Tobelo City is located on the eastern of northern peninsula of Halmahera Island and also the biggest city in the island. Tobelo is the capital of Halmahera Utara district and has good coconut trees view. Beaches, small island clusters and underwater beauty will be the reason for you coming to Tobelo City.

Many merchants coming from Arab (United Arab Emirate), Portugal and netherlands come to Tobelo City through sea trading route in the 16th century. Those merchants looked for spices and also wanted to spread some religion in Tobelo. At that time, this fact brought a negative influence to citizens of Tobelo who felt that the original culture of tobelo was started to disappear as the result of those new religions spreaded. But then citizens of Tobelo realized that their culture was the only unifier tool from all differences there existed in Tobelo. This fact was supported by hibualamo custom house located at the centre of Tobelo. This custom house was used as gathering place for Tobelo citizens consisted by many ethnic groups.

Tobelo is served by the Kau Airport. Although the official name for this airport is Kuabang Airport. Many people call it Kao Airport because it is located in Kao sub-district near Tobelo. Tobelo is the largest city in Halmahera and the capital of Halmahera district. Kao Airport is about 60 kilometers from Tobelo and has a 1,400 metres long runway and a VIP lounge (since 2011).

To get to Tobelo from the aiport you can get a shared car for IDR 120,000 per person. The 60km ride takes about 1,5 hour.