Blog
Discover insights, tips, and stories about liveaboard diving in Indonesia. From Raja Ampat to Komodo and the Banda Sea.
97 articles found
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.
Liveaboard Food and Dietary Requirements: Allergies, Vegan Diets and How Dining Really Works (2026)
An operator's guide to eating on a liveaboard anywhere in the world. Why buffet is the industry default and what actually determines whether a la carte is possible, how meals are timed around the dive schedule, why the menu changes as a trip goes on, an honest risk assessment for severe food allergies far from medical care, how to communicate a requirement so it reaches the person holding the knife, realistic expectations for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, halal, kosher and clinical diets, and the subtraction versus substitution test that reveals a boat's real service level.
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.
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.
Where Is Raja Ampat? Location, Map Context and How Remote It Really Is (2026)
Where Raja Ampat actually is, and why its position matters. The province and administrative geography, the four kings the name refers to, straight-line distances and realistic travel times from Bali, Jakarta, Singapore, Sydney, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, the WIT time zone trap, the five diving zones inside the archipelago, why sitting at the centre of the Coral Triangle produces the richest reef measured anywhere, and an honest account of how remote it feels once you leave Sorong.
Manuk Island: Diving the Banda Sea Snake Island
An uninhabited volcano 122 kilometres from the nearest island, ringed by sea snakes and sitting on the hammerhead migration route. Only a handful of liveaboards go, and the weather decides whether they arrive.
Maumere Diving: Flores Bay and Gateway Guide
Most divers pass through Maumere on the way to Alor or the Banda Sea without ever getting in the water, which wastes a bay once thought the most species-rich anyone had surveyed.
Dampier Strait Diving: Raja Ampat Site Guide
The channel that holds Cape Kri, Blue Magic and Manta Sandy is the richest reef on earth, and the tide decides whether you see it at its best.
Manta Point Komodo: Diving Karang Makassar
Komodo’s most requested dive site is a grey rubble plateau that almost nobody calls by its real name, and the mantas are only half the story.