Sailing Indonesia: Rare Routes

Start the adventure with a tour of Ternate’s historical highlights before boarding the ship, meeting the crew and settling into your new home for the next two weeks. Over lunch, the ship sets sail for the short journey to Halmahera Island’s Dodinga Village, a pivotal place in scientific history, where the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace first came up with the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.

Today visit the Guraici Archipelago, a chain of islands with white sandy beaches, vibrant coral reefs and some lovely local villages. Spend a full day here snorkeling, swimming and pay a visit to one of the villages to meet the local people. The islands are part of a government-controlled conservation area, designed to protect the reefs and the many beautiful marine species that live there. It may also be possible to see manta rays here, and these protected waters also provide the perfect location for beginner or rusty snorkelers to become familiar with the water and to hone their skills for the many days of snorkeling that lie ahead.

Explore the deep forest and rivers of Bacan Island, where Wallace first saw what he called ‘the most beautiful butterfly in the world, the Golden Birdwing. During your trek, the other species that yo might see here include cuscus, hornbills, and other birds, and maybe even an encounter with the black-crested macaque.

Snorkel on some spectacular coral reefs and visit a local hot spring where you’re encouraged to take a warm dip.

Visit Belang Belang Island, which offers fantastic snorkeling both on the reefs and the mangroves, which act as a nursery to many marine species, including baby sharks and many kinds of school fish. Explore the huge inland lagoon, which you can explore from the boat tender. The island is home to healthy populations of birds, including parrots, tree swifts, imperial pigeons and many more.

Today will be a day for snorkeling, culture and history in the middle of the Banda Sea, in the remote and breathtaking Sulu Archipelago. Spend the morning exploring the beaches and reefs of Mangoli Island, where the reefs are teeming with fish and other marine life. True to the desert island locale, enjoy a kayak, paddle or swim, and explore and relax on the white-sand beaches.

Visit a local village market and see the ruins of a 17th-century Dutch fort, which once protected the spice trade along these routes. Be treated to a traditional dance known as the ‘cakalale’, by local warriors. You will also have a chance to explore the local village and meet the people of this remote region.

Enjoy a beach BBQ, and be regaled with traditional Indonesian folk songs and sea shanties as you party by firelight late into the night.

The Bokan Islands are an area of unsurpassed beauty and today is a day of marine exploration and relaxation. Snorkel, swim, paddle and kayak around the glorious reefs, beaches and islands that offer many caves and snorkeling spots. Enjoy the rare privilege to swim in a small marine lake filled with stingless jellyfish, the exotically named Danau Piasu Botangan, one of only 20 lakes of its kind in the world.

Visit the bustling Indonesian island port town of Banggai, where you will visit the local market, the sultan’s palace and the Maleo bird egg ‘museum’, and all from a fleet of brightly-colored motor rickshaws, which will be on the dock awaiting your arrival.

Pay a hands-on visit to LINI, an NGO doing great work with coral restoration on the surrounding reefs, in addition to working with local fishermen in finding sustainable solutions for supplying fish for overseas markets and the live aquarium fishing trade.

Today brings the chance to see possibly one of the strangest and most unique flightless birds found in the world–the Maleo. Visit a conservation project on the mainland where scores of Maleo live and breed. Watch them at their sandy nesting sites from a camouflaged hide as they go about their business.

Visit the Togean Islands National Park for some island hopping and spectacular snorkeling, wildlife and culture. Today will be your first encounter with the Bajau sea gypsies of Southeast Asia and their famous patriarch ‘Jago’, a people with a unique way of living with the sea. About 2,500 people live in this small village, and you will be welcomed into their world to meet and talk with them about their lives.

Some great wildlife experiences await both in the water and the air, with birds, fish, Babirusa (Indonesia’s rare native pig), and invertebrates as the main features. Enjoy a snorkel on the lush reefs near the island of Malenge, before taking your snorkel and mask for a rare second swim with stingless jellyfish.

