What is there to see in Sulawesi?

Sulawesi is the orchid-shaped island in the middle of Indonesia, and it holds three destinations that have very little in common except that each is among the best of its kind in the country.

Bunaken

A marine park off Manado in the far north, known for wall diving: reefs that drop vertically from the surface to several hundred metres, covered in sponges and soft coral, with turtles, reef sharks and enormous schools of fish.

Visibility is excellent for much of the year and the walls make for easy, dramatic diving with almost no current at many sites.

Stay on Bunaken itself in simple resorts, or in Manado and take day boats.

Season: roughly March to November, with the best conditions from about May to October.

Nearby: Lembeh Strait, an hour away, is the world's best muck diving: black volcanic sand with extraordinary rare critters — mimic octopus, hairy frogfish, blue-ringed octopus. It is the opposite of Bunaken and divers often do both.

The Togean Islands

A remote archipelago in the Gulf of Tomini, in the middle of the island, with coral atolls, jellyfish lakes, a wrecked bomber and almost no infrastructure.

Getting there is the barrier. It means a long drive to Ampana or Gorontalo and then a ferry of several hours, and schedules change. Nobody arrives here by accident.

What you get: simple bungalows over the water, snorkelling straight off the deck, no roads, unreliable power and a week where nothing happens. For a certain kind of traveller it is the best place in Indonesia.

Tana Toraja

In the mountainous south, the homeland of the Toraja people, whose funeral traditions are among the most remarkable cultural practices anywhere.

Funerals are elaborate, expensive, multi-day ceremonies held sometimes years after death, with buffalo sacrifice, dancing and hundreds of guests. Visitors are frequently welcomed if they come with a guide, bring an appropriate gift such as cigarettes or sugar, and behave respectfully. It is not a performance; it is a family's ceremony, and the invitation is genuine.

Cliff graves and tau tau, carved wooden effigies of the dead set in galleries on the rock face.

Traditional tongkonan houses, with their upswept roofs and carved facades.

The landscape, which is rice terraces and limestone karst and genuinely beautiful.

Getting there: fly to Makassar from Bali, about two hours, then eight to nine hours by road or bus to Rantepao, or fly to Toraja's small airport.

Practical notes

Distances are enormous. Sulawesi is four times the size of Bali and the roads follow the coasts and mountains. Plan in days, not hours.

Malaria is present in parts of Sulawesi, particularly the Togeans and remote areas. Take medical advice.

Cash. ATMs in the cities and unreliable elsewhere, particularly the Togeans.

Facilities are basic outside Manado and Makassar.

Ferries in the Togeans do not run daily and are weather-dependent. Build slack into the plan.

How long

Bunaken and Lembeh: five to seven days. Tana Toraja: four to five days including travel. The Togeans: a week minimum because of the journey. All three in one trip is three weeks.

Makassar and the south

Most trips start in Makassar, a large port city with a fort, a long seafront and excellent seafood. It is worth a night rather than a week.

From there, Bira on the southern tip has white-sand beaches, diving and the boatyards where traditional phinisi schooners are still built by hand on the beach. Watching a 40-metre wooden ship being built without plans is one of the more remarkable things in Indonesia.

Getting around Sulawesi

Flights connect Makassar, Manado, Palu, Kendari and Toraja's small airport, and they are the sensible way to cover the island. Long-distance buses are cheap, night-running and slow; the Makassar to Rantepao run takes eight to nine hours.

Roads follow the coasts and mountains, and the distances on the map are not the distances in hours. Nothing about Sulawesi travel is fast, and that is the price of it being as unvisited as it is.