Northern Australia & the Indonesian Archipelago

Cairns is a Far North Queensland city located on the northeast coast of Australia. This laid-back city is just over a 2 hour flight from Brisbane, Queensland’s state capital. With a backdrop of rainforest mountains, Cairns is known to be the gateway of 2 iconic Australian sites, The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest. Read more about Cairns, Australia

Port Douglas, once a goldfield port and fishing village, is now one of Far North Queensland's tourism capitals, as no other region in the world is bordered by two World Heritage Listed areas. Firstly, there’s the renowned Great Barrier Reef that is easily reached, and offers great snorkelling and scuba diving. Then there’s the amazing Daintree Rainforest where one should visit the Rainforest Habitat with its over 120 species of wildlife, and hand-feed the kangaroos. Read more about Port Douglas, Australia

Situated off the coast of Queensland’s Far North, Creech Reef lies on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. At this point it is 60 km from the mainland, and the Reef here is 40 km wide, consisting of innumerable coral reefs. You’ll find this an excellent diving and snorkelling area – its underwater wonders have to be seen to be believed. Read more about Creech Reef, Australia

Cape York is at the tip of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, and is at the very northernmost part of the Australian mainland, with New Guinea just north of the island-studded Torres Strait. It was named by James Cook in 1770 after His Royal Highness the Duke of York. Tourists now visit throughout the year, as facilities are surprisingly modern for such an isolated spot, and tours are always available. Read more about Cape York, Australia

Yamdena Island is the main island of the Tanimbar Archipelago, 500 km due north of Darwin, Australia. The island lies in the Maluku Province of Indonesia, on the edges of the Timor Sea and the Arafura Sea. The island’s principal town, Saumlaki, is a port on the southern coast. Read more about Yamdena Island, Indonesia

The Kei Islands of Indonesia lie on the edge of the Banda Sea, South of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea. Very few tourists visit the islands, but to many this adds to the attraction. The islands areas made of sand and coral, and as such are completely flat and covered with dense coconut tree foliage. Read more about Kei Islands, Indonesia

The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 2,000 km east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. Until the mid-19th century the Banda Islands were the world's only source of the spices nutmeg and mace produced from the nutmeg tree. These days the islands are also popular destinations for scuba diving and snorkelling. Read more about Banda Islands, Indonesia

Alor is the largest island in the Alor archipelago, located at the eastern-most end of the chain of islands that runs through southern Indonesia. The island is of volcanic origin with very rugged terrain, and the only town, Kalabahi, is located on the flat area facing the main harbour. The archipelago offers some of the best snorkelling and diving in Indonesia, but due to intriguing and often very strong currents it is best to snorkel or dive with someone who knows the area well. Read more about Alor Island, Indonesia

Larantuka is a neat and clean seaport on the eastern end of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Indeed the town stretches 10km along the coast and only half a kilometre inland. Geographically, it lies mid-way between Bali and Darwin. Read more about Larantuka, Indonesia

Ende is a port and capital of Ende Regency in the East Nusa Tenggara ("eastern southeastern islands”) province of Indonesia. Ende is located on the south coast of Flores Island, adjacent to Sumba and Timor islands, and has a population of 60,000. The island lies on a gigantic arc of volcanoes that curves 5000 km across the Indonesian archipelago, parallel to a tectonic fault line and earthquake zone. Read more about Ende (Flores), Indonesia

Komodo Island may be closed to visitors throughout 2020, following which numbers may be limited to 5000 annually. The decision will be made in mid 2019. Komodo Island lies in the Wallacea Region of Indonesia, identified by Conservation International as a global conservation priority area, and is located in the centre of the Indonesian archipelago between the islands of Sumbawa to the west and Flores to the east. Read more about Komodo Island, Indonesia

Sumbawa is an Indonesian island located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara. It marks the boundary between the islands to the west, which were influenced by religion and culture spreading from India, and the region to the east that was not so influenced. Sumbawa has historically had two major linguistic groups who spoke languages that were unintelligible to each other and the east-west division remains today. Read more about Sumbawa, Indonesia

Lembar is a port in Tawun Harbour on the island of Lombok, located 100 km E of Bali in Indonesia. The island has been promoted as "an unspoiled Bali" for quite some time, with beautiful beaches and the large, looming volcano of Mount Rinjan (3600m). In Lembar are idyllic conditions for snorkelling amongst pretty coral formations and many colourful fish, swimming, or just relaxing on the island's white sandy beach. Read more about Lembar, Indonesia

Bali is an Indonesian island at the western-most of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of Indonesia’s 33 provinces, with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island. Bali is home to the most of Indonesia's Hindu minority, and also the largest tourist destination in the Archipelago. Read more about Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia