Liveaboard Destinations

Explore our collection of expert guides and articles on the Indonesia's best liveaboard destinations. Discover tips, itineraries, and inspiration for your next diving adventure.

70 articles found

Best Time to Visit the Banda Sea: Diving Season, Weather and Hammerheads by Month

Best Time to Visit the Banda Sea: Diving Season, Weather and Hammerheads by Month

One short season a year, from September to early November, with October the best month of all. Miss it and the Banda Sea is one of the roughest crossings in Indonesia.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
Park Fees, Permits and Visas for an Indonesia Liveaboard (2026)

Park Fees, Permits and Visas for an Indonesia Liveaboard (2026)

The park fees are modest. The confusion around them is not. What Komodo, Raja Ampat and Indonesian immigration actually charge a foreign diver in 2026, and when each is paid.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
Things to Do in Labuan Bajo Before and After Your Liveaboard

Things to Do in Labuan Bajo Before and After Your Liveaboard

You get two windows in Labuan Bajo, and the one after your cruise is not a free day. What to do with both, and what the eighteen hour rule quietly rules out.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
Diving the Cauldron (Shotgun) in Komodo

Diving the Cauldron (Shotgun) in Komodo

Komodo’s most talked-about drift, and its most misdescribed. What the Cauldron actually is, zone by zone, and the honest answer on whether you are ready for it.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
Cape Kri, Raja Ampat: The World Record Reef

Cape Kri, Raja Ampat: The World Record Reef

One reef corner in the Dampier Strait, 374 fish species counted on a single dive, and a record that has stood since 2012. What the number really means, and why the tide decides your dive.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
Wae Rebo Flores: How to Visit in 2026

Wae Rebo Flores: How to Visit in 2026

Seven conical houses in a mountain bowl at 1,200 metres, five hours inland from Labuan Bajo and a two hour climb from the nearest road. Why divers should go before the boat, not after.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
The Banda Islands: Nutmeg, Dutch Forts and the Island Traded for Manhattan

The Banda Islands: Nutmeg, Dutch Forts and the Island Traded for Manhattan

In 1667 the Dutch traded Manhattan for a nutmeg island in the Banda Sea. What survives on those islands today, and the two dives that sit directly beneath the history.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
How to Get to Raja Ampat from Singapore: Routes, Costs and Timings (2026)

How to Get to Raja Ampat from Singapore: Routes, Costs and Timings (2026)

An operator's guide to reaching Raja Ampat from Singapore, the best international gateway to the archipelago outside Indonesia. The two routings that work and why Makassar is underrated, realistic timings, full cost bands in Singapore dollars, visa-free entry for Singapore passports, domestic baggage limits on the Sorong legs, how to time the pre-dawn connection, whether a seven-night trip is enough, the liveaboard versus homestay calculation that only makes sense from a short-haul market, and multi-destination pairings with Lembeh and Bali.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi
How to Get to Raja Ampat from the USA: Routes, Costs and Timings (2026)

How to Get to Raja Ampat from the USA: Routes, Costs and Timings (2026)

An operator's guide to reaching Raja Ampat from the United States. The four-stage shape of the journey, best West Coast and East Coast routings including whether to fly the Pacific or the Gulf, the overnight decision between Jakarta and Sorong and why we recommend arriving a day early, 2026 cost bands for the whole journey, through-tickets versus separate tickets, Indonesian domestic baggage limits, visa on arrival mechanics, date line and jet lag management, and how to plan the return around the no-fly interval.

Mika Takahashi
Mika Takahashi