bali was 100% the plan. had everything half sorted and then one week before i just... didn't. scrapped it all and booked Banggai Islands in Sulawesi instead. my girlfriend was ready to kill me lol. she is not going to anymore
Luwuk Banggai and Sulawesi. please write those down.
we did the 6 days banggai island tour with asik travel and it still wasn't enough, not even close (you can do the tour self guided too but its a hassle and you wont save too much money in the end. but yes doable like 60-70%).
swam with whales. the water looked fake it was so clear. locals were so genuinely warm that it actually threw me off a little because i wasn't used to it lol. zero hustle, zero hey friend special price for you energy.
she's already sent me multiple so when are we going back texts and honestly same.
but what's actually driving me a little crazy was WHY does nobody talk about this place. like i genuinely don't understand it. you'd think somewhere this beautiful with this much to do would be all over instagram and travel pages but it's just... not. i feel like i'm losing my mind. how is Bali at maximum capacity while Banggai Islands is just sitting there being stunning and unbothered. makes no sense to me.
anyway i haven't done Bali so i won't fully clown on it but every post i see gives off "paid $30 to look at a rice field with 400 strangers" vibes. maybe one day.
maybe we should keep this place a secret? but people will discover it anyways as I did see mainly fellow germans/italian tourists on the airport so majority from europe.
anyways who cares, just try reading about it and consider it if you want to explore something hidden before it goes mainstream :)