Located to the northeast of Bali, the Spice Islands (Maluku and Banda islands) were once highly prized islands, their spices fought over by the Dutch, English and Portugese in the 16th & 17th Centuries. In fact it would be no exaggeration to say that the Great Age of Exploration was launched to search for these spices, as at one time nutmeg was so valuable in London's markets that it was worth its weight in gold.
Today the Banda Sea is a highly prized scuba diving destination.
Travelling from Bali to the Komodo and beyond you will cross the imaginary Wallace Line to discover a chain of hundreds of islands that include the Komodo National Park itself - where the flora and fauna of subtropical Asia make a sudden and dramatic change into those typical of Australasia. Blessed with stunning volcanic geography, fascinating cultures and natural diversity, there is nowhere in the world that can compare with the cruising to be experienced in the Komodo National Park and the Lesser Sunda Islands (also known as Nusa Tenggara).
The Mentawai Islands are a chain of islands off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The geography and reef structures of this island chain (composed of 7 large islands and over 50 smaller ones) are combined with a super-consistent swell, originating from the Southern Ocean, to create the worlds best surf playground. Numerous surf charter yachts are available from Padang in West Sumatra to give you unparalleled and privileged access to the Mentawai waves.
A new yacht charter frontier, West Papua (Irian Jaya) and the islands of the Raja Ampat are known for their fascinating indigenous tribes, rugged terrain, impenetrable rainforests and exquisite, absolutely world-class scuba diving.
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At the heart of the Wallacea Triangle, this large area, much of which is still unexplored, offers the highest recorded marine diversity of anywhere in the entire world, for fish coral and invertebrates, with over 1,070 fish species, 537 coral species and 699 mollusc species.
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