TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Seven hours have passed when we approached the harbor in Jinato Island, which is located in the area of Takabonerate National Park. Since our wooden boat could not dock on the harbor that night, we were transferred into smaller boats that took us to the land.
The transferring process was a heart-pumping experience since the ship's captain helped us crossing into the other boat only using his instinct and a flash light–which was turning on and off. Once we got onto the land, tens of children in boyscout uniform welcomed us. We felt touched and pity for the children, because they had to welcome us despite the late night time. Jinato was the center of Takabonerate Island Exhibition event. The island is inhabited by around 100 families and the structure of the houses showed that the residents were financially developed.
The boyscouts guided us to the residents' houses where we would be staying for the night. My group and I stayed over the house of Mr. Asfar. We planned to cross to the Tinabo Island the next morning but we barely had sleep until the dawn fall.
The next morning after breakfast, we rode a larger boat to cross to the Tinabo Island, the center of tourism development in Takabonerate National Park. The travel to Tinabo took us approximately two hours and we were thankful for the friendly weather in November. The journey on the boat was enjoyable. Sometimes we could see the jumping fishes teasing people on the boat, or the corals that lay on the ocean bed below us.
Once we touched down to the beautiful island of Tinabo, the staff of Takabonerate National Park greeted us. The friendly greeting was a perfect match to the beauty of the small island on the strait of Flores. We were screaming in excitement when we saw flocks of fishes not far from the harbor.
We wasted no time and plunged into the Tinabo beach right after putting down our bag and sipping on some hot teas. The water was undoubtedly clear and the sand was as soft as powder. The combination of yellowish-white sand, tosca sea water and deep blue sea water have brought a sense of tranquility to eyes that saw them. Unfortunately, we could not accept the offer of diving into the ocean at Rp400,000 since we did not bring any money with us.
For as long as three hours in Tinabo beach, we could not have enough on sightseeing below the sea surface. We really enjoy snorkeling around the area. How amazing it must have been to be able to dive into its ocean.
Unfortunately, there were not enough infrastructures on the island to support tourist attraction. To reach the island from Selayar, visitors could only rent a boat since there is no regular route established. The fee for renting boats can reach up to Rp2 million for one way. The tourism costs in Tinabo exclude the boat fees which can reach up to Rp1 million per day for one person, including the guesthouses, food, and diving package. For snorkeling, visitors only had to pay for Rp2,500 for retribution and Rp40,000 for the snorkels.
According to Nadzrul Jamil, the staff of the national park, Takabonerate is the third largest atoll on the world and owns many unique tourism potentials. Different from the reef in Bunaken, the reef in Tinabo shaped like a field with colorful soft corals.
INDONESIANA | TEMPO
