Labengki & Sombori 4D3N: Lagoons, Caves and Twin Lagoon

The version we recommend most often. The extra day buys you the whole Labengki side, which the three-day trip has to skip.

Four days is the point where Labengki stops being a stopover and starts being a destination. The three-day trip covers Sombori well and then runs out of time. This one keeps the full Sombori day and adds a dedicated Labengki day: Twin Lagoon, Toros Kampali, the Blue Lagoon, Small Labengki Beach, the lighthouse and the Swimming Pool Cave.

The islands are drowned limestone, which is the reason for the shape of everything here. Ridges of karst break the sea into enclosed lagoons, some of them cut off enough to warm up and change colour through the day. Snorkelling is mostly shallow and sheltered, so it works for people who are competent in the water rather than expert. Currents are mild inside the lagoons and stronger on the outer edges, and your guide will tell you which is which.

Take this one if you want to see both islands properly without committing to a week.

Getting there

Everything starts in Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi. Haluoleo airport (KDI) takes daily flights from Makassar, and Makassar connects to Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya several times a day. We collect you in Kendari at 08:00 and drive to Tanasa Port, then it is roughly three hours by wooden boat to Labengki. Plan to arrive in Kendari the night before. Same-day connections do not work.

What the accommodation is actually like

Simple, and worth knowing in advance. Rooms are twin share with a shared bathroom, either in a homestay or in a cottage a step above it. There is no air conditioning, hot water is not guaranteed and the electricity runs on a generator that goes off overnight. Mobile signal is patchy on Labengki and mostly absent around Sombori. People who come expecting a resort are disappointed; people who come for the water are not.

A note on price

The per-person rate falls sharply as the group grows, because the boat, the guide and the fuel cost the same whether one person or six is aboard. Two people pay roughly double what six people pay each. If your dates are flexible, tell us and we will try to pair you with another small group. Cottage accommodation is available on every departure for a supplement.