Sail the undiscovered frontier from Ternate to Bitung and discover rare species, remote cultures, and remarkable corals.
13 Nights: Various Dates Available
From $10,450/ £8,600 per person*
*Trips are priced in the operator's local currency. The amount you pay in sterling will change with currency fluctuations.
D A Y 1
Starting your adventure today you have a tour of Ternate’s historical highlights before boarding and meeting the crew and settling into your new home for the next two weeks.
Over lunch, you set sail for the short journey to Halmahera Island’s Dojinga Village, a pivotal place in scientific history, where the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace first came up with the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.
Later that afternoon, you enter the water for the first time and snorkel and swim on your first coral reef before heading south as the sun sets behind the perfectly conical volcanic islands peaks of the northern Moluccas.
D A Y 2
This morning you do a trek to a waterfall located in central Halmahera, walking through towering coconut trees. After the trek, you take a walk around the village and experience their hospitality by the beach.
You head back across the island to the ship in time for lunch as you set sail to the south. Once you reach the Equator you will be in for a treat as the crew welcome you to the middle of the planet with some fun and games and a most unique ocean swim.
Late in the afternoon, you snorkel once more before heading to the island of Bacan.
D A Y 3
Today you be searching for some very special species of butterfly, some unique birds and some quirky mammals.
You explore the deep forest and rivers of Bacan Island, where Wallace first saw what he called ‘the most beautiful butterfly in the world, the Golden Birdwing. During your trek, the other species that you might see here include cuscus, the black-crested macaque and some hornbills.
After lunch, you spend the afternoon snorkelling and swimming on the nearby reef and beaches.
D A Y 4
Culture and spice will fill your day as you find yourself off the coast of the white sand island of Obi Latu, a place filled with clove and nutmeg plantations.
Obi Latu’s steep hillsides are covered in clove and nutmeg forests, reaching back to the rich and heady days of the spice trade, which saw many a European power vying for control of the East Indies. While the spice trade might not be what it once was, the growers can still make a good living on this remote island in the Banda Sea.
You go ashore and walk through the villages and plantations and see the fruits and spices growing on the trees and drying in the sun ready for market, in the same way it has for centuries.
D A Y 5
Today will be a day for snorkelling, culture and history as you find yourselves in the middle of the Banda Sea in the remote and breathtaking Sulu Archipelago.
You spend the morning exploring the beaches and reefs of Mangoli Island, where the reefs are teeming with fish and other marine life. True to the desert island locale, you also kayak, paddle, swim, explore and relax on the white-sand beaches.
Later that day, you feast on some history and culture as you visit the local village market and visit the ruins of a 17th-century Dutch fort, which once protected the spice trade along these routes.
D A Y 6
The cultural experiences ratchet up a notch today with a war dance performed in your honour, while the nighttime will be filled with Indonesian music.
You go ashore on Taliabu Island, where you be treated to a traditional dance known as the ‘cakalale’, by local warriors. you also have a chance to explore the local village and meet the people of this remote isle.
The afternoon will see us snorkelling on a reef teeming with fish before moving to another deserted island, where you can swim, kayak and relax. This evening the crew will prepare a beach bbq for us, and they will regail us with traditional Indonesian folk songs and sea shanties as you party by firelight late into the night.
D A Y 7
The Bokan Islands are an area of unsurpassed beauty and today will be a day of marine exploration and relaxation as you snorkel, swim, paddle and kayak around the glorious reefs, beaches and islands with many caves and snorkelling spots.
You also have the rare privilege to swim in a small marine lake filled with stingless jellyfish, the exotically named Danau Piasu Botangan, one of only 20 lakes of its kind in the world.
D A Y 8
A trio of unique experiences await us today involving culture, conservation and wildlife.
You visit the bustling Indonesian island port town of Bangai, a place filled with activity and commerce. Here on Banggai Island, you visit the local market, explore the neighbourhoods, the sultan’s palace and the maleo bird egg ‘museum’, all from your fleet of brightly-coloured motor rickshaws, which will be on the dock awaiting your arrival.
You pay a hands-on visit to LINI, an NGO doing great work with coral restoration on the surrounding reefs, in addition to working with local fishermen in finding sustainable solutions for supplying fish for overseas markets and the live aquarium fishing trade.
The last of the day’s highlights will be a snorkel on a local reef where you see the most elegant, but very threatened, Banggai Cardinal Fish – a darling of saltwater aquarium lovers worldwide.
D A Y 9
Today you will have the chance to see possibly one of the strangest and most unique flightless birds found in the world – the Maleo.
After a morning snorkel, you sail north to visit the endemic Maleo in its beachside environment, the symbol of the province within which it lives. you visit a conservation project on the mainland where scores of Maleo live and breed. Entering in twos, you can watch them at their sandy nesting sites from a camouflaged hide as they go about their business.
Later that afternoon, you set sail for the Togean Islands National Park, for some island hopping and spectacular snorkelling, wildlife and culture.
