Maitara Island

Maitara is the small, conical island sitting in the strait between Ternate and Tidore. It is uninhabited apart from a single fishing village on its eastern shore, and most visitors see it only in passing on the speedboat crossing. A short boat charter from Rum can drop you on Maitara for an afternoon of snorkelling — the reefs around the island are in good condition and visibility is usually excellent — but there are no facilities, so bring everything you need.

The island also features in the famous view that appeared on the back of the old thousand-rupiah note, with Maitara in the foreground and Tidore's volcano behind. The classic vantage point is from the hill above Ternate's Sulamadaha beach. For the price of a fish lunch, local boatmen will run you across for snorkelling at the Maitara reef and back.

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A story
Look at the back of an Indonesian thousand-rupiah note from the older series and you will see the silhouettes of Tidore and Maitara — the small island in the foreground, the larger volcanic cone behind. The view from the harbour at Rum looking south matches the banknote almost exactly. It is one of the more recognisable landscapes in eastern Indonesia, and the reason the note features Maluku at all is that Tidore was once one of the wealthiest islands in the world.