Riung: the seventeen islands of the north coast

A quiet fishing town on Flores’s north coast, with a scatter of islands, white sandbars, empty reefs and a colony of flying foxes, far from the crowds of Komodo.

Area

Central & East Flores

Start from

Bajawa

Distance

about 75 km from Bajawa

Time needed

1–2 days

Best season

April – November

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Car from Bajawa, then a hired boat

Tickets & rules

Marine park fee; check locally

Why go

Riung is what Labuan Bajo might have felt like thirty years ago. It is a small, slow town on the north coast, with a mix of Bajau, Bugis and Ngada families, a few simple guesthouses and a harbour of colourful boats. Offshore lies the Seventeen Islands Marine Park, a scatter of dry islands, mangroves and reefs that very few foreigners visit.

A day on a hired boat takes you between white beaches and snorkel spots, often with no other boats in sight. The reefs are healthy in places, with soft corals, turtles and big schools of fish. Lunch is usually grilled fish on a beach, cooked by the boatman over a driftwood fire.

One island, Ontoloe, is home to a large colony of flying foxes that hang in the mangroves by day. The boat can stop close by, and when they wake and circle overhead, the sky fills with wings. It is a smaller, wilder version of Kalong in Komodo.

The story

Nobody seems to agree on how many islands there really are; counts range from around twenty to more than twenty-five, depending on whether you count rocks and sandbars. The name Seventeen Islands is usually said to have been chosen to honour Indonesia’s independence day, 17 August, which makes it easy to remember.

The area was declared a nature tourism park in the 1980s. Besides the bats, the islands are home to monitor lizards, birds and turtles, and the mangroves are nurseries for many reef fish. Komodo dragons themselves are known to survive in a few coastal pockets of mainland Flores, and rangers will tell you which parts of the shore to treat with caution.

Riung’s people combine fishing, seaweed farming and small-scale trade. Because tourism is still small, a visit here feels more like being a guest in a fishing village than a tourist on a circuit. That balance is fragile, which is all the more reason to travel lightly and respectfully.

Getting there

From Bajawa, the drive north to Riung takes about two to three hours on a narrow road. Some travellers continue east along the coast towards Ende, which is a rougher but beautiful route.

In Riung, guesthouses can arrange a boat for the day; prices are set per boat, so it is cheaper in a small group.

A suggested plan

1. Day 1Drive from Bajawa to Riung; sunset on the waterfront.
2. Day 2 morningBoat to the islands; snorkel and visit the bat colony at Ontoloe.
3. Day 2 middayGrilled fish lunch on a beach.
4. Day 2 afternoonMore snorkelling and a lazy return to Riung.
5. Day 3Drive back to Bajawa or on towards Ende.

Where to stay

Riung has a few simple guesthouses and homestays. Electricity and water can be limited, and food is basic and fresh.

Good to know

• Bring cash; there may be no working ATM in town.
• Bring your own snorkel gear if you can.
• Agree the boat route and price before departure.