Best Islands in Indonesia Other Than Bali: Where to Go Next

Bali is a fine place to start Indonesia and a poor place to finish it. The country is an archipelago of thousands of islands, and a great many trips use exactly one, the one our Things to Do in Bali guide tries to keep honest. I would argue that a second island does more for a holiday than a ninth day in Seminyak.

This guide to the best islands in Indonesia other than Bali covers six that earn the extra flight: Lombok, Java, Flores, Sulawesi, Raja Ampat and the Banda Islands. They are ordered by how long they take to reach, and I say so plainly each time. Two sit about an hour from Bali by air. One depends on a weekly fast boat or a twelve-seat plane. Three have fees, quotas or politics that changed this year, so the details matter.

Best Islands in Indonesia Other Than Bali: Planning Basics

The price of an Indonesian island is paid in transfers, not rupiah. Lombok is about 50 minutes by air from Bali, according to Gecko Routes, and the slow ferry takes four to six hours. Flores is about 75 minutes by air, Komodo Island’s own guide says. Past those two, the clock stretches: Raja Ampat means a flight to Sorong and then a ferry of about two hours, and Banda means reaching Ambon first. I have given the sourced times in the table, and flagged the ones I could not find. For the wider region, our round-up of the best islands in Southeast Asia puts these six in context.

The second thing to know is that access is being rationed in 2026. Rinjani shut for three months and reopened with new rules, Komodo introduced a daily cap, and Raja Ampat sells a marine park tag whose price depends on which page you read. Rationing protects reefs and trails, but it also decides who profits: local boat operators in Flores are already protesting that visitors are limited while corporate concessions inside the park continue. My advice is to pick two islands, one near and one far, and book the permit before the flight.

Lombok is the easy second island, and Rinjani is the reason to go

Lombok lies directly east of Bali and is the closest thing on this list to an easy add-on. Gecko Routes puts the flight at about 50 minutes from around $53, the slow ferry from Padang Bai to Lembar at four to six hours, and the fast boat to Bangsal pier at two to nearly three hours. The draw is Mount Rinjani, a volcano run as a national park.

Rinjani is now a managed mountain. The park office kept it shut from 1 January to 31 March 2026 for ecosystem recovery and repairs, RRI reported, and trekking resumed on 1 April with online booking required. Detik adds that 652 tickets for the first four days were already sold out at the 28 March launch. New measures include camera towers, shelters and phone signal at four points, and a plastics declaration checked at the exit gate.

Book the trek online the moment your dates are fixed, and go through a licensed guide, because guides now record each climber’s identity and waste data. I would treat the first week after reopening as gone. Fly rather than take the ferry unless you enjoy long boats, since the sea crossing plus a trailhead transfer can swallow a day. The park office, not a tour company, sets the routes.

The RFID bracelets were not ready for the April opening, the park head said, so part of the safety system is phased in through 2026. And anyone not walking up a volcano should ask what Lombok gives them that a quieter corner of Bali does not.

Java is for gudeg and Borobudur, and Yogyakarta is the place to base

Java is the island most Bali itineraries skip, which is odd when its royal city, Yogyakarta, sits near one of the great Buddhist monuments. Borobudur was built in the 8th and 9th centuries and inscribed by UNESCO in 1991. Seventy-two perforated stupas, each holding a Buddha statue, ring its upper terraces. The city’s own signature is gudeg, young jackfruit stewed sweet in coconut milk.

Borobudur now runs on a cap. The Jakarta Post reports that daily visitors have been limited to 1,200 since 2023, that Magelang’s regent asked in 2025 for eight times that, and that local businesses reported an 80 percent revenue drop. Residents and the monument want opposite things, and I side with the stone. In town, detikJogja’s roundup lists Gudeg Bu Tjitro, open since 1925, and Yu Djum on Jalan Wijilan.

Eat first, climb second. Gudeg Yu Djum on Jalan Wijilan was listed open from 7am to midnight, with rice, gudeg, krecek (a spicy beef-skin stew), tofu and tempeh at Rp14,000, under a dollar. Order it that way. Book Borobudur ahead and check the current ticket system, because a cap means walk-ups can be turned away. Three days covers the temple, the Kraton district and a gudeg crawl.

Flight times from Bali to Yogyakarta are the one number I could not source, so check them. Yu Djum also trades under two separately managed names, Pusat and Wijilan, so confirm which one your map has opened.

Flores is where the dragons live, and the Komodo quota decides your dates

Labuan Bajo, on Flores’s western tip, is the harbour for Komodo National Park, which takes in Komodo, Rinca and Padar. Komodo Island’s guide lists the flight from Bali at about 75 minutes, on Batik Air, AirAsia and Wings Air. From there, the park is a boat day or a liveaboard.

