tion has been of the charming and earthy sort – home stays in tidy wood and grass huts and a pier in utterly gorgeous loneliness, in a cove, at water’s edge or backed by jungle, with superior hiking and bird watching opportunities. In recent years, a newer breed of quality 3- and 4-star lodgings and eco resorts have opened. My recent stay at the Meridian in Wai- sai, the largest island, was excellent with com- mendable diving facilities, including three PADI instructors, fast speed boats and great staff all around. Air connections out of Jakar- ta via Makassar make this an interesting option for those with two or three weeks to spare, who can connect from Bali and return via Jakarta or Singapore.
12 INSPIRING DESTINATIONS Maurice Crackenthorpe Editor at large
scurity for one reason: many knowledgeable divers and snorkellers rate it as the world’s best spot, with good, organised boat tour facilities. The mix of pristine coral reefs and open ocean straits which carry large pelagic fish such as whale sharks and manta rays make for an un- paralleled waterborne adventure. It is a stun- ningly beautiful island and seascape setting, which surpasses fabled destinations such as the Maldives, if not for comfort, then for intimate nature contact. The diving on offer resembles the remarkable Sipadan Island off Borneo, only a hundred-fold more diverse, while the sheer jungled mounds of deep green islands rival or surpass Pulau. Like the environment, the infrastructure has evolved. In years past, most of the accommoda-
Comprising a few favourites and lesser cele- brated international picks, these snippets may inspire your own further investigation – par- ticularly if Europe and South-East Asia are on your travel cards, stretching as far as Africa for the adventurous. Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia Formerly Irian Jaya, half of the second-largest island in the world was formally “appointed“ to Indonesian control by the UN in 1963. This is the lesser populated side of New Guinea – a dazzling, isolated tropical wilderness charac- terised by remote villages, native tribal peoples and a couple of small city ports.
Papua’s north-western province called Raja Ampat is a vast sprawl of islands off the main- land, a 2.5 hour ferry journey from Sorong. Vis- itor numbers have increased gently over the past 20 years as it has emerged from total ob-
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