Visit a local village and meet the people, and enjoy a late afternoon walk in the forest before being witness to a most amazing show of nature as flocks of hornbills come flying in to roost in the trees–a once-in-a-lifetime sight only accessible via your ship.

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After an overnight crossing from Togean, start the day with an early morning swim with whale sharks that congregate just off the coast at a small village in North Sulawesi. Swimming with these gentle giants is one of life’s highlights and is not to be missed.

Visit Tangkoko National Park for a trek through the forest, a haven for many rare and endemic wildlife species, including spectral tarsiers, black-crested macaque, cuscus and a wide variety of birds. This is where Wallace did a lot of his collecting, and you will visit a statue that celebrates this great man.

After a final swim and snorkel on the beach and then a short sail into Bitung Harbor, say a fond farewell to your crew and tour leaders and head to Manado City for your onward flights.

Today is a day of firsts as you are welcomed aboard the boat, meet the crew and fellow passengers, settle into your seaborne home for the next two weeks and set sail. The first stop will be the Tangkoko National Park, which you will visit by car. Alfred Russel Wallace did a lot of his collecting here in the 19th century, and the park is now a haven for wildlife, including tarsiers, cuscus, reptiles, birds and the always-fun black-crested macaque.

Head south along the coast of North Sulawesi, and enjoy multiple opportunities for snorkeling as you visit multiple reefs and islands, as well as pay a couple of visits to some local villages.

In the small seaside town of Botuborani, an absolute highlight might await–the chance to swim with whale sharks, the gentle giants of the sea.

In the Togean Islands, enjoy a fantastic snorkel on the reefs near the island of Malenge, before taking tour snorkel and mask to experience a rare opportunity to swim with stingless jellyfish in nearby Lake Mariona, one of only 20 lakes in the world that are home to these amazing creatures. Also, have the unique opportunity to see the babirusa, Indonesia’s rare and endangered native pig.

Visit a local village and meet the people, and enjoy a late afternoon walk in the local forest before being witness to a most amazing show of nature as flocks of hornbills come flying in to roost in the trees–a once-in-a-lifetime sight only accessible via your ship.

Visit with the Bajau sea gypsies of Southeast Asia and their famous patriarch ‘Jago’, a people with a very unique way of living with the sea. About 2,500 people live in the small overseas village, and you will be welcomed into their world to meet and talk with them about their lives.

Head to the southernmost tip of the park and have a long snorkel near the before setting sail to the southeast for a most unique wildlife encounter the following morning (Day 6).

A very unique experience awaits you today, one you will very likely have never had before–an encounter with a Maleo bird at a locally-run conservation project. One of Sulawesi’s most interesting birds, it is a flightless fowl with some very unusual characteristics and behaviours, and also the symbol of the province within which it lives.

Cruise south and snorkel in the afternoon on a beautifully rich reef in front or Pulau Dua, or ‘two islands’ in the Indonesian language.

Enjoy the rare privilege to swim in a small marine lake filled with stingless jellyfish, one of only 20 lakes of its kind in the world.

Visit the bustling Indonesian island port town of Bangaii, a place filled with activity and commerce. Visit the local market and explore the neighborhoods, the sultan’s palace and the maleo bird egg museum, all from brightly-colored motor rickshaws, which will be on the dock awaiting your arrival.

The last of the day’s highlights will be a snorkel on a local reef where we will see the most elegant, but very threatened, Banggai Cardinal Fish–a darling of saltwater aquarium lovers worldwide. Snorkel on one of the local reefs around a Bajau “sea gypsy” community, a group famous as one of Southeast Asia’s nomadic cultures.

Spend time in the Wakatobi National Park, a very hard-to-reach archipelago filled with fascinating culture and also one of Indonesia’s best national parks, with outstanding underwater life and natural beauty.

Enjoy a personalized tour of the island of Wangi-Wangi, with highlights that include a seaweed farm, meeting with a traditional weaving community, and the ruins of a centuries-old Dutch fort, a relic of the ancient Spice Trade.

