Raja Ampat

Indonesia 0.23° S, 130.52° E

Raja Ampat sits where the Pacific and Indian oceans trade water, at the far eastern end of Indonesia. Its reefs hold more species of fish and coral than anywhere else that has been counted.

There are few roads and fewer hotels, so we go by boat and stay on it.

Fly to: Sorong, via Jakarta
On the ground: Wooden liveaboard
Stay in: Private cabin aboard

Best months

Raja Ampat, up close.

The reefs

Soft-coral walls, schooling barracuda and pygmy seahorses the size of a grain of rice. Snorkellers see most of it too.
Mantas at dawn

Cleaning stations where oceanic mantas queue, wing to wing, an arm’s length away.
Nobody else

Hundreds of limestone islands and a handful of boats. Most beaches have no footprints on them.