Dodola
Island is a real paradise. The beauty of the beach is very tempting. It is not
surprise because the island becomes an icon of Morotai which is surrounded by
huge white sand to connect Big Dodola Island and Small Dodola Island. The fine
sand looks like flour and that is why local residents love to visit it. The
echo of island is also more spreading nowadays. The trail that connects Big and Small Dodola
Island is white sand. You can use the trail only if the tide of water low
around 10.30 – 17.30 local time.
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| Pictures By Nanangsyaifudin from www.flickr.com |
The
sand stretches and creates outline pattern which is look so amazing. The
outlines made by wind and wave of water. It will take 5 minutes to walk from
Big Dodola to Small Dodola. You will see coral reefs and seaweed when the tide
low, but you will see two islands when the tide high and it looks like a
strait. Probably you will surprise knowing that Dodola Island is a reason why
tourists visit Morotai. The panorama and its view are so fantastic. You can
explore all of the edge of island.
Location
Dodola Island is located at
Morotai Archipelago Regency, North Maluku Indonesia. You can take a flight from
Jakarta to Ternate for 3.5 hours and transit in Manado for 30 minutes. When you
arrived at Babullah Airport Ternate, you can start your journey to explore the
city. Usually, the sea transportation to Morotai is at 19.00 local times by KM.
Geovanie. When you choose a business class, you can rest because there are 2
beds and fan in a room. You will have to pay IDR250.000 per room or US$26. Within
the ship, you will go toward Daruba Port for 12 hours. You also can take
traditional boat named as ketinting to Dodola Island and you have to pay
IDR50,000 or US$5 one way.
If you come from Tobelo,
there is a ship which is available 3 times a week from Daruba to Morotai. If you
want faster transportation, you can hire a speedboat from Daruba Port which is
take around 20 minutes. Local government is trying to provide 2 units of
speedboat to connect Daruba City to Dodola. Although the island can be reached
only by sea transportation, but the facilities are complete, such as speedboat
and jet-ski.
Previously, you have to pay
IDR1,000,000 or US$103 to hire a speedboat. But now, you only need to pay
US$50,000 or US$5.2 one way from Daruba to Dodola. The government has made a
floating pier near Daruba Port. Next, local government will serve other small
islands as tourist destinations in Morotai, i.e. Ngele-ngele island, Kolorai Island,
Galo-galo island and Zumzum Island in order to be more recognized by tourists.
Activities
When you come to Dodola
Island, you can do many activities and mostly has relation to water sport, such
as fishing, swimming, sun bathing, snorkeling, jet-ski, or just laying on fine
sand. As an exotic island, most of visitor prefers to come as a backpacker
because they can explore and doing activities as much as they want. But, the
most popular activity you can do in Dodola Island is snorkeling. With turquoise
water, the beach will invite you to swim. You will be free to do water
activities because this is a virgin island and quite calm. Only fishermen come
and drop by to rest after sailing.
Accommodations
As you arrive at Dodola
Island, you don’t need to worry about where you have to stay because there are
many hotels and cottages. You can stay overnight at Ayu Guesthouses. The price
ranging from IDR150,000 or US$15.5 per night. Small Dodola Island has no
home-stay but the big one has wood pier and kind of villa. By spending your
time in the island, you will have more chance to adore the nature.
