Wonderful Indonesia - Wonderful Journey to a Wonderful World

Wonderful Indonesia - Wonderful Journey to a Wonderful World

Read More

Wonderful Indonesia - Derawan Islands in East Kalimantan (Borneo)

Derawan Bezoek één van de meest paradijselijke bestemmingen in Indonesië en maak kennis met de serene onderwaterwereld van Derawan. Wie weet ziet u op Derawan een zeeschildpad haar eieren leggen. Ontdek meer over Derawan op

DERAWAN ISLANDS, THE PERFECT TROPICAL PARADISE

Located just away from the mainland of East Kalimantan in the district of Berau, the Derawan archipelago comprises 31 islands, most well known among these are the islands of Derawan, Maratua, Sangalaki and Kakaban. Here is Indonesia’s largest nesting site of the rare and endangered giant green turtles and hawksbill turtles, where one can daily watch turtles lay their eggs in the sand or swim to sea with the turtles.

The entire marine conservancy region covers a total area of no less than 1.27 million hectares. It is the perfect tropical paradise with warm, isolated islands, soft white sand beaches fringed with waving palm trees, pristine seas that change color from green to deep blue, and an amazing underwater life of giant turtles, dolphins, manta rays, dugongs and barracudas, stingless jellyfish and sometimes, whales. Here, you can find 460 different species of corals, ranking this area second only to the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua. The Nature Conservancy and a team of international experts also found more than 870 species of fish here, ranging from tiny pygmy seahorses to giant manta rays.

Get There

To reach Derawan, SilkAir flies from Singapore to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan. Or you can take a flight from Jakarta, Surabaya or Denpasar to Balikpapan or Tarakan by Garuda Indonesia. Then take a connecting flight to Tanjung Redeb in Berau. From here, boats will take you to the islands.


Ministry of Tourism. Republic of Indonesia

Read More

Orangutans at Camp Leakey in Borneo

Orangutans at Camp Leakey in Borneo

Orangutans at Birute Galdikas' Camp Leakey feeding station, Kalimantan, Borneo on 2 March 2016.  Bearded Pigs (Sus barbatus) forage for fallen fruit underneath the feeding platform.

Read More

Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally 2017 travels across archipelago

Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally 2017 travels across archipelago

The annual Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally has finally kicked off. For three months, the participants will sail across the archipelago, exploring dozens of destinations in Indonesia from Langgur in Southeast Maluku to Batam in Riau Islands.

This year marks the 4th anniversary of the international rally and the first time it is conducted entirely in Indonesia.

The rally began on July 23 of which the yachters traveled to Langgur Maluku and will stay there until July 27.

“We’ve already prepared 65 tourist attractions. Currently, the one that’s been getting a lot of attention is the 100-meter cave in Wear Aur. The cave has rooms filled with beautiful stalactites. Welcome to Langgur,” said Southeast Maluku Tourism Agency head Roy Rahajaan.

pic.google.com

 Tourism Ministry’s deputy head of Marine Tourism Acceleration Team Asep Muhammad said the event could help promote marine tourism to foreign tourists, especially yacht communities around the world.

“Ambon in Maluku is included in 10 priority underwater destinations. There’s also Bali, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo and Alor in East Nusa Tenggara, Derawan in East Kalimantan, Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Togean in Central Sulawesi, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, and Raja Ampat in West Papua,” said Asep.

“Out of 68 participating yachts, there are at least 150 foreign tourists hailing from Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Italia, Spain and France,” he added.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia aimed to help to improve Indonesian tourism.

“From the in-and-out clearance, customs, immigration, quarantine, to harbormasters, all parties should go all out to support this if they wish Indonesia's yacht tourism to compete with other global players,” said Arief.

“It’s a lot better now with the availability of website https://yachters-indonesia.id where participants only need to fill in the available form to enter Indonesia. It’s easy and I encourage all parties to keep on improving their service,” he added.

