Traveling to Indonesia—especially from the U.S. & Canada—is the opposite of a quick trip. As an American who lives in Indonesia and travels back to the states several times a year to visit family and also to lead snorkeling safaris in places like Cuba, Belize, and Mexico, this is something we are very familiar with. In light of the significant travel time from the Americas to Indonesia, we've started running a variety of combo snorkel safaris that are not only longer but make stops in at least two different snorkeling destinations! Our Alor-Komodo snorkel safari is arguably our most popular tour and we run a ton each year. Other popular two-stop tours include Misool-Wakatobi (18 nights), North Sulawesi-Raja Ampat (14 nights), and Triton Bay-Raja Ampat (12 nights). If you want something longer that includes more destinations, we also offer the newly launched North Indonesia Snorkeling Safari (20 nights), which makes stops in Bunaken National Park, Halmahera, and finishes in Raja Ampat. If that's still not enough snorkeling for you, then you might want to check out our nearly month-long Epic Indonesia Snorkeling Safari (27 nights) which pretty much stops in every major snorkeling destination Indonesia offers! Something else we've just started doing by request from a number of our die-hard snorkeling guests is combining several trips that have dates that line up well together. Here are just a few tour combinations we've put together for clients recently for the upcoming 2024 snorkeling season. April: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + 14 Night Misool Resort Snorkel Safari April: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + Alor - Komodo Safari September: Alor - Komodo Safari + Wakatobi Snorkel Week October: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + Coralia Liveaboard in Raja Ampat October: North Sulawesi - Raja Ampat + 11 Night Misool Resort Snorkel Safari
Traveling to Indonesia—especially from the U.S. & Canada—is the opposite of a quick trip. As an American who lives in Indonesia and travels back to the states several times a year to visit family and also to lead snorkeling safaris in places like Cuba, Belize, and Mexico, this is something we are very familiar with.
Twenty-twenty-two was a big year for a lot of reasons. It marked the end of the global lockdown that plagued us all and allowed countries like Indonesia, Egypt, The Philippines, Palau, Honduras, French Polynesia, Fiji, and Cuba to once again welcome visitors into their beautiful oceans! Twenty-twenty-two was also our biggest year since we launched in 2018. Even though many of the countries we run snorkeling safaris to were not open at the beginning of the year, we still managed to successfully run 31 tours with 520 snorkeling guests, in 10 different countries! I believe we've said this before, but we can't thank you enough for sticking by us as we all bushwhacked our way through that rough patch. It's only a few more weeks before our 2023 tours begin in February, and we can't wait to welcome you all back as we kick the new year off with a big splash in Belize, Raja Ampat, and Halmahera! Here are Just Some of the Best Moments of 2o22 With all the tours wrapped up for 2022 and the next ones starting in February, our Video and Photo Pro Alex Lindbloom has finally had a minute to go through the hundreds of gigabytes of footage he captured while on tour and has edited a quick little recap of just some of the snorkeling highlights from the last year.
