You Are Here: Home » Indonesia » Karst Maros The Second Largest Karst In The World

Karst Maros The Second Largest Karst In The World

Posted by: Posted date: June 01, 2012 In: Indonesia, Sulawesi, Trips | comment : 17
Karst Maros The Second Largest Karst In The World


Karst Maros, a not-so-common black stones area. We know it as Karst. Taken from Yugoslavian/Slovenian, krst/krast’, which an area in border between Yugoslavia and North Italy, near Trieste. Karst is an earth’s surface which high cretaceous rocks with caves, small hills, and sometimes, underground river. It is also known as a stone forest or a stone tower (Menara Batu) as a local people said.

One day on Wednesday after my morning class, Hamka ‘kidnapped’ me from campus and took me by his motorcycle for a cross-district trip! After one hour-riding with super hot sunny overarching our head, we arrived at a place with lots of rice fields and black stones around. What kind of place it is? We didn’t make this long trip only to see stones, did we?

So what’s the special thing? You’ve never expect that Karst Maros in Rammang-Rammang is one of the biggest Karst areas in the world, have you? And we’re serious about that! With about 45.000 hectare (20.000 hectares are in Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park) along Maros and Pangkep, South Sulawesi, Karst becomes the second biggest Karst area in the world after South China Karst in Yunnan. And since 2001 this area became UNESCO World Heritage Site which comply the 9th criteria as a region with unique natural habitat which important for biodiversity conservation. We’re sure it’s a special place!

Is that only Karst? There’re still lots of things to explore! Not only as the second biggest Karst, Karst Maros also, or even, the longest and deepest cave in the world. With more holes than Swiss cheese, there’re at least 268 caves around this site, some of them have ancient paintings. Leang-Leang, the most popular one, has palms and animal paintings around the cave which the archeologist expected it since 3000-8000 BC. Knowing they’ve lived here makes me think, what about the dinosaur, have they been here? *imagine*

What to do next?. Try to rent a boat to sail around the river and see bigger Karst for about 30 minutes. Wish that’s your lucky day when you’re there so you can see the endemic animals such as bat, monkey, or eagle. Imagine your own zone, it’s your Amazon!

See? How we can find a perfect place only in one hour-riding. We don’t have to go to China, Brazil, or New Zealand. Find them in one place, Rammang-Rammang, everything is in here. That’s why we love Indonesia! We love being here!


Karst Maros  is the second biggest Karst area in the world after South China Karst, the deepest and longest caves in the world. It also became UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Karst Maros is in Dusun Rammang – Rammang, Desa Salengrang, Kecamatan Bontoa, Kabupaten Maros, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It’s takes around 50 kilometers from Makassar.
The best time to visit is around August-September, before harvest time when the rice fields looks yellow. Looks like carpet, but not to trampled!
  • Walk around the field and take picture with the stone (watch out your step, most of the straw feel really tarnish).
  • Explore the cave, see the ancient paintings (bring your flashlight, the longer you walk, the more you need it).
  • Rent a boat and explore the river for about 30 minutes. Like we said, imagine your own Amazon.
  • Motorcycle: One hour-riding
  • Car: Two hours-driving
  • Public transportation: Catch pete-pete from Makassar Mall to Terminal Maros, and change it to Bantimurung. Turn-off on the road then walking for couple of kilometers.
  • Combine it with trip to Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park
  • Motorcycle rent: Rp50.000,-/day
  • Car rent: Rp250.000,-/day
  • Public transportation (pete-pete): From Makassar Mall to Terminal Maros Rp8000,-; From Maros to Bantimurung Rp5000,-.
  • Entrance to Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park: Rp15.000,- (local) Rp50.000,- (foreign)
  • Rent a boat for 30 minutes: Rp100.000, – (show your bargain skill!)

Clip to Evernote

About The Author

Indonesian youth with lots of passion to travel around the world. Love mountains and fall in love with beautiful seas. Share their journeys and stories with words, picture, and action. Meet them in the border, they'll greet you there. About Us And About.Me

Number of Entries : 22

Related posts

Comments (17)

Leave a Comment

© 2013 All Right Reserved Travenesia

Scroll to top