Since 1 April 2026 the park has capped visits at 1,000 a day across Padar, Rinca, Komodo and 23 dive sites, in three sessions: 05:00 to 08:00, 08:00 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 18:00. Floresa reported that the foreign entry fee is Rp250,000 (about $14) under a 2024 regulation, that the forestry minister told parliament it could rise, and that West Manggarai tour operators object that visitors are rationed while corporate concessions inside the park carry on.

I would take the first morning session and book a boat through a licensed operator in Labuan Bajo rather than a stranger at the harbour. One operator’s page says tickets are now issued online through a system called SiOra, with no walk-up sales. That is unconfirmed, so ask your boat company to show you the booking before you pay. Allow two days on the water.

Fee numbers disagree. Operator sites quote Rp650,000 for Komodo Island against Floresa’s Rp250,000, and the government is studying a rise. Treat the boat price as the real cost and ask exactly what it includes.

Sulawesi is worth a Makassar stop, and the coto is the reason

Sulawesi is the island shaped like an orchid east of Borneo, and Makassar, in the south, is its port and food capital. The dish to know is coto Makassar, a beef and offal soup eaten with rice cakes. The UK Foreign Office asks for particular care in central Sulawesi, around Palu, Poso and Tentena. Makassar sits in the south, outside that warning.

DetikSulsel says Coto Ranggong opened in 1965 under a man called Pieter and is now run by his grandson Anton, the third generation. The coto is cooked in clay pots over firewood in view of the front patio. Fillings run from beef and lung to cheek, tongue and liver, with ketupat and buras on the side. A 2017 Jakarta Post review described about 20 seats and smoke-darkened walls and ceiling.

Go early. DetikSulsel’s 2023 listing gave the hours as 7.30am to 4pm and a standard bowl at Rp33,000 (about $1.90), with tongue only at Rp35,000. Order the coto with ketupat or buras, then add tauco chilli sauce and lime. The Jakarta Post gave different hours in 2017, 6am to 5.30pm, so confirm before a long ride.

Offal is the default, so anyone who avoids it should ask for beef alone. Tana Toraja and Bunaken are the other reasons people visit Sulawesi, and each needs its own days. I would not try either as a side trip from a coto breakfast.

Raja Ampat is the island trip to save for, and to book with local people

Raja Ampat is an archipelago in Southwest Papua province, known for its reefs. You fly to Sorong, then take the public ferry to Waisai. Stay Raja Ampat lists it at about two hours, departing at 9am and 2pm daily, for Rp200,000 standard (about $11). Its schedule applies from 1 September 2026.

This is not a trouble-free postcard. Antara reported in June 2025 that Wayag and Manyaifun Batangpele were temporarily closed over local disputes about nickel mining, while the tourism minister said: “Tourists can still safely visit Raja Ampat.” Mongabay’s August 2026 update says four of five permits were revoked after the backlash. Only PT Gag Nickel, on Gag Island, is operating, and three firms still pursue projects on Waigeo.

Buy the marine park tag from the official office at kkprajaampat.id, which sells it online and keeps a Waisai office open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Amounts conflict: one agency lists Rp1,000,000 for the tag plus Rp1,000,000 in local levy since 3 August 2026, another Rp1,200,000 in total. Pay the official figure. Choose a family homestay over a resort where you can, so the money stays in the village.

Remote means slow and expensive. The US State Department rates Central and Highland Papua Level 4, which does not cover Raja Ampat, but medical help is limited.

Banda Neira is the best history lesson on the list, and the hardest to reach

The Banda Islands are a cluster of ten in Maluku, and in the colonial years they were the only source of nutmeg and mace, according to Indonesia’s UNESCO tentative-list entry. That monopoly is why the Dutch built forts here. Neira, the main town, is the base.

The same entry describes a plantation system the Dutch built in the 17th century to monopolise nutmeg, and living traditions such as the Cakalele dance and Kora-Kora boat races. Lonely Planet calls the snorkelling and diving superlative, with coral gardens on steep drop-offs around Gunung Api, a 656-metre volcano, and lists Fort Belgica among the sights.

Reach Ambon first. Banda Ocean Divers lists a 45-minute Smart Air flight with 12 seats at Rp350,000 (about $20), a five-hour fast boat from Tulehu on Thursdays returning Sundays, and Pelni ships taking 8 to 16 hours from Rp141,000. Build the trip around that Thursday-to-Sunday rhythm.

The UK Foreign Office asks for particular care on Ambon and Haruku, the usual gateway, and these schedules come from a dive operator’s page last edited on 17 May 2026. Confirm every leg. The boat timing means at least three nights on the islands.

