Darawa – a village settlement in the Wakatobi archipelago, Southeast Sulawesi
Darawa is a small Indonesian settlement belonging to Kaledupa Selatan district (kecamatan) in Kabupaten Wakatobi, within the province of Sulawesi Tenggara (Southeast Sulawesi). Geographically, it is situated in the southeastern part of the Celebes island group, near the Banda Sea, at approximately -5.548 latitude and 123.861 longitude. Kaledupa Selatan district is connected to Kaledupa island, which is one of the four islands that give the Wakatobi its name. The broader region is characterized by the presence of Wakatobi National Park, which provides the natural and tourist framework for the entire regency.
General overview
For Darawa, no independent, settlement-level statistical or encyclopedic sources are available; therefore, the following information is based on data verifiable at the level of Kabupaten Wakatobi. The regency itself was established as an independent administrative unit on December 18, 2003, under Indonesian Law No. 29 of 2003. The regency covers an area of 473.62 km² and had a population of 118,434 in mid-2024. The name "Wakatobi" was formed as an acronym from the initial letters of the region's four main islands: Wangiwangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Darawa belongs to Kaledupa Selatan district, which is located on Kaledupa island — one of the four namesake islands. Within the regency, Wangiwangi serves as the administrative seat, so the most important regency-level infrastructure is concentrated there relative to Darawa. The settlements of Kaledupa Selatan district occupy the southern part of Kaledupa island; the island itself is a sea-surrounded, relatively small area where the local population has traditionally lived from fishing and the exploitation of marine resources. Under such circumstances, Darawa can likely be characterized as a smaller, agrarian and fishing-oriented village, although no separate source is available for this specific assessment.
Real estate and investment
Direct, verifiable data on Darawa's real estate market is not available. Regarding the broader region, Kabupaten Wakatobi, it can be said that the area's tourist appeal — primarily through Wakatobi National Park — has generated investor interest over the past decades, particularly in marine ecotourism. This context applies to the entire regency and may affect Darawa if growing visitor traffic appears on Kaledupa island. However, the physical location — a village in the southern part of a smaller island — generally means more limited infrastructure conditions, which influences the potential scale and pace of value appreciation. Under Indonesian property law regulations, foreigners cannot acquire full ownership rights (Hak Milik) over real estate in Indonesia; the legal forms available to foreign individuals include long-term lease rights (Hak Sewa) or use rights (Hak Pakai) under certain conditions. This represents the general legal framework applicable to the country as a whole, not a special rule specific to Darawa or the regency.
Safety and security
No independent crime or public security statistics are available for Darawa. In general terms, Kabupaten Wakatobi is a relatively small-population regency consisting of islands, where community life and social control have traditionally been strong in smaller, closely-knit village communities. Southeast Sulawesi province as a whole is not considered a high-security-risk area compared to the Indonesian average, and the Wakatobi archipelago is known more as an ecotourism destination than as a conflict zone. However, these are general observations applicable to the region and do not replace the specific, current information that any visitor or prospective resident should obtain based on current advisories from Indonesian authorities.
Tourist attractions
No named, source-supported local tourist attractions are available for Darawa. The most significant, verifiable natural asset of Kabupaten Wakatobi is Wakatobi National Park (Taman Nasional Kepulauan Wakatobi), which was designated as a national park in 1996. The park covers a total area of 1.39 million hectares and is considered one of the most outstanding marine biodiversity areas in Indonesia: its coral reef system ranks among the world's most valuable, and it is recognized as a priority area for marine conservation. The park nominally encompasses the entire archipelago of the regency, including the area around Kaledupa island, to which Darawa belongs. This means that the waters around Kaledupa are situated within the framework of Wakatobi National Park, making the broader region a potential destination for diving, snorkeling, and marine nature observation. However, source-verified data on the specific access points and distances available from Darawa itself is not available.
Summary
Darawa is a small Indonesian village belonging to Kaledupa Selatan district in Kabupaten Wakatobi, located in Sulawesi Tenggara province. The available sources cover only the regency level: the settlement, situated on Kaledupa, one of the four islands that name Wakatobi, falls within the broader area of the world-renowned Wakatobi National Park, which holds regional significance through its 1.39 million-hectare marine park protected since 1996. Darawa's independent real estate market, public security, or tourist data cannot be verified; the above description therefore consistently relies on factual information available at the regency and regional level.
