Bira

Bira is a small town on the southeastern tip of South Sulawesi, with two reasons to come: an extraordinary white-sand beach below limestone cliffs, and the working shipyards at Tana Beru where the wooden pinisi schooners of the Bugis people are still built by hand.

It is the launching point for diving Pulau Liukang and the Selayar islands further south, and an easy add-on after Toraja or Makassar.

Three nights is enough for the beach and the shipyards; four if you add a Liukang day trip.