D A Y 1 0
The Bajau sea gypsies of Southeast have a very uqique way of life living in harmony with the water, and today you will get to see it up close.
You go ashore to Kabalutan Village, where a population of about 2500 Bajau call home, and you be welcomed into their world to meet and talk with them about their lives.
In the afternoon you snorkel and swim on some pristine coral reefs before moving on further into the park.
D A Y 1 1
Some great wildlife experiences await us today both in the water and the air, with birds, fish and invertebrates as the main features.
You enjoy a snorkel on the lush reefs near the island of Malenge, before taking your snorkels and masks for a rare second swim with stingless jellyfish in nearby Lake Mariona, the second jellyfish lake on your route.
You visit a local village and meet the people, and enjoy a late afternoon walk in the local forest before being witness to a most amazing show of nature as flocks of hornbills come flying in to roost in the trees – a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
D A Y 1 2
Waking up in the east of the park, you go snorkelling and visit a local village before setting sail on a long crossing towards the Sulawesi mainland, where you can relax, watch the world go by and take in the beauty of the sea from the decks of your ship.
In the afternoon, your chef will offer a cooking class for those interested in learning how to prepare some traditional Indonesian dishes. For the rest of us, it’s sunbathing, reading, relaxing and reflecting.
To finish the day, cocktails will be served on the back deck before a specially prepared dinner is served, followed by a party with the crew’s band providing the music and entertainment.
D A Y 1 3
This morning you are on the outside ‘elbow’ of North Sulawesi and you have the chance for some more cultural exchanges and some impressive snorkelling.
After breakfast, you go ashore to a remote village and meet the local people as they invite us into their village to share in their way of life. you also go for a walk in the nearby forest on the lookout for birds.
You snorkel a local reef before you head north, stopping off en route for another snorkel and a swim towards the end of the day before the crew throw us a final beach BBQ, where you dance and sing into the night under the stars next to a roaring bonfire.
D A Y 1 4
Waking up just off the coast near the Tasikoki Rescue Centre, you go ashore and have a short tour of the impressive facilities at this NGO and hear all about their conservation programme and also have the chance to see orangutan, cockatoos, sun bears, monkeys, and other endangered wildlife.
After a final swim and snorkel on the beach and then a short sail into Bitung Harbour, you say a fond farewell to your crew and tour leaders and head to Manado City.
Fly from Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali
Sultan Babullah Airport
D A Y 1
Starting your adventure today you have a tour of Ternate’s historical highlights before boarding and meeting the crew and settling into your new home for the next two weeks.
Over lunch, you set sail for the short journey to Halmahera Island’s Dojinga Village, a pivotal place in scientific history, where the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace first came up with the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.
Later that afternoon, you enter the water for the first time and snorkel and swim on your first coral reef before heading south as the sun sets behind the perfectly conical volcanic islands peaks of the northern Moluccas.
D A Y 2
This morning you do a trek to a waterfall located in central Halmahera, walking through towering coconut trees. After the trek, you take a walk around the village and experience their hospitality by the beach.
You head back across the island to the ship in time for lunch as you set sail to the south. Once you reach the Equator you will be in for a treat as the crew welcome you to the middle of the planet with some fun and games and a most unique ocean swim.
Late in the afternoon, you snorkel once more before heading to the island of Bacan.
D A Y 3
Today you be searching for some very special species of butterfly, some unique birds and some quirky mammals.
You explore the deep forest and rivers of Bacan Island, where Wallace first saw what he called ‘the most beautiful butterfly in the world, the Golden Birdwing. During your trek, the other species that you might see here include cuscus, the black-crested macaque and some hornbills.
After lunch, you spend the afternoon snorkelling and swimming on the nearby reef and beaches.
D A Y 4
Culture and spice will fill your day as you find yourself off the coast of the white sand island of Obi Latu, a place filled with clove and nutmeg plantations.
Obi Latu’s steep hillsides are covered in clove and nutmeg forests, reaching back to the rich and heady days of the spice trade, which saw many a European power vying for control of the East Indies. While the spice trade might not be what it once was, the growers can still make a good living on this remote island in the Banda Sea.
You go ashore and walk through the villages and plantations and see the fruits and spices growing on the trees and drying in the sun ready for market, in the same way it has for centuries.
D A Y 5
Today will be a day for snorkelling, culture and history as you find yourselves in the middle of the Banda Sea in the remote and breathtaking Sulu Archipelago.
You spend the morning exploring the beaches and reefs of Mangoli Island, where the reefs are teeming with fish and other marine life. True to the desert island locale, you also kayak, paddle, swim, explore and relax on the white-sand beaches.
Later that day, you feast on some history and culture as you visit the local village market and visit the ruins of a 17th-century Dutch fort, which once protected the spice trade along these routes.
D A Y 6
The cultural experiences ratchet up a notch today with a war dance performed in your honour, while the nighttime will be filled with Indonesian music.
