Our Trips » Indonesia
Indonesia
Blessed with 17,000 islands, stunning volcanic geography, fascinating cultures, natural diversity above and below water, and more than its fair share of remote and unexplored lands, there is nowhere in the world that can compare with Indonesia.
Most travelers into Indonesia will arrive in Bali, an internationally served holiday island, and gateway to travelers in the vast archipelago of Indonesia.
Starting from Bali you can cross the imaginary Wallace line to the Komodo National Park and beyond, where the flora and fauna of subtropical Asia make a sudden and dramatic change into those typical of Australasia. In this area all holiday types are possible: pristine beaches, world-class surfing and diving are found in abundance.
Indonesia’s cultural diversity is as varied as its natural diversity. Bali, a Hindu island with 1000’s of temples, offers luscious green landscapes, terraced fields of Padi, and mountainous retreats that serve as a relaxing alternative to the buzzing 
parties found in and around Kuta, Legian & Seminyak.
Crossing eastwards to Lombok shades of green turn to shades of brown, and vast landscapes open up. Further east again, the island of Komodo is home to giant monitor lizards, buffalo, and deer. The protected waters surrounding the island offer world class diving.
Several hundred miles to the northeast of Bali, the Moluccas and Banda islands were once highly prized spiceries fought over by the Dutch, English and Portugese in the 16th & 17th Centuries. It is no exaggeration to say that the age of exploration, with far-reaching consequences, was launched in search of spices, with pepper and nutmeg so valuable in London’s markets that sailors and merchants willingly risked their lives on extraordinarily arduous voyages. Today these small islands are only footnotes on the world map, but to illustrate their importance, 17th century copper plate maps show islands in the spiceries out of all proportion to their size.
To the north of Banda and west of Irian Jaya (West Papua) are the islands of the Raja Ampat, at the heart of the Wallacea Triangle. Comprising dozens of idyllic islands and bays, Raja Ampat harbours the world’s greatest diversity of marine life, with over 1,070 fish species, 537 coral species, and 699 mollusc species. Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs. Suffice to say the variety of marine life is staggering and dozens of new species being discovered each year.
Vast and varied you’re never sure what you will see when embarking upon an Indonesia expedition, however you can be assured that you’ll leave wanting to return.
Diving in Indonesia
Komodo, the Banda Islands and Raja Ampat, off West Papau (formerly Irian Jaya) hold the highest marine diversity in the world. The reefs here are extremely healthy, having been largely exempt from the destructive practices that have devastated so many of the world’s reefs. However, these beautiful ecosystems are just the tip of the iceberg in an area that could arguably be described as the best diving in the world.
Komodo – Holds an incredible variety of coral reef diving, from calm shallow reefs to sea mounts with ripping currents. As well as being able to find all your mega fauna, manta rays, a large variety of sharks, sun fish and dolphins Komodo is also a Macro photographers paradise.
The Banda Islands – Until recently the little known Banda Islands were not easily accessible to the average diver. Now a few boats operate in one of the most varied tropical diving destinations. WWII wrecks, macro life that makes Lembeh look only OK, caves, reefs that compare with the best in the world, and sea mounts that have so much life sometimes you loose sight of sunlight. And all on one liveaboard expedition, truly amazing diving!
The Raja Ampat – Slightly less accessible than the Banda but no less famous the Raja Ampat is THE frontier of world diving. This large area, much of which is still unexplored, offers the highest recorded diversity of anywhere in the entire world, for fish coral and invertebrates. Clear water mangroves and extraordinary underwater landscapes make much of the Raja Ampat unique, whilst the area still holds every other type of tropical diving. Raja Ampat has it all!
Between March and October Raja Laut is available for dive charters in Indonesia, she can accommodate 8 divers.
For more information on particular destinations in Indonesia please visit our maps page.