Tana Beru: visiting the pinisi boatyards of Bulukumba's Bonto Bahari district

By Pinisi Boat Editorial Desk

Tana Beru is a kelurahan in Bonto Bahari district, Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi, and one of three contemporary pinisi boatbuilding centres named in UNESCO's 2017 decision. Bira and Ara, in the same district, share its boatbuilding history. A visit means arriving through Makassar and treating the shore as somebody's workplace rather than as a staged attraction.

Where exactly is Tana Beru?

It sits in Bonto Bahari, one of the 10 districts of Bulukumba Regency in South Sulawesi. The district listing for Bonto Bahari has four villages (Ara, Bira, Darubiah, Lembanna) and four kelurahan (Benjala, Sapo Lohe, Tanah Beru, Tanah Lemo). A kelurahan is the administrative unit that appears alongside the village in that listing, so Tana Beru is a local subdivision and you will not find it as a regency or town on a large-scale map.

Spelling varies and you will meet all of it. UNESCO's decision writes Tana Beru, the district listing writes Tanah Beru, and sources disagree between Bonto Bahari and Bontobahari. Search under each form when looking for maps or transport.

What does each place contribute to the pinisi story?

People tend to speak of "Tana Beru" as shorthand for everything around it, yet the sources give each place a different standing. UNESCO's decisions document and Wikipedia answer different questions, as the table shows.

Two details are worth carrying with you. Lemo-Lemo does not appear under that name in the district listing. A kelurahan called Tanah Lemo does, but no source we can cite connects the two, so we leave the question open. And Ara's absence from the UNESCO decision says nothing about its importance to the craft; the decision lists present-day centres, and our page on the 2017 inscription explains how to read it.

What might you actually see on the shore?

Expect whatever happens to be under way. The record shows that this coast handles large work: a 50 m pinisi-rigged motor vessel was completed in Bulukumba in 2011, and CharterWorld places the building of the 65.2 m Lamima on the beach at Bira/Ara. It does not tell you what will be on the sand on any given day. We know of no published visiting hours, launch calendar or list of yards open to the public, and we give no count of yards because we have no figure we trust.

A little background sharpens what you see. UNESCO associates the word pinisi with the rig and sail, and a hull still on shore may have neither masts nor sails fitted, so the shape of the hull is the thing to study. Look at the stern and the keel line, the rudder arrangement and the height of the foredeck. These are the features that separate the recorded hull types, which our hull guide sets side by side. For what the craft involves and which accounts of it hold up, read how pinisi building is documented.

How should you behave on a working beach?

These are our suggestions, not published rules. They rest on a simple point: the people here are at work and their time has value.

• Ask before you photograph people, and accept a refusal without argument.
• Keep clear of anyone cutting, shaping or lifting timber, and do not stand beneath a hull or scaffold.
• Do not climb on a hull or staging unless someone responsible invites you.
• Greet whoever seems to be in charge first, and ask where you may stand.
• Go with a local guide or interpreter if you do not speak Indonesian. The builders' community is recorded as Konjo-speaking, so a local companion will smooth the way.
• If a launch or ceremony is in progress, stay back and follow what local people ask of you.
• Keep drones on the ground unless you have clear permission from those working below.

How do you get there from Makassar?

The gateway airport is Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (IATA UPG, ICAO WAAA), on the border of Makassar and Maros, about 20 km and some 15 minutes by toll road from the city centre. From there the onward leg to Bulukumba is overland. We have not found a road distance or driving time we can rely on, so we quote neither. Ask your driver or accommodation for a current estimate, allow generous margin, and do not plan a tight same-day connection on the strength of a figure you found online.

Where else can you see the boats?

If Bulukumba does not fit your trip, the ships themselves can be seen elsewhere. Wikipedia names Paotere in Makassar and Sunda Kelapa in Jakarta as traditional ports frequented by pinisi. Those are harbours, so you would be looking at vessels in service rather than vessels under construction. Our guide on where to see pinisi boats compares the options. We do not recommend particular lodgings or tour operators on this page.

How big is Bulukumba Regency?

These figures describe the whole regency, so they say nothing about how many people work in boatbuilding. They are Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data for 2021 as carried by Indonesian Wikipedia. For later figures, the regency's 2024 statistical yearbook is the document to check.

What are the short answers for a Tana Beru visit?

Is Tana Beru the same place as Tanah Beru?

Yes, we read them as one place. UNESCO's decision uses Tana Beru, while the Bonto Bahari district listing uses Tanah Beru for the kelurahan.

Is Tana Beru the only pinisi building centre?

No. UNESCO's decision also names Bira and Batu Licin, and Wikipedia records builders from Ara and Lemo-Lemo as part of the same tradition.

Is Tana Beru itself a UNESCO site?

No. UNESCO's listing covers an art of boatbuilding. Tana Beru is named in the decision as a centre of that craft and carries no site status of its own.

Do I need permission to photograph the boatbuilders?

Yes, as a matter of courtesy. We know of no published rule either way, so ask the people concerned each time, and ask whoever seems to be in charge of the work.

Which airport serves a trip to Bulukumba?

Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar (UPG) is the usual reference point here. It lies on the Makassar and Maros border, and the rest of the journey is by road.

Which sources support this page?

Checked October 2026. Local conditions change faster than any of these documents, so confirm access on the ground before you travel.

• Indonesian Wikipedia: Kabupaten Bulukumba (BPS 2021 figures)
• Kabupaten Bulukumba Dalam Angka 2024 (BPS, via Bulukumba open data)
• UNESCO: 12.COM decisions document
• Wikipedia: Pinisi
• CharterWorld: 65 m traditional phinisi yacht completed
• Wikipedia: Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport

How do I reach the desk?

The Pinisi Boat Editorial Desk takes questions about this guide on WhatsApp 6281139414563 and at bd@juaraholding.com. If you have visited and found something here out of date, tell us what you saw.