Bira and Tanah Beru

White Sand At Sulawesi'S Southern Tip, And A Few Kilometres Up The Coast The Beaches Where Pinisi Schooners Are Still Built By Hand From Memory, Without Plans · Bulukumba, South Sulawesi

TANJUNG BIRA HAS THE WHITE SAND, and it is genuinely fine - a long bright beach at the southern tip of Sulawesi with clear water, the jumping-off point for SELAYAR and the TAKABONERATE atoll. BUT THE REASON TO COME IS A FEW KILOMETRES BACK UP THE COAST. AT TANAH BERU, PINISI SCHOONERS ARE STILL BUILT ON THE BEACH BY HAND - wooden ships thirty metres and more, laid out and framed and planked BY SHIPWRIGHTS WORKING FROM MEMORY AND EYE, WITHOUT DRAWINGS. You walk between half-finished hulls the size of buildings, under them, past the men shaping ribs with adzes. The Bugis and Konjo have done this for centuries and THE PRACTICE WAS LISTED BY UNESCO AS INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN 2017. Almost every visitor comes for the beach and never walks up the road. The sand and the shipwrights are a few kilometres apart and only one of them is ever on the itinerary, which is the single best reason to come here and then keep walking north.

Tanjung Bira and Tanah Beru, Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

TANJUNG BIRA IS AN OPEN BEACH with a small local entry and parking charge; accommodation runs from simple guesthouses to a few resorts. IT IS ROUGHLY FOUR TO FIVE HOURS BY ROAD FROM MAKASSAR. THE BOATYARDS AT TANAH BERU ARE WORKING SITES, NOT AN ATTRACTION - there is no gate, no ticket and no tour; you walk in during working hours, greet people, and someone will usually show you round. Go in the MORNING when work is happening, dress practically, and DO NOT CLIMB ON ANYTHING. FERRIES TO SELAYAR run from Bira on a daily schedule and are the route to Takabonerate. BOATS TO LIUKANG AND THE NEARBY ISLANDS are chartered on the beach. Bira is busiest at Indonesian holidays and quiet otherwise.

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