Ten days is enough to see three parts of the Togeans if you stop trying to catch every boat. This is the route I followed in July 2026, with the spare days I would keep and the side trips I would only add with more time.
I went back to Malenge in April 2026, nearly a year after my first visit, and stayed five nights this time. These are my notes on the kind of place I slept in, how the days went, and why it is the island I would pick again.
Una-Una is the island with the volcano, and the dive trip out there was the longest boat day of my January 2026 visit. This is what the diving was like, how the day ran, and who I think it suits.
Pulau Papan is a Bajau stilt village joined to Malenge by a long wooden footbridge. I walked it on a hot morning in June 2025 and snorkelled nearby in the afternoon, and these are my notes from that day.
Most travel advice for the Togeans starts in Ampana, but I came in from the north. These are my notes on crossing the Gulf of Tomini from Gorontalo in June 2025, and how it changed the shape of my trip.
The ferry from Ampana to Wakai is the easy part; the day goes wrong in the gaps either side of it. This is the order I did things in during February 2025, and the one connection I would plan differently next time.