Visit Indonesia from Mauritius

There are 17,000 islands in Indonesia between Asia and Australia. They have more surprises from nature than most places. Their animals can be very interesting too! You will find everything from the burnt areas of Komodo to green volcano slopes in Flores and glittering reefs at Gili Islands. Beautiful crater lakes change color fast in front of you, while fighting dragons might come from a Jurassic Park movie.

Indonesia has a lot of different tribes, customs and ways to talk. Its 255 million people use over 500 languages or dialects they speak. Before you visit Indonesia, check our travel guide for all the information you need.

Indonesia travel facts

  • Size: The group of islands in Indonesia is big. It has over 17,000 pieces of land spread out for almost 52 hundred kilometers between two main areas: Asia and Australia.
  • Population: 255 million people - and the biggest group of Muslims in the whole world.
  • Diversity: The country has lots of different groups, customs and ways to talk: over 500 languages or special forms are used on the islands.
  • Wildlife: Indonesia's nature is amazing too. It makes the country a part of 17 big-nature places around the world where most plants and animals live. These are called 'mega diverse'.
  • Volcanoes: Indonesia has the third most volcanoes in the world after America and Russia. There's a lot, 139 to be exact. You can even climb some of them!
  • Economy: Indonesia has the largest economy in Southeast Asia and it's one of world’s biggest providers for rubber, coffee, cocoa. It also provides controversial palm oil.
  • Currency: Indonesian rupiah (Rp)
  • You never know what your Indonesian adventure will be like, so don't go without buying cheap travel insurance from our friend Heymondo.

 

Best Places to Visit in Indonesia

Choosing the best place to visit in Indonesia with many thousands of islands can be hard. As diverse as it is dramatic, the archipelago has many alluring sights: The famous place in Ubud where many people do art stuff, the huge building for Buddhism in Java, the blue crater lakes and rough mountains of Gunung Rinjani, and pretty beaches with white sand on Gili Islands are all special places.

That's not to mention the amazing animals, from big Komodo dragons to little tarsiers in Tangkoko National Park. Also, there are many wild orangutans playing around jungle areas like Bukit Lawang. However, past these noticed good things is a lot of unexplored area. The faraway Banda Islands are a great place for diving, while taking a boat ride on Borneo's big rivers shows what real Dayak life looks like.

But, we've listed a few top choices to think about for your trip in Indonesia.

 

Bali

Bali, known for its green rice terraces and art culture, has always been the example of Indonesian islands. The busy Kuta-Legian-Seminyak area has 8km of golden sand with places to stay, shops and hangouts. Nearby Canggu is not as built up much more untamed beaches have wilder areas. For fun, Bukit peninsula is great for surfing. Also Nusa Lembongan island and beaches at Amed and Padang Bai are good spots for snorkelling or diving at their calm waters. Ubud is the clear main culture center of Bali because it has many art and dance shows. Also, there are a lot of yoga studios and shops for paintings here too.

 

Lombok and Gili Islands

Just over 20 miles east of Bali, Lombok has more untouched beaches than its friend. It also has less cars and air pollution. It looks amazing, with the huge size of Mount Rinjani standing out above blue lakes in a volcanic crater. Just from the coast, famous places called Gili Islands are surrounded by white sandy beaches and clear coral reefs. Out of the three, Gili Trawangan is known to be a party island. On the other hand, Gili Air and Meno have a more relaxed feeling.

 

Java

Java's main part has a lot of volcanoes. These fertile areas support shiny rice fields with lots of villages all over them. In the south is where most Javanese people come from. It's also the place for their traditional arts, culture and language that can be seen best in Yogyakarta and Solo royal courts. In the east, a volcanic mountain named Gunung Bromo gives great walks. The best time to go is at sunrise. Somewhere else are the old temples of Dieng Plateau, the pretty blue lake called Kawah Ijen and beautiful beaches with palm trees near Pangandaran.

 

Sumatra

Sumatra is a discovery place, and most of it hasn't been found yet. Most of the highlights on the beaten path are clustered to the north of the old Trans-Sumatran highway: The orangutan-filled jungles in Bukit Lawang, the spiritual area of Batak tribe in Danau Toba. There are also two volcanoes at Berastagi and great places for diving like Pulau Weh. To the west you'll find Bukittinggi - a big cultural city of the Minangkabau Highlands. It is also close to Danau Maninjau lake surrounded by forest.

 

Best time to visit Indonesia

All of Indonesia's islands are hot. The heat is always between 21°C and 33°C, but it's cooler in the mountains. In theory, the best time to travel in Indonesia is based on rainy and dry seasons. But it's usually hard to tell these apart. This is more often happening with the impacts of climate change. It's already changed how seasons happen, sometimes making wet times short and focused.

Mostly, across many areas in the nation, November to April are usually wet months (January and February have the most rain). But from May until October it's generally dry. The costliest time to go to Indonesia is from mid-June till the middle of September and also during Christmas and New Year's. That's when rooms can be filled up for days straight with no empty ones left. Learn more about the best time to visit Indonesia.

How to get to Indonesia?

In our Indonesia guide, this section will focus on the best ways to travel to the country and how you can move around its islands.

Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta Airport and Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport are the main places you can fly into Indonesia. There are direct flights from some Australian cities as well as lots of other destinations in Asia coming here too.

The island group also has big airports in Medan, Makassar, Manado Padang Surabaya and Yogyakarta. These connect mostly to other Southeast Asian airports.

To get to Indonesia by boat, you can use ferries that connect with Malaysia and Singapore.

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