You go ashore on Taliabu Island, where you be treated to a traditional dance known as the ‘cakalale’, by local warriors. you also have a chance to explore the local village and meet the people of this remote isle.
The afternoon will see us snorkelling on a reef teeming with fish before moving to another deserted island, where you can swim, kayak and relax. This evening the crew will prepare a beach bbq for us, and they will regail us with traditional Indonesian folk songs and sea shanties as you party by firelight late into the night.
D A Y 7
The Bokan Islands are an area of unsurpassed beauty and today will be a day of marine exploration and relaxation as you snorkel, swim, paddle and kayak around the glorious reefs, beaches and islands with many caves and snorkelling spots.
You also have the rare privilege to swim in a small marine lake filled with stingless jellyfish, the exotically named Danau Piasu Botangan, one of only 20 lakes of its kind in the world.
D A Y 8
A trio of unique experiences await us today involving culture, conservation and wildlife.
You visit the bustling Indonesian island port town of Bangai, a place filled with activity and commerce. Here on Banggai Island, you visit the local market, explore the neighbourhoods, the sultan’s palace and the maleo bird egg ‘museum’, all from your fleet of brightly-coloured motor rickshaws, which will be on the dock awaiting your arrival.
You pay a hands-on visit to LINI, an NGO doing great work with coral restoration on the surrounding reefs, in addition to working with local fishermen in finding sustainable solutions for supplying fish for overseas markets and the live aquarium fishing trade.
The last of the day’s highlights will be a snorkel on a local reef where you see the most elegant, but very threatened, Banggai Cardinal Fish – a darling of saltwater aquarium lovers worldwide.
D A Y 9
Today you will have the chance to see possibly one of the strangest and most unique flightless birds found in the world – the Maleo.
After a morning snorkel, you sail north to visit the endemic Maleo in its beachside environment, the symbol of the province within which it lives. you visit a conservation project on the mainland where scores of Maleo live and breed. Entering in twos, you can watch them at their sandy nesting sites from a camouflaged hide as they go about their business.
Later that afternoon, you set sail for the Togean Islands National Park, for some island hopping and spectacular snorkelling, wildlife and culture.
D A Y 1 0
The Bajau sea gypsies of Southeast have a very uqique way of life living in harmony with the water, and today you will get to see it up close.
You go ashore to Kabalutan Village, where a population of about 2500 Bajau call home, and you be welcomed into their world to meet and talk with them about their lives.
In the afternoon you snorkel and swim on some pristine coral reefs before moving on further into the park.
D A Y 1 1
Some great wildlife experiences await us today both in the water and the air, with birds, fish and invertebrates as the main features.
You enjoy a snorkel on the lush reefs near the island of Malenge, before taking your snorkels and masks for a rare second swim with stingless jellyfish in nearby Lake Mariona, the second jellyfish lake on your route.
You visit a local village and meet the people, and enjoy a late afternoon walk in the local forest before being witness to a most amazing show of nature as flocks of hornbills come flying in to roost in the trees – a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
D A Y 1 2
Waking up in the east of the park, you go snorkelling and visit a local village before setting sail on a long crossing towards the Sulawesi mainland, where you can relax, watch the world go by and take in the beauty of the sea from the decks of your ship.
In the afternoon, your chef will offer a cooking class for those interested in learning how to prepare some traditional Indonesian dishes. For the rest of us, it’s sunbathing, reading, relaxing and reflecting.
To finish the day, cocktails will be served on the back deck before a specially prepared dinner is served, followed by a party with the crew’s band providing the music and entertainment.
D A Y 1 3
This morning you are on the outside ‘elbow’ of North Sulawesi and you have the chance for some more cultural exchanges and some impressive snorkelling.
After breakfast, you go ashore to a remote village and meet the local people as they invite us into their village to share in their way of life. you also go for a walk in the nearby forest on the lookout for birds.
You snorkel a local reef before you head north, stopping off en route for another snorkel and a swim towards the end of the day before the crew throw us a final beach BBQ, where you dance and sing into the night under the stars next to a roaring bonfire.
D A Y 1 4
Waking up just off the coast near the Tasikoki Rescue Centre, you go ashore and have a short tour of the impressive facilities at this NGO and hear all about their conservation programme and also have the chance to see orangutan, cockatoos, sun bears, monkeys, and other endangered wildlife.
After a final swim and snorkel on the beach and then a short sail into Bitung Harbour, you say a fond farewell to your crew and tour leaders and head to Manado City.
Temperature in this sailing area varies little (27° to 33° Celsius year-round) with mostly blue skies and light winds. We suggest you bring the following:
Light cotton/ linen clothes, including a pair of long trousers for visits in the villages
Water shoes (boots or plastic shoes)
Hiking shoes
Camera
A plastic / waterproof bag for your camera when disembarking
High protection suntan lotion
A hat
Insect repellent
Dive/ snorkelling equipment if you have your own (there is plenty on board)
A sweater for cool evenings
