Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve, on the north-eastern tip of Sulawesi, is a small (about 88 km²) coastal forest packed with wildlife found nowhere else. Sulawesi sits on the Wallace Line, where Asian and Australian wildlife meet, and its animals evolved in isolation. At Tangkoko you can watch tiny tarsiers leave their roosts at dusk, walk among troops of crested black macaques and see hornbills and cuscuses.
At a glance
| Best time | Year-round; drier from about June to October |
| Getting there | About 2 hours by road from Manado |
| Time needed | 2 nights |
| Big draws | Tarsiers, crested black macaques, bear cuscuses, hornbills |
| Good for | Primate lovers, birders, divers visiting Lembeh or Bunaken |
Wildlife
- Spectral tarsiers (Gursky’s spectral tarsier): palm-sized primates with enormous eyes, each larger than its brain. Family groups roost in strangler fig trees and emerge at dusk to hunt insects. See our Philippine tarsier profile for a related species.
- Crested black macaques: jet-black monkeys with punk-like crests and amber eyes, critically endangered because of hunting for bushmeat. Research groups are habituated and easy to watch.
- Bear cuscuses and dwarf cuscuses: slow-moving marsupials, a sign of Australian influence.
- Birds: knobbed hornbills, lilac kingfishers, green-backed kingfishers, Sulawesi hornbills and the maleo, a megapode that buries its eggs in warm sand.
How to visit
- Guided walks start early in the morning to find macaques and birds, and late afternoon to watch tarsiers emerge.
- Local guides from the village of Batuputih are required and very skilled at finding wildlife.
- Night walks can reveal cuscuses, tarsiers hunting and sleeping birds.
When to go
Tangkoko can be visited year-round. The drier months, roughly June to October, are more comfortable.
Getting there
Fly to Manado (with connections from Jakarta, Bali and Singapore), then drive about 2 hours to Batuputih, the village at the reserve’s edge.
Where to stay
Simple homestays and a few comfortable lodges in Batuputih.
Combining with diving
North Sulawesi is famous for diving: Lembeh Strait is the world’s capital of “muck diving”, with frogfish, mimic octopuses and nudibranchs, and Bunaken National Park has spectacular wall dives. See our common octopus profile.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to see tarsiers at Tangkoko? At dusk, when they leave their roost trees to hunt.
Are crested black macaques dangerous? No, but keep a respectful distance and never feed them.
How many days do I need? Two nights allows two dusk tarsier visits and morning walks for macaques and birds.
Is Tangkoko good for birding? Yes, especially for Sulawesi endemics such as the knobbed hornbill and lilac kingfisher.
Related guides
- Raja Ampat diving guide
- Komodo National Park guide
- Animal profiles: Philippine tarsier, Great hornbill, Common octopus
Cover photo: Sakurai Midori, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons