Location Description Halmahera is the large odd-shaped island just west of the Raja Ampat region and east of northern Sulawesi. In terms of tourism, it's pretty much new to the scene. With the exception of the occasional liveaboard passing through and the two snorkel and dive resorts in the southern tip, Halmahera is rarely visited by snorkeling enthusiasts. This lack of tourism is by no means a reflection of the area's reefs and snorkeling potential, quite the opposite actually. Halmahera's unique position between two of the world's most bio-diverse marine eco-systems—Sulawesi and Raja Ampat—makes it one seriously good destination for snorkeling. There are two ways to arrive to Halmahera for snorkeling, with the first being by plane. There are a number of routes in which to arrive, however, the easiest and most comfortable is via Manado in North Sulawesi. From Manado, it's a short hop to the small port town of Labuha which may or may not involve a brief stopover in Ternate. Once in Labuha, it's a quick shuttle ride to the harbor followed by a 30-minute boat to Kusu Island Resort where all the snorkeling will stem from. The other way to get to Halmahera is by liveaboard. At least at the moment, liveaboards do not start or finish from Halmahera directly. Instead, any liveaboard snorkel safari to Halmahera will begin in Sorong and sail through Raja Ampat as well as Halmahera before finishing in Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, or vise-versa. There's just not enough infrastructure to support the refueling and stocking of high-end liveaboards in Halmahera at the moment. The best snorkeling in Halmahera is around the south between the Bacan (pronounced Bachan) islands and the long southern tip of Halmahera. Around this channel, you'll find numerous smaller islands and several large shallow sea mounds which
Location Description Halmahera is the large odd-shaped island just west of the Raja Ampat region and east of northern Sulawesi. In terms of tourism, it’s pretty much new to the scene. With the exception of the occasional liveaboard passing through and the two snorkel and dive resorts in the southern tip, Halmahera is rarely visited
Location Description Wakatobi is technically a regency of 150 small islands off the southeast coast of Sulawesi, but when we talk about Wakatobi as a snorkeling destination, we mean the area within that regency that is a national park. Wakatobi is one of Indonesia's most famous, and also most remote snorkeling destinations as it only has one snorkeling resort in the entire area, Wakatobi Resort. Wakatobi's remote location in the heart of the Banda Sea—an area well known for its vibrant reefs—combined with the fact that there is very little tourism or development of any kind in the area make it of Indonesia's most beautiful snorkeling destinations. Despite its remote location, Wakatobi is incredibly easy and comfortable to arrive to as the resort has its own charter flight twice weekly from Bali. The flight is just two and a half hours and lands on a private airstrip located on the neighboring island, Tomia. The boat ride from Tomia to Wakatobi Resort on Tolandona Island takes about twenty to thirty minutes, at which point you will disembark and be on the doorsteps to the fantastic resort. The area's best snorkeling sites are within close proximity to the resort, anywhere from 10-20 minutes away, and will be done via Wakatobi Resort's spacious snorkeling boats. The resort also has a really amazing house reef which starts just beyond the white sand beach and extends from hundreds of meters in either direction. Snorkeling The snorkeling around Wakatobi is particularly awesome for a number of reasons. First of all, the area's remoteness combined with the fact that it's a protected area mean that the reefs are in absolutely amazing condition. Truly some of the best in Indonesia, and they come right to the surface and just keep going and going. During certain moon phases there
Location Description Wakatobi is technically a regency of 150 small islands off the southeast coast of Sulawesi, but when we talk about Wakatobi as a snorkeling destination, we mean the area within that regency that is a national park. Wakatobi is one of Indonesia’s most famous, and also most remote snorkeling destinations as it only
Location Description Belize is home to some of the Caribbean's best snorkeling sites, without a doubt. With the second largest barrier reef system in the world starting just 1,000 feet of the country's shoreline and extending for over 190 miles—the entire length of Belize, it should come as no surprise. Belize City is the main port for the country, despite not being the capital city. This coastal city hosts the country's primary airport, Philip SW Goldson International Airport, (BZE), and is also the jumping-off point for all snorkeling excursions to the great Belize Barrier Reef. While there are many smaller atolls, cays, and hundreds of islands within this massive reef system, there are three large atolls that sit just east of the main barrier reef where nearly all the snorkeling will take place. Liveaboard snorkeling safaris will primarily concentrate their time around the Glovers and Turneffe Atoll, while resort snorkeling safaris will spend their time around Turneffe Atoll and Lighthouse Reef. Lighthouse reef is where the famous Blue Hole is located. Snorkeling in Belize Snorkeling in Belize, regardless of the Atoll you are on, is the quintessential Caribbean snorkeling experience. Clear warm water with patches of pristine white sand intricately framing and wrapping around an undulating network of shelves, plateaus, slopes, and valleys plastered with brightly colored corals, fans, and sponges. Not to mention plenty of critters and schools of fish to gawk at as you float above this surreal landscape. The coral is absolutely exquisite in Belize, and at low tide parts of it will even breach the surface. Some reefs will be largely made up of expansive fields of hard coral colonies where the famous brain corals and elk-horn coral can be seen all over the place. Other reefs will be dominated by sea fans and sponges. The
Location Description Belize is home to some of the Caribbean’s best snorkeling sites, without a doubt. With the second largest barrier reef system in the world starting just 1,000 feet of the country’s shoreline and extending for over 190 miles—the entire length of Belize, it should come as no surprise. Belize City is the main
Location Description North Sulawesi is home to Bunaken National Park, Gangga Island, and Lembeh—which are some of Indonesia's most beautiful and tranquil snorkeling destinations. Manado is the capital city of North Sulawesi Regency and is where all the flights will arrive and depart from. From Mando Airport it's just a quick car ride to the harbor followed by another quick and comfortable boat ride to one of Bunaken National Park's resorts. There are many great resorts in the Bunaken area, but our go-to resort for our snorkeling safaris is Siladen Resort & Spa, which is located on Siladen Island—the smallest of the islands in Bunaken. The Bunaken area is comprised of five tropical islands, one of which is a stunning dormant volcano called Manadotua. The islands are all quite close together making travel times between the different island's snorkeling sites quick and easy. Lembeh is a beautiful island just off the northeastern tip of Sulawesi. It is easily accessed by boat from Bunaken with good weather, or by car should the sea conditions not be ideal for a boat transfer. This area is quite volcanic with several semi-dormant volcanoes clearly visible on the horizon. Every now and then, if you are lucky, you may see one of them give a little smokey 'burp'. Like Bunaken, there are a number of fantastic resort options, but our go-to resort is Lembeh Resort as they are not only one of the oldest and most reputable resorts in the area, but also very well set up to accommodate snorkelers. Gangga Island is a small tropical island fringed by white a white sand beach and sits just off the northern tip of Sulawesi. Gangga Island does have a very beautiful boutique resort that is well equipped for snorkelers, however, for the snorkeling safaris we typically
Location Description North Sulawesi is home to Bunaken National Park, Gangga Island, and Lembeh—which are some of Indonesia’s most beautiful and tranquil snorkeling destinations. Manado is the capital city of North Sulawesi Regency and is where all the flights will arrive and depart from. From Mando Airport it’s just a quick car ride to the
Location Description Alor is one of Indonesia's newest snorkeling destinations and is quickly becoming one of the top places to snorkel in the world. Alor is actually just one island—the largest, within a small regency known as the Alor Regency and is made up of twenty islands in the far eastern corner of Indonesia. Like many of the islands in this part of Indonesia, the landscape is volcanic—with several of the dormant conical peaks clearly visible from the horizon. The most iconic volcano in Alor is Pura, and sits just outside Kalabahi bay between the island of Alor and Pantar. This dormant volcano is where a lot of the area's best snorkeling sites are located and where we concentrate our time on our Alor snorkeling safaris. There is one airport that services the Alor Regency and it's located on the northwest tip of Alor Island and is just forty-five minutes by car to the resort that always hosts us, Alami Alor. Snorkeling The snorkeling in Alor is truly exquisite and offers a seemingly endless variety of stunning coral reef vistas and marine life encounters. Within the area just outside Kalabahi bay, we have a large variety of types of snorkeling sites, from vibrant walls that drop of into the deep blue water to vast coral plateaus, reefs made up almost entirely of sea anemones, village piers completely encrusted with soft coral and sea fans, to gentle drifts over beautiful sloping reefs where the village children will often swim along with you in their home-made wooden goggles posing for photos. Then there's the house reef in front of Alami Alor, which has so much to offer despite just being a few steps from your bungalow. One of the key things that make Alor such a unique place to snorkel is the
Location Description Alor is one of Indonesia’s newest snorkeling destinations and is quickly becoming one of the top places to snorkel in the world. Alor is actually just one island—the largest, within a small regency known as the Alor Regency and is made up of twenty islands in the far eastern corner of Indonesia. Like