Drop anchor at an uninhabited atoll where guests have the chance to beach-comb, snorkel, paddleboard, or kayak

Visit a famous local blacksmith where the local craftsmen use hand-operated bellows on the furnace in the blacksmith’s shop to produce machetes and knives that are highly sought-after right across Indonesia.

Stop by an uninhabited sea mount in the middle of the Flores Sea that is home to tens of thousands of seabirds. It’s rich in upwelling nutrients and a perfect habitat for fishing and raising their young.

Bonerate is rarely visited by tourists outside of those on your ship, and seeing this open-air boatyard is an experience to be savored. Walk amongst the hulls and hulks of a huge unlaunched flotilla of pinisi ships being built on a remote island archipelago. Meet the shipwrights and discover their age-old traditions of shipbuilding that they have practiced for centuries.

Giants will loom large in your day-to-day: Komodo dragons, flying foxes and manta rays, three of the biggest and most impressive animals in Indonesia.

Entering the Komodo National Park, you will have a hands-on experience at a coral conservation project on Hatamin Island, where you will learn about the work and get a chance to create your own coral rack and place it in the sea.

As the sun starts to set, gather on the deck and be witness to a most spectacular event as thousands of flying foxes leave their mangrove forest homes en masse on their nightly fruit-foraging missions.

You have the chance to hike a scenic route of Gili Lawa Darat, or you can stretch your legs on the beautiful white-sandy beach. After the hike, you will be back on board for a mission: to count how many turtles you spot with your own eyes in Siaba Besar island, which is famous as turtle heaven.

Enjoy a privately arranged, ranger-led walk around the island of Rinca, where you will see not only Komodo dragons, but also their preferred menu of prey–monkeys, deer, pigs and buffaloes.

The crew will prepare a beach BBQ for all to feast, sing and dance the night away by a roaring fire under the stars.

On your final day, wake as the boat is cruising slowly, making its way to the town of Labuan Bajo. After a final Indonesian breakfast on the boat, say farewell to your crew, who have looked after you so well for the past 16 days, and transfer to Komodo airport for your flight and our onward journey.

On the first day of your adventure, you will be collected from your hotel after breakfast by your tour leader and taken directly to the boat, which will be waiting at anchor in Ambon Harbor. As soon as everyone is settled in and the captain gets clearance from the harbor master, he or she will raise anchor and head south across the open sea, crossing to the legendary Banda Archipelago.

The Banda Islands are renowned for their natural beauty and cultural heritage, and quite simply one of Indonesia’s highlights. Banda was originally the world’s only source of nutmeg and mace, valued for their rarity and high cost by aristocrats and elites, and is filled with the well-preserved remnants of an extraordinary history of imperialist rivalry.

Since conditions of wind and tide will determine the order in which you visit various Banda islands, your activities here can’t be assigned to a particular day, but here’s what the expedition team aims to cover:

The capital Banda Neira, with its quaint, characterful streets, a museum, churches and a waterfront market and imposing forts. Just across the harbor is Banda’s perfect, jungle-clad volcanic cone Gunung Api (‘Fire Mountain’ – 2, 100ft or 640m).

Also visit the other small islands of the Banda archipelago–Lonthor, Ai, Run, Hatta–each of them with its own remnants of old plantations, Dutch cemeteries and fortifications. The tiny outlying island of Run was the subject of an unbelievable real estate deal when, in 1667, under the Treaty of Breda, it was ceded by the English to the Dutch in exchange for Manhattan. Yes, the Manhattan where New York stands.

Observe the age-old technique of harvesting nutmeg by hand, and taste (and buy) baked goods, condiments, and jams flavored with fresh mace and nutmeg. The fruit enclosing the nutmeg seed is sold dried and has a unique and intense flavor. It is a delicacy rarely obtainable outside the Banda Islands.

There are some excellent coral reefs here, and you should see some amazing marine life whilst snorkeling. Ironically, in the less-than-pristine waters of the harbor, you have a good chance of seeing (at dusk) arguably the world’s most stunning fish, the small but jewel-like mandarin fish.

