Question 1

How to access Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

Buka Buka Island is located in Central Sulawesi, close to the city of Ampana.  The easiest way to access the island is to book a direct flight from Palu to Ampana (40min), which you can't find online, but directly from the Palu airport, every Friday and Monday.  Once in Ampana, we handle your transportation to the island from the airport (10min) and bring you to the island by boat (about 20-30min).

Question 2

How to book your stay at Reconnect

Accepted Answer

To book your stay at Reconnect on Buka Buka Island, you can reach out to us directly on Whatsapp, or by Email.  At the moment, we only take direct bookings, and advise you to book at least 1 month in advance to make sure we have availabilities.  Bookings are to be paid in full at least 1 week before checking in.

Question 3

What activities are available at Reconnect on Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

Once on the island, you can enjoy a wide range of activities such as: snorkeling, stand up paddle, kayaking, beach sports (volley, badminton, pingpong..), holy water trekking, boat trips around the Togean Islands, and more to come.  Life on the island is also tailored around experiences, such as Overwater BBQ, Bajau Traditional Speargun Fishing, Romantic Dinner..  In a near future, we also plan to open our own Dive Center, so our guests can explore the beautiful coral reefs we have around the island.

Question 4

When is the best season to come to Reconnect Island Resort on Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

Buka Buka Island enjoys a warm climate all-year-round, which allows Reconnect to be open at any time during the year.  However, we do have what we call "musim barat", which translates by "west season", during which we usually have strong in-shore winds coming from the west.  The west season is often between December and February, traditionally believed by local villagers to end for Chinese New Year.  During west season, you can still come and visit us, but we ask you to be more flexible with your dates, because you might have to wait for the wind and waves to stop before we can bring you to the island.

Question 5

How far is Buka Buka Island from mainland (Ampana)?

Accepted Answer

Our speedboat, starting from the small Bajau Village of Tete B, next to Ampana, usually takes 20-25 minutes to cross from mainland to Reconnect on Buka Buka Island.  Trip duration can vary based on number of passengers (maximum 10), and weather conditions on the sea.

Question 6

How big is Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

Buka Buka Island is a 160ha big island, featuring beautiful white sand beach on its west coast. The longest diagonal of the island is about 2km long, while the shortest one is about 1km long. If you could compare, it’s roughly the same size as Gili Trawangan, in Lombok (close to Bali).  Except that on Buka Buka Island, instead of hundreds of resorts, it’s just us, and a few villagers fishing and farming coconuts.

Question 7

How sustainable is Reconnect Island Resort? Is it an eco-resort?

Accepted Answer

When we first imagined the resort, we called it an eco-resort. However, we notices that this term has a lot of different meanings, depending who pronounces it.  Our vision is to develop the island in a way that is as respectful as possible, based on the different constraints we have on side.
 - We develop our buildings using primarily natural materials we source locally, as well as drift wood we get from the beach, and we try to reuse as much as possible.
 - 100% of our electricity comes from the sun, although we have a generator as a back up for safety.  - The water we use is desalinated from the ocean, also using sun-farmed electricity.
 Does it make us qualify as an eco-resort? Eco-conscious resort? We don’t know.  But we’ll always try to do our best to be as respectful as possible of our environment.

Question 8

Is Buka Buka Island part of Togean Islands National Park?

Accepted Answer

Short answer is no.
 Although we are right at the door of the Togean (or Togian) Islands National Park, we are not legally speaking part of it.
 However, if you want to explore some of the 50+ islands which are part of the Togean, just let us know, and we will help arrange e trip there for you.
 We work closely with the local government and the tourism office, which granted us the authorization to bring our guests around the Togean archipelago, directly from Reconnect Island Resort.

Question 9

Is there phone signal and internet on Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

We have both phone signal and internet available on the island. The only operator available at the moment in Sulawesi is Telkomsel.   For internet we have both a 4G modem for daily use, and a satellite connection for emergencies.
 The cost of the 4G connection is per Gb, usually less than $30 per month. 
 In the near future, we will work with Starlink so we can provide a free, high-speed, and unlimited internet connection to our guests.

Question 10

What are the current visa requirements and COVID-19 restrictions to enter Indonesia?

Accepted Answer

At the moment (April 2022), Indonesia allows fully vaccinated travelers from 40+ countries to enter Indonesia, without quarantine, using a VOA (Visa On Arrival) which cost about $35 for 30 days.
 Because of the situation, and regulations are frequently changing, we invite you to get the latests informations directly from www.imigrasi.go.id

Question 11

Is Reconnect open for long term residency on Buka Buka Island?

Accepted Answer

Especially since the pandemic started, a significant amount of people started to ask us if they can become long term residents of Buka Buka Island.  We get it, a remote island is one of the best place to be, when the rest of the world is into lockdown, or any other form of chaos.  However, because of everything involved with long term residencies, we first want to get to know you over the phone, and make sure it's a great fit for you to live here.  If you're interested, you can reach out to Thomas on whatsapp, and he'll get in touch as soon as possible.

Question 12

How can I invest? Can I build my own villa there?

Accepted Answer

After we aired on national TV in Europe and Indonesia last year, a lot of people started to reach out, and ask how they could build their own place on the island.  To preserve the beauty, nature and paradisiac vibe of Buka Buka Island, we decided to keep 90%+ of all the lands available for conservation.  However, we are also open for limited and exclusive development, on a case by case basis.  Everything we build has to be powered by the sun, function with water desalination and use natural materials as much as possible.  Feel free to reach out on whatsapp or by email (hi@reconnect.id), to share your project, or ask any questions.  Other investment opportunities will be shared here on our website.