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.

Having visited Southeast Sulawesi in the first half of my trip to Indonesia, my goal now was a small island to the west of the big island of Halmahera in North Maluku: Sali Kecil. A Garuda Indonesia flight took me from Jakarta to Ternate in the middle of the night. Early in the morning, a Wings Air flight linked Ternate to Bacan Island, further south. An overland transfer followed, taking me through the forested, mountainous interior to the east coast.

While the crew of KLM Sunshine had already explored the area south of Lembeh, many resort guests had never seen the dive sites there. I boarded the wooden liveaboard boat for a 10-day journey. The Sunshine’s German owner, Anke Andree, joined us for the trip, and there was one other diver named Breny on board. 

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.