Leaving Banda, navigate through the Sonnegat (‘Sun’s gap’) between Neira and Gunung Api, possibly escorted by kora-kora–the big Moluccan galleys used traditionally for ceremony and warfare, propelled by banks of warrior-oarsmen.

Visit Nusa Laut, home to a Christian community, where you will visit a Dutch-built church from 1719 as well as a 17th-century fort. A highlight here is a lunchtime feast of wonderful local dishes–freshly prepared by villager hosts from forest, garden and sea produce.

Manipa Island is said to have magical powers, because none of the Portuguese, Dutch or WWII-Japanese who occupied the surrounding islands ever landed here. Here they distill a volatile oil called kayu putih, famed throughout Indonesia as a universal panacea: cosmetic, antiseptic, insecticide, decongestant, analgesic, expectorant, anti-spasmodic, stimulant and tonic.

Also view production of the traditional Moluccan food staple, sago, a nutritious flour washed from the fibrous trunk of the sago palm. Sago can be baked into easily transportable dry cakes, which Wallace often subsisted on, while the palm also provides building material and thatch. After an afternoon snorkeling, cruise on towards your next destination.

Spend the next couple of days visiting some beautiful paradise islands, including the deserted, white-sand Belang-Belang, a real beachcomber’s paradise, where the crew can launch a full flotilla of watercraft, kayaks and paddleboards. On Obi, mountains clad in forest and clove plantations plunge spectacularly into the sea, and you will visit the isolated village of Manatahan, a village of migrants from Sulawesi, hundreds of miles to the west.

In past times, the picturesque channels around Obi were dotted with the sails of local spice traders, Portuguese caravels, Spanish galleons, Dutch ‘jachts’ and English pinnaces. Now you encounter friendly fishers and their outrigger dugouts, colorful timber island-trading craft and sometimes little sloops still trading under sail.

Go ashore into the forests of Bacan island, in search of some endemic wildlife, including the standardwing bird of paradise, and the huge and magnificent golden birdwing butterfly, as well as parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, hornbills, the elusive cuscus, and maybe the endangered, black-crested macaque–the only monkey in Maluku.

Spend the day at the Guraici Archipelago, a chain of islands with white sandy beaches, vibrant coral reefs and some lovely local villages. Snorkel, swim and pay a visit to one of the villages to meet the local people. The islands are part of a government-controlled conservation area, designed to protect the reefs and the many beautiful marine species that live there.

Visit the small village of Dodinga on Halmahera, the very place where Alfred Russel Wallace was staying when, in a fit of malarial delirium, he came up with the idea for the mechanism for evolutionary theory.

Dodinga is a pretty little riverside village with friendly people, colorful houses, and the ruins of an old Portuguese fort, and its importance in the history of science cannot be understated.

Today finds you in Ternate, once the center of the spice trade for several centuries. The influence of the Dutch and the Portuguese can still be seen, and their warehouses are still filled with fragrant piles of clove and nutmeg.

Enjoy a short tour of the city, which includes a visit to the Sultan’s Palace, with its rich collection of heirlooms, and the well-restored Fort Tolukko, built by the Portuguese in 1540.

Head back to the ship for lunch and to say farewell to the captain and the crew before heading off to the airport for the next leg of your journey.

Arrive by plane to the small island of Ternate, the capital of the North Maluku Province. Be met at the airport and transferred to the ship, moored off Ternate City.

Visit the Kedaton, the palace of the Sultan of Ternate, with its rich collection of heirlooms and some old forts, the Portuguese-built Toluku and the Dutch-built Oranje, and the probable site of the house where Wallace was living when he posted his essay on natural selection to Charles Darwin in 1858.

Visit the village of Dodinga: the very place where Wallace was living when, in a fit of malarial delirium, he discovered the mechanism which drives evolutionary change–natural selection. Dodinga is a pretty little riverside village with friendly people, colorful houses and the ruins of an old Portuguese fort, and its importance in the history of science cannot be understated.

