IndonesiaIsland

Sulawesi

174,600 km² rising to 3,478 m out of the Makassar Strait.

When to go

MakassarManadoPaluKendariToli-ToliGorontaloPalopo

N 100 km

LakesWaterfalls

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

174,600km²

Area

5,376km

Coastline

measured on a simplified outline

3,478m

Highest point

Buntu Rantemario

18,455,058

People

30°C

Warmest sea

April

907km

To the mainland

When to go to Sulawesi

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in April (30 °C) and coolest in August (29 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

29°27°22°

Jan24

29°27°22°

Feb22

29°26°22°

Mar26

30°26°22°

Apr27

30°26°22°

May26

29°25°21°

Jun25

29°25°20°

Jul23

29°26°20°

Aug19

29°26°20°

Sep15

29°27°21°

Oct17

30°27°22°

Nov21

30°27°22°

Dec24

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, governed by Indonesia

Sulawesi is an island in Indonesia. It covers 174,600 km², with 5,376 km of coastline. Its highest point, Buntu Rantemario, rises to 3,478 m. About 18,455,058 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 907 km away.

Getting there

Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (UPG)main airport (5 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at DPS airport (Kuta, Badung)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
907 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at DPS airport (Kuta, Badung)Discover CarsSee

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Sulawesi.

This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Sulawesi in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sulawesi, each with its own numbers.

28beaches and covesCoastya
40lakesLakeyas
9waterfallsCascadyas

Largest lake
560km²
Lake Towuti
203 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Deepest lake
600m
Lake Matano
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
31.7°C
Danau Mangappo
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
30.1°C
Teluk Tonipa
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

28 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

Pantai Indah29.9°C
Pantai Manakarra29.6°C
Luok Monggarang29.6°C
Teluk Tonipacove30.1°C
Teluk Tamparangkekecove29.5°C
Teluk Nasaracove29.5°C
Teluk Tolitolicove29.6°C
Teluk Soropiacove29.6°C

20 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

40 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

Lake Towuti203 m deep560km²
Lake Poso450 m deep366km²
Lake Matano600 m deep161km²
Lake Tempe5 m deep118km²
Lake Tondano22 m deep44.6km²
Lake Sidenreng37.2km²
Lake Lindu34.2km²
Lake Limboto24.8km²

32 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

9 waterfalls

on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas

Saluopa waterfall
Air Terjun Takapala
Jami Waterfall
Parangloe Waterfall
Takapala Waterfall
Pinosaula Falls
Kandera Waterfall
Nguralawo Waterfall

1 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Sulawesi174,600 km²

Great Britain217,695 km²

Madagascar594,251 km²

500 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

Makassar1,474,393 people
Manado458,582 people
Palu389,959 people
Kendari351,085 people
Toli-Toli242,783 people
Bitung225,134 people
Gorontalo205,390 people
Palopo184,961 people
Parepare160,309 people
Watampone149,336 people
Kotamobagu121,756 people
Galesong83,050 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon high (°C)	27	27	26	26	26	25	25	26	26	27	27	27
Night low (°C)	22	22	22	22	22	21	20	20	20	21	22	22
Sea (°C)	29	29	29	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	30	30
Rain (mm)	234	237	310	316	278	303	213	155	149	166	203	258
Wet days	24	22	26	27	26	25	23	19	15	17	21	24
Sun h/day	5.7	5.5	5.7	5.6	5.4	4.6	4.4	5.0	6.7	6.7	6.4	5.7
Wind (km/h)	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	3

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	+0.4	+0.6	+0.5	+0.3	+0.3	+0.2	+0.4	+0.4	+0.2	+0.5	+0.3	+0.2
2021	+0.1	+0.3	+0.3	+0.2	+0.1	+0.3	+0.4	+0.4	+0.6	+0.6	+0.4	+0.3
2022	+0.1	+0.1	+0.4	+0.4	+0.4	+0.6	+0.7	+0.5	+0.7	+0.5	+0.2	+0.3
2023	+0.2	±0.0	+0.3	+0.2	+0.3	+0.5	+0.5	+0.3	+0.1	+0.3	+0.7	+0.7
2024	+0.7	+0.6	+0.4	+0.4	+0.4	+0.3	+0.5	+0.2	+0.4	+0.6	+0.6	+0.3
2025	+0.4	+0.5	+0.5	+0.3	+0.4	+0.3	+0.5	+0.2	+0.4	+0.5	±0.0	+0.1

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Isola sulawesi, pendente taiganja, sec. xix-xx — sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bomba Village, Togean Islands, Sulawesi. Indonesia (30811812205) — Luke Price from Rotterdam, Netherlands · CC BY 2.0

Air Terjun Piala, Luwuk, Sulawesi Tengah 01 — Nourish25 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Air Terjun Piala, Luwuk, Sulawesi Tengah 02 — Nourish25 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Peling Island

Indonesia2,329 km²262 m246 km away

Banggai Island

Indonesia268 km²136 m286 km away

Wawonii Island

Indonesia715 km²593 m331 km away

Buton Island

Indonesia4,408 km²1,100 m395 km away

Muna Island

Indonesia2,939 km²109 m373 km away

Kabaena Island

Indonesia858 km²1,521 m375 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, population	Wikidata (Q3812) · CC0
Outline	Natural Earth · public domain
Sea temperature	NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
Climate	NASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Towns	GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls	Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit