Tidore: cloves, forts and a volcano across the water

Tidore is the island you see from Ternate, the cone across a narrow strait, and most visitors treat it as a view rather than a destination. That is a mistake. The island has its own sultanate, its own volcano to climb, spice farms that have been worked for centuries, and a coast of black sand beaches where almost nobody goes.

It is small enough to cross in an hour and large enough to fill three or four days. The towns are quiet, roads are slow, and the ferry from Ternate takes less time than a commute. If you are in North Maluku to climb Gamalama or to reach the diving further south, give Tidore a day or two of its own.

Two islands and one old rivalry

Tidore and Ternate sit almost within shouting distance of each other, and for several hundred years they were the two most important places in the spice trade. Cloves grew on both, and the sultans who controlled them controlled the price of a commodity that Europe fought over. The two courts were rivals, allies and relatives by turns, and the history of one is hard to tell without the other.

The Tidore Sultanate survived the Portuguese, the Spanish and the Dutch, in that order, and it is still there, though without political power. Sultan Nuku, who fought the Dutch in the 1790s, is the figure the island remembers. You will see his name on streets and hear it in conversation, and the kraton, the palace compound, is still the ceremonial centre of the island.

Soasio and the old town

Soasio is the main town, a low grid of houses and shops on the east coast facing Ternate. It is not a place of monuments. What it has is a market, a harbour full of small boats, a few streets of colonial-era buildings and the kraton, where the sultanate keeps its regalia and its ceremonies.

Walk it slowly. The town is at its best early in the morning, when the market is busy and the light comes across the strait. The colonial forts, Torre and Tahula, are on the ridges above, built by the Spanish in the sixteenth century and reused by everyone who came after. They are ruins now, but the position explains why anyone wanted this island in the first place.

Climbing Kiematubu

The volcano, Kiematubu, rises to around 1,730 metres and is climbed from the villages on the slopes. It is a half-day to the top for anyone reasonably fit, and the trail goes through spice gardens, then forest, then the bare upper slope. The reward is the whole of Ternate, the strait, and on a clear day the islands to the south.

You need a guide, partly for the route and partly because the trail is used by farmers and forks more than once. Arrange it a day ahead through your guesthouse, start before dawn to be off the exposed section before the cloud comes in, and take more water than you think you need. There is no shop on the way.

Spice farms and the villages

Cloves and nutmeg are still grown on Tidore, mostly in small gardens rather than plantations, and the smell of drying cloves is one of the things people remember. Ask before you walk into a garden, and buy what you can from the people who grow it. The price is low and the quality is not.

The villages on the slopes are relaxed and curious about visitors, but not set up for them. There are no ticket desks or guided tours. What works is a conversation, a shared meal and a slow afternoon. If you want to understand the island, this is more useful than any of the forts.

The beaches at Cobo and Maitara

The west coast has black sand beaches, a few of them good enough to spend a day on, with calm water in the mornings and a volcano behind them. Cobo, in the north-west, is the easiest to reach by road and the most popular with people from Ternate at weekends. On a weekday you may have it to yourself.

Maitara, the small island in the strait, is the other excursion. Boats run from the west coast and from Ternate, and the snorkelling on the reef between the islands is decent rather than spectacular. Go for the swim, the village and the view back at both volcanoes, not for a dive site.

• Boats to Maitara leave from the west coast and from Ternate.
• Black sand gets hot by mid-morning: bring something for your feet.
• Weekends are busy with local families, weekdays are empty.
• There are warungs at Cobo but little else, so carry water.

Getting there and getting around

The usual route is a flight to Ternate, then a boat across the strait. Speedboats and the public ferry both run, the crossing takes twenty to thirty minutes depending on the boat, and the last services leave in the afternoon. Do not plan to arrive after dark and expect to find a crossing.

On the island, bemo and ojek cover the main roads, and the road around the coast is good enough for a scooter if you are used to hills. A car with a driver for a day is the easiest way to see the west coast, the forts and the climb in one visit. Bring cash: there are few ATMs and cards are of limited use.

Questions people actually ask

How do you get from Ternate to Tidore?

Boats cross the strait from Ternate in twenty to thirty minutes. Speedboats are faster and more frequent in the morning, and the public ferry is cheaper and slower. Services thin out in the afternoon, so cross early and plan your return before dark.

Can you climb the volcano on Tidore?

Yes. Kiematubu is climbed from villages on the slopes and takes about half a day up and down for a fit walker. You need a local guide, arranged through a guesthouse, and you should start before dawn to avoid the cloud that builds on the upper slope.