Below is the schedule for Multihull Solutions – Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally 2017: (kes)

Southeast Maluku (July 23-27)
Banda Neira, Banda Islands (July 30 July - Aug. 2)
New South (Aug. 4 – 7)
Wakatobi (Aug. 10-13)
Maumere (Aug. 16-19)
Ende (Aug. 21-24)
Labuan Bajo (Aug. 26-29)
Sumbawa (Sept. 1-4)
Lombok (Sept. 7-11)
Bali (Sept. 14-17)
Kumai, West Kotawaringin (Sept. 27-30)
Bangka (Oct. 4 – 8)
Bidan (Oct. 11 – 14)
Tanjung Pinang (Oct. 15-18)
Batam (Oct. 20)


Indonesia Travel Destinations

SOURCE

Read More

Indonesia Travel Destinations: CNN Travel - List of Top 10 best dive sites in Asia

Indonesia Travel Destinations: CNN Travel - List of Top 10 best dive sites in Asia 

(CNN) — It's been said that we know more about the moon than we know about our own oceans.
That's probably total rubbish. In any case the moon is about as interesting as a cold, hard ball of rock floating around empty space.
The oceans on the other hand can captivate even the most cynical of aesthetes. But they are fragile things.
Human activities such as overfishing and pollution threaten an estimated 95% of Southeast Asia's coral reefs, says the World Resources Institute.
Climate change is also affecting them. Thailand's authorities have even been closing popular dive sites to allow them to recover from coral bleaching.
Here's a tour of 10 of Asia's most spectacular underwater dive sites, home to sharks, whales, sunfish and more -- and a glimpse at some of the threats they face.

1. Pulau Sipadan, Malaysia

pic. google.com

Pulau Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, and before 2002 was the subject of an intense territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. It's rated by many dive journals as one of the top dive destinations in the world.
Recently, the Malaysian government has had to clamp down on coral thieves operating around the country's coastline.
Pulau Sipadan has also fallen victim to coral bleaching in the past, a process most commonly caused by a change in sea temperature that kills the coral on reefs leaving them looking white and "bleached."
One of the island's unique features is a turtle tomb, an underwater limestone cave that features many narrow tunnels and chambers containing the remains of green sea turtles that have become trapped and drowned.

2. Similan Islands, Thailand

pic. google.com

A clown fish, no stranger around the Similan Islands, is familiar to younger divers as "Nemo."
The white sandy beaches, dramatic boulders and sparkling waters of the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea are perfect for relaxing. Their remote location and marine life -- including manta rays, whale sharks, turtles and a myriad of other fish species -- also makes them a world-class diving destination.
The 11 islands of the archipelago became a protected National Park of Thailand in 1982 and are protected by strict laws.
The islands are closed from mid-May to mid-October every year during the Monsoon season as weather conditions make it dangerous to visit.
Despite the protections, the government says that local fishermen illegally fish during the monsoon season damaging the fragile coral reefs.

3. Derawan Islands, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

pic. google.com

Stingless jellyfish are some of the more unusual creatures to be found in the seas around the Derawan Islands, which consist of four inhabited islands and two uninhabited islands off the east coast of Borneo.
The jellyfish pictured here are foraging for food in Kakaban Lake on Kakaban Island.
Free from natural predators, the jellyfish lost their defense systems over thousands of years of evolution.
Being an enclosed environment however, life within Kakaban Lake is at risk from excessive human activity, such as outboard motor use.

4. Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar

pic. google.com

Consisting of some 800 islands, the Mergui Archipelago is a largely desolate area, tucked away from the rest of the world. Popular with exploratory divers, it offers huge boulders, caverns, tunnels and drop-offs.
As well as sharks and manta rays, a diver might encounter red lionfish (pictured). Their spectacular frills conceal venomous spines on their backs. The spines are used for defense only.
When predating, lionfish rely on their quick reflexes to swallow prey whole.
Though the Andaman Sea has escaped much of the over-development, bleaching and nutrient loading that has affected other sites around the world, trawling, longline and blast fishing have impacted fish populations here.

5. Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia

pic. google.com

Off the northwestern tip of Indonesia's West Papua province, the Raja Ampat Islands have the highest recorded diversity of fish and coral on earth -- an amazing 537 coral species and 1,074 fish species can be found here, according to The Nature Conservancy.
To date, the islands have been relatively resistant to coral bleaching and disease. They are credited with replenishing other reefs with coral larvae.
But overfishing, pollution and urbanization of coastlines threaten the reefs. The local government is working with agencies to protect the marine ecology while also supporting local livelihoods.
Pictured are fusilier fish, a common sight around Raja Ampat. These slick fish move sweepingly in a zig-zag pattern at high speeds and apparently in perfect unison, making them a truly remarkable thing to encounter.

