The far flung Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat, 1,500 emerald islands scattered off the coast of Western Papua, are home to an incredible two thirds of the world’s coral species, more than 1,600 species of reef fish and 700 varieties of mollusc. It’s also possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I explored this incredible region on Aqua Blu, a former Royal Navy coastal survey vessel that’s been
Continue reading…
1. There are some places you can only reach by ship Antarctica, for example, or the Chilean fjords. Other places are simply best explored by small ship, like Australia’s wild Kimberley Coast, or Raja Ampat in Indonesia. On a small ship, you can get to otherwise inaccessible places and drop anchor in beautiful bays without another ship or human in sight. There’s no hassle of setting up camp every night
Bottlenosed dolphins were riding our bow wave at dawn. The sun was still below the horizon and the mountains of the distant Baja peninsula were etched in salmon pink. The light and the water were a soft grey as we gathered on deck to watch the shadowy figures, chasing us, surfing in front of us, arching gracefully out of the water, calling to one another.
