Raja Ampat To the Volcanoes of Maluku

Begin the adventure with a pickup at the airport or your hotel and be transferred to the harbor, where the boat waits at anchor. After settling into your cabin, you receive a briefing on the vessel’s facilities and safety procedures. The boat then leaves the harbor and heads into the park for the first snorkel of the trip. Later, you travel to Mioskon Island for another snorkel and watch thousands of giant fruit bats emerge from the forest at dusk.

Rise early and take the tenders to a small village near Waisai. Local guides lead a walk into the forest to spot Wilson’s and Red birds of paradise. Return to the village to meet the community and possibly visit the school. Afterward, travel to Friwin Island for snorkeling and then to Yenbesir to see a recreation of AR Wallace’s 19th-century forest house. In the afternoon, snorkel on the surrounding reefs.

After breakfast, you snorkel at the famous “Fish Bowl” at Yenuba village, one of the most diverse and rich sites in all of Raja Ampat, with many hundreds of species and fish of all sizes. 

During lunch, cruise to nearby Arborek village, where you are entertained by the local school children with traditional dance and music. You can also snorkel on the local reef, where you hope to see manta rays. 

This evening, attend a presentation on manta rays by the BareFoot Community, an NGO working closely with these giants of the deep.

Today you wake up in Piaynemo in the Fam islands, where you go for a snorkel after breakfast and then make a climb to the viewpoint to look down over this magnificent island chain. You visit the nearby Andau island, where you have another chance to hopefully spot another group of manta rays. Later that afternoon, you head south in the direction of Misool.

 This morning, you wake to see the sun rise over the picturesque chain of islands that make up the eastern part of the Misool archipelago. The tenders take you to a large cave where it is possible to swim, snorkel, or simply float while gazing up at the cavernous grotto adorned with stalactites. You 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. 

In the afternoon, take the tenders to explore more of this impressive maze of karst islands, both above and below the surface, complete with mysterious skull cairns in sea-cave cemeteries, and prehistoric cave paintings, estimated to be anything between 3,000 and 5,000 years old. 

After breakfast, prepare snorkeling gear for a swim through the Gorgonian Passage, an area rich in large corals and abundant fish life. 

You explore the local island chain by tender and have some beach time in the afternoon, where you can kayak, paddle board, snorkel, and swim. Tonight, enjoy a beach BBQ under the stars.

Wake early once again and go ashore in Katpacol village, where local guides are waiting for you to take you through the forest to hopefully see the Lesser Bird of Paradise as they dance around in their ‘lekking’ trees. 

On the way back, you have time for a stroll around the village and possibly a visit to the school and to learn about the way the Nature Conservancy is working with the village to empower local women with a fishing practice called ‘sasi’.

Today, you find yourself off the extreme southern tip of Halmahera Island at Pisang Island, where you can go snorkeling, visit a local Bajau sea gypsy village, and learn about their way of life. During lunch, you head west again in the direction of Bacan Island. 

You wake up on the western coast of Bacan and go ashore to explore the forested slopes in search of Wallace’s Giant Bee and the huge and magnificent Golden Birdwing Butterfly. During this trip, you might see some of the other endemic animals of these islands, including parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, hornbills, the elusive cuscus, and the endangered Black-crested Macaque. 

Today, you visit the Guraici Archipelago, a chain of islands with white sandy beaches, vibrant coral reefs, and some lovely local villages. You spend a full day here snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, and paddle boarding, 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.

After breakfast, you go ashore on Tidore Island, where you visit a local blacksmith village and an old 16th-century Spanish fort. In the afternoon, you head across the strait to Halmahera to visit the village of Dodinga: the very place where AR Wallace was living when he discovered the mechanism which drives evolutionary change - natural selection. His Letter to Charles Darwin was the catalyst that prompted Darwin to publish his book Origin of Species in 1859, which explained the theory in greater detail. 

Today marks the end of your adventure, but first, you head out for a tour of the city, which has retained its commercial and political importance as the administrative and trading center of North Maluku. You visit a couple of old Portuguese and Dutch forts and pay a visit to the Sultan’s Palace with its rich collection of heirlooms. In the early afternoon, guests are dropped off at the airport for onward flights.