6. Andaman Islands, India

pic. google.com

The elusive ribboned sweetlips is one of the colorful inhabitants of the Andaman Islands. These fish can grow up to 50 centimeters in length. They live alone in deep water and feed on crabs, shrimps and sea snails.
Feeding is facilitated by their bright colors, which camouflages them against the corals.
To protect marine life that includes big game fish such as black marlin and sailfish, the Indian government has banned commercial fishing around the 572 islands that make up the Andaman Islands.

7. Komodo Island, Indonesia

pic. google.com

The variety of marine life around Komodo Island ranges from sunfish, mantas, dolphins and eagle rays to the fascinating pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish and blue-ringed octopus, making this one of the most diverse and vibrant dive spots on the planet.
In past years dynamite fishing and a crown of thorns infestation severely traumatized the reef system, and artificial electric reefs were introduced to help rebuild the coral.

8. Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

pic. google.com

The small fishing village of Tulamben hosts one of the most popular dive sites on Bali. During World War II, a Japanese torpedo sank the USAT Liberty, a U.S. Army transport ship.
The 120-meter-long wreck is now home to a variety of fish species, such as batfish, angelfish, puffer fish and hawkfish.
Fishing is banned in the area around Tulamben and some resorts have undertaken voluntary eco-initiatives, but the number of visitors to the site -- up to 100 divers per day during peak periods -- is a potential threat.

9. Kerama Islands, Okinawa, Japan

pic. google.com

The Kerama Islands are host to 76 dive sites, and are relatively well protected thanks to a local community that has embraced both its natural oceanic ecosystems and tourism.
The Akajma Marine Science Laboratory on Akajima Island (population 300) was founded in 1988 and has provided data and guidance for the whole of Japan on the conditions and best protective practices for its reef systems.
Cuttlefish (pictured) are one of the many sea species that can be seen around the islands, along with larger creatures such as humpback whales and manta rays. Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs, and can change color rapidly to camouflage themselves when danger is near.

10. Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, Philippines

pic. google.com

Declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1993, the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park is crawling with marine life. Sharks, turtles and reef fish can often be found congregating around the atoll.
The U.N. describes the area as "a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-meter perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands."
With shipping, marine pollution and oil exploration efforts disrupting the natural habitats, many species here are endangered.
It is hoped that a "buffer zone" around the most sensitive parts of the reef, as well as more effective enforcement of anti-littering marine laws, will enhance the longevity of many of these threatened species.

CNN Travel : http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/asia-best-dive-sites/index.html

Read More

Four Indonesian destinations named best dive sites in Asia by CNN

Four Indonesian destinations named best dive sites in Asia by CNN

News website CNN recently ran a listicle article on the 10 Best Dive Sites in Asia.

See the complete list : CNN Travel - List of Top 10 best dive sites in Asia 

Four of the locations mentioned are from Indonesia, namely Derawan in East Kalimantan, Raja Ampat in West Papua, Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara and Tulamben in Bali.

The other six are Sipadan Island in Malaysia, Similan Islands in Thailand, the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar, the Andaman Islands in India, Kerama Islands in Japan and Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park in the Philippines.

“Off the northwestern tip of Indonesia's West Papua province, the Raja Ampat Islands have the highest recorded diversity of fish and coral on earth -- an amazing 537 coral species and 1,074 fish species can be found here, according to The Nature Conservancy,” CNN writes.

Tourism minister Arief Yahya appreciates the inclusion of the four Indonesian destinations in the article, “There are still more underwater destinations that haven’t yet covered by CNN,” he says.

He mentions other destinations such as Wakatobi in North Sulawesi, Morotai in North Maluku, Banda Maluku, Bunaken and Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Gili in Lombok, Karimunjawa in Central Java, Anambas in Riau Islands, Mandeh in West Sumatra, Belitung in Bangka Belitung, Tanjung Lesung in Banten and much more.

“There are hundreds of diving spots in Indonesia, we’re confident that Indonesia is still the best when it comes to underwater tourism,” Yahya adds. (asw)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/travel/2017/07/20/four-indonesian-destinations-named-best-dive-sites-in-asia-by-cnn.html

Read More