a trip

Sombori is almost never done alone from Kendari, and there is a practical reason for that. The travelling is the expensive part. Once you have taken the road transfer and the boat crossing, the marginal cost of another day out there is low, and the marginal reward is high, because a great many of the best stops are weather-dependent and tide-dependent.

On a three-day trip, Sombori tends to get one full day. That is enough for the headline stops and it means a full day on the boat with limited slack. If a cave is unreachable on the tide that day, you miss it.

On four days and up, Sombori gets more room, and so does the possibility of going back to something the sea would not let you do the first time. This is the single strongest argument for the longer trips and it's worth understanding before you book the shortest one.

The southern half of the same trip is covered on Labengki, the larger island to the south.

Practical things to know

Landings are wet. No piers at the stops. You get off into the water and walk in. Anything that must stay dry lives in a dry bag.

Two of the best stops depend on the tide, not on your schedule. Goa Allo and several of the lagoon entrances only work at certain states of the water. A good boat crew plans the day around this. No crew can change it.

Power comes from generators and runs for part of the day, not all of it. Bring a power bank.

Telkomsel is the network that works out here. Others largely do not.

There's no ATM. Bring cash from the mainland.

Snorkeling gear is not included in our packages, so bring your own mask if you care about the fit.

Common questions

Is Sombori in the same province as Labengki? No. Sombori is in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi. Labengki is in North Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. One trip crosses the provincial line.

Can I visit Sombori on a day trip? Not from Kendari. The travelling time makes it a multi-day trip. From the Morowali side it is closer, but getting to Morowali is itself a long journey.

Is Sombori a national park with an entrance ticket? It is not a ticketed attraction in the way some search results suggest. Local entrance and retribution fees do apply at certain stops, and those are included in our packages.

How hard is the climb at Puncak Kayangan? Short, steep, and on rock and constructed steps. Most reasonably mobile people manage it. Sandals with grip are worth more here than any other item of footwear you bring.

Which is better, Labengki or Sombori? They're different. Sombori has the denser karst, the caves and the most photographed viewpoint. Labengki has the bigger beaches, the heart-shaped bay and the conservation story. Most people who have been to both would tell you to see both.