Before I set out on this journey, Bryce and I committed to seeing each other every couple of months. Dublin in September worked out conveniently as a short reunion. We chose Indonesia for a bigger vacation due to its world-class diving. It exceeded all of our expectations.

Sorong

After meeting in Jakarta, a couple more flights took us to Sorong, in the far eastern part of Indonesia. It’s quite remote here. To put it in perspective, Sorong is in West Papua, on an island shared with Papua New Guinea. 

This was definitely my most “off-the-beaten-path” destination to date. The only tourists here are divers – and it’s so challenging to get here, that their numbers are small. Sorong has two decent hotels. I got the sense that not many tourists venture from their hotel into town. We arrived a day early, so we went exploring. This generated constant attention. All of the locals warmly called out greetings when we walked around – literally every single one. And people regularly asked to have their pictures taken with us. 

Sorong’s public transportation system is made up of this crazy system of taxi vans. You flag one down from the steady stream cruising the main drag, tell the driver where you want to go, and jump in the vehicle with up to a dozen other people. The best part? It costs 35 cents per person. It was quite an adventure, as there was a serious language barrier, and the system wasn’t entirely clear. We had a few mishaps, sometimes traveling the opposite direction than intended even when we were the only passengers. So we would hop out and try again. We discovered that it was best to give the driver a destination that was a major landmark, such as the hospital, and then walk the remainder of the way. 

Sadly, there is garbage everywhere here, including along the waterways. This region seems very impoverished overall. Hopefully, this will change as the community sees the value of tourist dollars.

Raja Ampat

A hot two-hour ferry ride transported us from Sorong to Waigeo to join our liveaboard (boat residence/hotel) in Raja Ampat. The boat, a phinisi called the Leyla, is gorgeous. The staff on board was great, and the diving and scenery were spectacular! 

We would start each day with coffee and then go on our first dive. When we returned to the boat via our dinghy, a huge breakfast spread would be waiting for us, and our room would be tidied up. Then we’d rest for an hour or so and go on another dive. We would repeat this part of the rotation for lunch and dinner. 

Our boat is less than a year old and is still getting its reputation established. The only other guests who had signed up for the trip were a really interesting Canadian couple who quickly became good friends. The cruise director decided to fill the other spots with dive masters who were in training to learn about the dive sites in this region. So, there were four dive masters for four guests. I felt extremely safe and more than a little pampered!

Raja Ampat is one of the most diverse marine environments in the world. There were an overwhelming number of creatures and corals competing for our attention, including massive schools of fish.

Bryce created the following video highlighting our adventure using a GoPro and his mini-drone. Our dive master kindly shared some of his photos as well (“Eye of Nature”).
https://youtu.be/QtB3MFux52s

We also saw several pods of dolphins, though not while diving.

Lombok

After an amazing week of diving, we flew to Lombok. Our lodging at Jeeva Santai Villas was absolutely gorgeous. It was easily my fanciest hotel experience, at the cost of what in the United States might have landed us at a nice Holiday Inn. The highlight was that each villa had its own pool and outdoor lounge area. The beautiful grounds included an infinity pool overlooking the Bali Sea and a restaurant with great sunset views. And their massages were ridiculously cheap, which is true throughout Southeast Asia.

This area is known for its beaches and is mostly geared for rest and relaxation. There were surfers catching some great waves nearby, but we felt too lazy to join them. We did rent a moped to explore more of the island and enjoyed some fun, inexpensive lunch spots under palapas. 

Reflections

I feel so fortunate to have spent time in three different locations in Indonesia. It’s a huge country, comprised of over 17,000 islands and the fourth largest population in the world (in case you’re wondering, the United States ranks third). Indonesia’s national slogan is “unity in diversity,” which I find very appropriate. There are definite common cultural values and an overall shared history, yet there are vast differences in wealth and global connectivity. Sorong provided quite a different perspective than Bali and Lombok.

In general, people throughout Indonesia are incredibly kind, perhaps the nicest people in Southeast Asia (though Elise and I found that during our hellish layover in Manila, the people we met bent over backwards to try to help us, so perhaps the Philippines would win). Indonesian culture highly emphasizes hospitality toward guests. Cultural universals throughout the country include asking a lot of questions to strangers – to the point that it borders on feeling nosy. Hotel staff regularly asked me where I had been, where I was going, etc. But that’s how they make conversation. In addition, Indonesians are genuinely apologetic if even the slightest problem occurs. And everyone seems very happy and easy-going. I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as an angsty teenager here!

Bryce and I had the best vacation ever, and I’m so grateful that we were able to experience it together. It will be hard to ever top it!