What to eat beyond Bali: three island dishes

Three dishes in this guide justify a detour on their own. Gudeg in Yogyakarta is jackfruit cooked for hours until sweet and soft, and the warungs on Jalan Wijilan sell it by the plate for pocket change. Coto Makassar is the savoury counterpart: a clay-pot soup of beef and offal, ladled out beside rice cakes in a shop that has stood since 1965.

The third is less a dish than an ingredient. Nutmeg and mace put Banda on the world map, and tasting them where they grow is the point of going. For the wider map of regional cooking, see our guide to Indonesian food beyond Bali, and for the island you are leaving, what to eat in Bali.

What the travel advisories say about these islands in October 2026

The UK Foreign Office updated its Indonesia advice on 18 September 2026. It no longer advises against all travel near volcanoes, but says local authorities enforce exclusion zones at several active sites, so follow them. It also warns that Middle East escalation has closed airspace and disrupted flights, which can affect connections even if you are not travelling there.

The US State Department’s advisory, issued in July 2026, is Level 2: exercise increased caution because of natural disasters, terrorism and unrest. Central Papua and Highland Papua are Level 4. None of the six islands here falls in those two provinces, though the UK separately asks for care across the Papua region, in Maluku on Ambon and Haruku, and in central Sulawesi.

Planning islands beyond Bali: seasons, permits and money

When to go: Start with the permit calendar, because it is stricter than the weather. Rinjani is shut from 1 January to 31 March, the Sorong–Waisai ferry schedule quoted above applies from 1 September 2026, and Komodo’s quota has run since 1 April. For the monthly picture across the region, use our guide to the best time to visit Southeast Asia.

Getting around: Plan on domestic flights through hubs such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Makassar. Ambon is the gateway to Banda, Sorong to Raja Ampat, and Labuan Bajo to Komodo. Ferries between Bali and Lombok run around the clock but take four to six hours. Always allow a buffer day before an international flight home.

Money: I have used roughly 17,500 rupiah to the dollar throughout. Carry rupiah in cash for island ferries and ports: Stay Raja Ampat lists port fees of Rp12,000 at Sorong and Rp5,000 at Waisai, and card acceptance on small islands is unreliable.

Booking: Book Rinjani online with a licensed guide, Komodo through a licensed boat operator, and Raja Ampat’s tag through the official agency. Banda’s small plane takes bookings through Instagram, according to Banda Ocean Divers, so do it weeks ahead.

How long: My minimums are three days for Lombok or Java, two or three for Flores, two for Makassar, five for Raja Ampat and four for Banda. Combining more than two islands in a week mostly buys you airports.

Safety: Buy travel insurance that covers your activities, as the Foreign Office advises. Follow volcano exclusion zones, expect earthquake risk anywhere on this list, and carry a printed copy of your permits.

Best islands in Indonesia: questions people ask

What is the best island in Indonesia other than Bali?

Lombok is the best first answer, because it is about 50 minutes from Bali by air and has Rinjani. For food and history, Java’s Yogyakarta and Makassar in Sulawesi are stronger. For reefs, it is Raja Ampat, though it takes a connecting flight and a ferry to reach.

Which Indonesian island is easiest to reach from Bali?

Lombok and Flores are the easiest. Gecko Routes puts the Bali to Lombok flight at about 50 minutes, and Komodo Island’s guide puts Bali to Labuan Bajo at about 75 minutes. Lombok also has slow ferries from Padang Bai taking four to six hours, so it can be done by sea.

Is Raja Ampat safe to visit in 2027?

Yes, on current advice, with care. The US State Department rates Central and Highland Papua Level 4, which does not include Raja Ampat, and the UK asks for particular care across Papua. Nickel mining disputes have closed individual sites before, so check local conditions when you book.

Do I need to book Rinjani and Komodo in advance?

Yes. Rinjani requires online booking, and 652 tickets for its first four days in April 2026 were sold out by the launch. Komodo has had a cap of 1,000 visits a day since 1 April 2026, in three sessions, so book your boat before your flight.

How much does it cost to visit Komodo National Park?

The foreign entry fee is Rp250,000, about $14, under a 2024 regulation, according to Floresa in April 2026. Operator sites list much higher figures for Komodo Island, and the government is studying a rise. Ask your boat company for an itemised price before you pay.

How many islands should I visit in one Indonesia trip?

Two is my answer for a week or ten days: one near Bali and one far. Each island here needs a connecting flight, a ferry or both, and the permits for Rinjani, Komodo and Raja Ampat are tied to dates. Visiting more than two mostly adds airports.

The Bottom Line

Take Lombok if you want a mountain and an easy flight, Yogyakarta and Makassar if you want to eat, and Flores if the Komodo quota fits. Save Raja Ampat and Banda for when you have a week and the patience for connecting legs. The pattern across all six is the same: access is being managed, locals are arguing about who gains from it, and the best trips are the ones booked through the people who live there.

Book the permit first, then the flight.

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