Scuba divers visiting the region today follow in the footsteps of some big names. Ambon, on the northern edge of the Banda Sea, has been a favourite hunting ground for ichthyologists since the 18th century, and Alfred Russel Wallace spent a lot of time here during his 1854–1862 exploration of the region, a period during which he developed his ideas on biogeography and natural selection (independently of Charles Darwin) and came up with the notion of the “Wallace Line” that separates Asia from Australasia.

Last fall, my mother and I ventured to Indonesia in search of relaxation, diving and just spending time together. We chose two locations in North Sulawesi: Coral Eye on Bangka Island and Siladen Resort and Spa on Siladen Island, sister resorts that are special in their own ways, but mirror each other in service, luxury and commitment to environmental and social responsibility, plus excellent diving.

Last year, I took a job in a remote location with far less travel and vacation time than I was used to. After slogging through the months without booking flights or planning dive trips, my collected time off finally reached numbers that would justify a plane ticket. But then the question arose of where to go. The long time away from home and family tugged me toward visiting my mother. However, she resides in the Midwest of the United States, which lacks warm waters and abundant critters to dive with.

I had not previously considered the Halmahera region and had to look it up to find out exactly where it was. For those who do not know, it lies northwest of Raja Ampat. Our liveaboard tour on the MS Gaia Love started in Ternate and Halmahera and then took us via Misool and Raja Ampat back to Sorong.

The first article, in issue #132, focused on Mark Erdmann, Vice President of Asia Pacific Marine Programmes for Conservation International (CI) and architect of the innovative, broad-based, bottom-up strategy that underpins conservation efforts in the region. Central to Erdmann’s approach was the need to quantify Raja Ampat’s extraordinary biodiversity. The person who played a pivotal and sustained role in that critical undertaking was Gerry Allen, whose contributions have been instrumental in shaping the conservation narrative of this incredible area.

On my previous trip to Sumatra, the diving had been stimulating, but I had got a bit carried away with the time underwater on one particular dive. The boat returned to the village of Iboih on Pulau Weh, and I disembarked on the black sandy beach with my equipment and underwater camera. Half an hour later, I was back in my room when I suddenly felt dizzy and was seized with intense vertigo. The walls started dancing in all directions. I crashed onto the bed, nauseous and with a bad headache.

As I slid backwards down a steep slope of black sand, trying desperately to hold my camera steady and focus on a tiny critter no larger than a grain of rice, I could not help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Bali’s underwater world is as challenging as it is breathtaking, and beneath the surface of the warm, turquoise waters lies a treasure trove of marine life, especially for those passionate about macro and super macro underwater photography.

In just over 20 years, Raja Ampat, the “Four Kings” of Indonesia’s remote West Papua province, has evolved from an almost unknown location into one of the world’s most sought-after tropical diving destinations. Back in 2005, when I first visited the area, diving options were limited to just a few liveaboards and a couple of land-based “eco” resorts—essentially beach camps.