Visit the Guraici Archipelago, a chain of islands with white sandy beaches, vibrant coral reefs and some lovely local villages. Spend a full day here snorkeling, swimming and beachcombing. The islands are part of a government-controlled conservation area, designed to protect the reefs and the many beautiful marine species that live there.

Wake up on the western coast of Bacan, another of Indonesia’s historic spice sultanates. Go ashore to explore the forested slopes where Wallace made some of his greatest zoological discoveries, including the moluccan cuscus, the standardwing bird of paradise, and the huge and magnificent golden birdwing butterfly. Wallace described the latter species as the “finest butterfly in the world.”

Also keep a close watch for these and a host of other animals, some of them endemic to these islands, including parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, hornbills, the elusive cuscus and hopefully the endangered black-crested macaque–the only monkey in Maluku.

Pay a visit to the Pisang Islands. These tiny gems isolated in the vast waters of the Ceram Sea offer a chance to relax and enjoy the sparkling white-sand beaches, clear waters and vibrant reefs before making your way to the shores of West Misool.

Visit a seaside village in Misool, where you will visit the school and learn about the way the Nature Conservancy is working with the village to empower local women with a fishing practice called ‘Sasi’.

Snorkel at a channel that divides two islands, where sea fans hang in the drop-offs, and the current is rich in nutrients.

The afternoon will be a laid-back day spent strolling the white-sandy beach and snorkeling the reef where juvenile black-tip reef sharks usually frequent. You will also have the chance to play beach volleyball if you are interested.

This morning, wake to see the sun rise over the picturesque chain of islands that make up the eastern part of the Misool archipelago. The topography is typical of ‘karst dissolution,’ featuring a great number of tiny islets whose bases have been eroded over time by the relentless motion of the tides.

Then move on to a mysterious jellyfish lake and swim amongst the many thousands of stingless animals: undoubtedly one of Raja Ampat’s most memorable activities. Use tenders to explore more of this impressive maze of karst islands, both above and below the surface, complete with prehistoric cave paintings that are estimated to be between 3,000 to 5,000 years old and depict various human figures and huge human palms, fish, plants, tools and vessels.

Visit a small island group for a short hilltop climb to take in the amazing views. After some great snorkeling on the island’s reefs, set course for a local village, where the local children will perform their traditional dances.

You can also walk around the village and gain a sense of the Asai culture, which is still kept very much alive by the villagers living in this isolated place. There’s a chance that you may get to see some manta rays as you snorkel, but there are no guarantees.

Today will present another opportunity for keen naturalists, as you rise early and walk into the forest on a pre-dawn quest to spot the remarkable red bird of paradise, one of the species that Wallace was most anxious to collect. With a little luck and the help of your knowledgeable guides, you will see this rare bird’s elaborate courtship display as dawn breaks over the forest canopy.

Rise at 4.30 am, ready to head into the forest on a pre-dawn quest to spot the gorgeous Wilson’s Bird of Paradise. Hope that the efforts of your early start will pay off, enabling you to catch a rare and privileged sight of the bird’s elaborate courtship dance as the day breaks over the forest canopy.

Enjoy an epic snorkel adventure on one of Raja Ampat’s best reefs, where hundreds of species can be found, including large schools of fish of all sizes and a massive diversity of coral species. The boat will then move to a nearby island for more snorkeling and the opportunity to watch a multitude of bats flying overhead just after sunset.

Once at anchor, say goodbye to your crew and your ship before taking the tenders ashore, where you will be transferred to the airport for your onward travel.

After arriving in the early afternoon from Bali, be met at the Maumere airport by the tour leader and taken directly to the boat to meet fellow passengers and the crew.

After settling in on the boat, we will head to the small village of Watublapi, where we will be met with singing and dancing by the local people. Famed for their unique textiles, we will be shown firsthand their ancient techniques of spinning, dyeing, and weaving their famous fabrics. Here we will have the chance to view (and purchase) some of the local textiles, try their betel nut, and brave their locally produced liquor.