Twenty-twenty-two was a big year for a lot of reasons. It marked the end of the global lockdown that plagued us all and allowed countries like Indonesia, Egypt, The Philippines, Palau, Honduras, French Polynesia, Fiji, and Cuba to once again welcome visitors into their beautiful oceans! Twenty-twenty-two was also our biggest year since we launched
Indonesia is a massive country, and as a result of being broken up into tens of thousands of islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country, and the 14th-largest country by area. The country occupies the area between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian and consists of some of the most dynamic islands on earth, like Sulawesi, Borneo, Papua, and Halmahera. These are not only some of the largest island in Indonesia, but also some of the most biodiverse above and below the waterline. So, since Indonesia is so enormous and has so many different islands each offering a very unique snorkeling experience, we like to break it up into a few different regions, like North, South, East, and West as this is the only real way to accurately describe snorkeling in Indonesia. North Indonesia generally tends to represent the global image of Indonesia with its lush tropical islands, white sandy beaches, and stunning shallow coral reefs. North Indo is where you'll find Bunaken National Park, Raja Ampat, and Halmahera, among many other fantastic snorkeling areas. Again, each of these areas has its own unique characteristics that make them completely different from one another, but in general, these North Indonesian snorkeling destinations offer snorkelers more of a quintessential tropical snorkeling experience. White sand beaches are prevalent if not right in front of the resort, the islands are covered in dense tropical jungles, the climate is as predictable as it gets in the tropics with blue skies and the occasional afternoon rain storm that quickly passes through, and of course, the reefs are stunning and come right up to the surface. With the exception of Raja Ampat which has a more strict snorkeling season, North Indonesia can be snorkeled year round. That's North Indonesia in general, but again, we're talking about
Indonesia is a massive country, and as a result of being broken up into tens of thousands of islands, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country, and the 14th-largest country by area. The country occupies the area between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian and consists of some of the most dynamic islands on earth,
Snorkels, no matter how complex the splash guard is, always seem to let a bit of water into the tube. Typically, the little bit of water that does enter our snorkel just sort of gurgles in the bottom of the chamber at the base of the tube and never poses a problem to us as we snorkel. On occasion, our snorkels may get swamped with a wave, or if we happen to submerge our head just a bit too far underwater completely filling the tube, forcing us to blow the water out with a big exhale. With the exception of the little drops of water that seem to be perpetually bubbling around in the bottom of our snorkel tubes, in general, it's pretty easy to keep water out of our snorkels consistently, no matter how choppy the conditions. We just need to keep in mind a few things. Left Side If you look at a snorkel carefully, nearly all will be designed to be worn on the left-hand side. The reason being, divers have their regulator coming over the right shoulder so the snorkel needs to be worn on the left. Some snorkels, like the classic J-shaped ones can fit on both left and right. Just about all other snorkels will be made to be worn on the left. Tube Facing Slightly Backwards Most snorkels will also have a soft rubber base connected with a harder plastic tube which you are able to rotate. If you find that you are getting more water in your snorkel than you're comfortable with, try twisting the tube so that it faces slightly backward when worn on your head. This will help keep the snorkel from shoveling up water as we swim. Avoid Looking Straight Down If we snorkel looking straight down we not
Snorkels, no matter how complex the splash guard is, always seem to let a bit of water into the tube. Typically, the little bit of water that does enter our snorkel just sort of gurgles in the bottom of the chamber at the base of the tube and never poses a problem to us as
After being closed to tourists for two years, Indonesia is finally open to foreigners! If you are at all familiar with our inventory of snorkeling safaris, this is a game-changer as the majority of our snorkeling safaris take place in this stunning island nation. We couldn't be more pleased to finally be able to once again offer you guys access to some of our most popular snorkeling adventures like our Alor-Komodo Safaris, Misool Resort Safaris, North Sulawesi, Wakatobi, and of course both Triton & Cenderawasih Bay, among many others. For those of you wondering what the protocol is for entering Indonesia, here's a quick look at what it's like to enter Indonesia currently. Entering Indonesia When the country first opened its borders to tourists in late March/Early April there were understandably a few hoops to jump through. Over the past few weeks, those hoops have been steadily removed, almost on a daily basis. Currently—and these are likely to ease up over the next few weeks, all you need to enter Indonesia is: Proof of being fully vaccinated Printed results of Negative PCR test taken no more than 48 hours before departure The PeduliLindnugi app INSTALLED on your phone Proof of medical insurance covering COVID related cases As you can see there are still a few hoops to jump through, but these are pretty big and easy hoops that are essentially standard for all countries across the world, including the United States. These are all expected to be lifted over the next few weeks and months as well. It may sound like a lot of extra things to think of or plan for, but when you actually look at the list, most of you will already have them all completed anyway. As long as you are vaccinated and have health insurance
After being closed to tourists for two years, Indonesia is finally open to foreigners! If you are at all familiar with our inventory of snorkeling safaris, this is a game-changer as the majority of our snorkeling safaris take place in this stunning island nation. We couldn’t be more pleased to finally be able to once