Pay a visit to the local village that was abandoned, then you will snorkel and watch the sunset over Ile Apé, another active volcano.

Go ashore and meet the villagers of Umapura, a village famed for its weaving and dyeing, where you can see how the local women create their intricate ikat cloth. There is every chance to purchase some as a memento.

Take local boats to visit with Mawar, a friendly but wild dugong who lives in the seagrass beds of the nearby bay. You will also get to meet the local hero, Pak One, who ensures that Mawar is well protected.

Visit the traditional village of Takpala up in the hills of Alor, where you will be welcomed by the chief and witness a ceremonial war dance in honor of your visit. You will see their traditional Moko war drums and intricately designed Ikat fabrics, which have been woven and dyed using age-old techniques, and used in local bridal dowries for centuries.

Do a bit of island hopping over the next few days as you make your way up the Banda Arc, a string of volcanic islands that forms part of the Ring of Fire.

Visit Wetar and Damar Islands, and go ashore to a local village to meet the locals and see their way of life as they dry their catch on the beach. Spend the day swimming and beaching, snorkeling and exploring, and indulge in a bit of local culture by way of sopi, a strong alcoholic drink made from a local palm tree.

The crew will set up for a beach BBQ for all to dance and sing into the night before heading off again for an overnight cruise to your next destination.

Visit a very simple village where the people’s houses are made using the products of the sago palm, the staple crop in this part of the world. The villagers will demonstrate how they process the heart of the sago palm into the edible product that sustains them.

Pass by an uninhabited island that is home to tens of thousands of sea birds (brown and red-footed boobies and frigate birds), who will likely come out to encircle the boat in great numbers on your approach. If the tide allows, go ashore and investigate, and surely have a snorkel.

Enjoy a full day at sea as you undergo a long crossing to the legendary Banda Islands–home of nutmeg, mace and mystery.

By dawn, you should have the Banda Archipelago Spice Islands in your sight. This is the original home of nutmeg and the scene of much bloodshed between the colonial powers of Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries over control of the spice trade. Visit Pulau Run, England’s very first colony, as well as Pulau Ai where you will visit Fort Revenge, built by the Dutch in the 17th century.

The capital Banda Neira features quaint, characterful streets, a museum, churches, a waterfront market and forts. Just across the harbor is Banda’s perfect, jungle-clad volcanic cone Gunung Api (‘Fire Mountain).

Also visit the other small islands of the Banda archipelago–Lonthor, Ai, Run, Hatta–each of them with its own remnants of old plantations, Dutch cemeteries and fortifications. The tiny outlying island of Run was the subject of an unbelievable real estate deal when, in 1667, under the Treaty of Breda, it was ceded by the English to the Dutch in exchange for Manhattan. Yes, the Manhattan where New York stands.

Observe the age-old technique of harvesting nutmeg by hand, and taste (and buy) baked goods, condiments, and jams flavored with fresh mace and nutmeg. The fruit enclosing the nutmeg seed is sold dried and has a unique and intense flavor. It is a delicacy rarely obtainable outside the Banda Islands.

There are some excellent coral reefs here, and you should see some amazing marine life whilst snorkeling. Ironically, in the less-than-pristine waters of the harbor, you have a good chance of seeing (at dusk) arguably the world’s most stunning fish, the small but jewel-like mandarin fish.

Leaving Banda, navigate through the Sonnegat (‘Sun’s gap’) between Neira and Gunung Api, possibly escorted by kora-kora–the big Moluccan galleys used traditionally for ceremony and warfare, propelled by banks of warrior-oarsmen.

Wake up just south of the final destination. Spend the last few hours enjoying the majesty of the ocean, and possibly see more whales along the way. As the ship drops anchor in the harbor, say farewell to the crew and tour leaders and be taken to the airport for onward journeys, ending a magical 12 days of exploration and adventure.