The Wonders of North Maluku aboard Katharina

You will be collected from your hotel in Ternate by your tour leader and taken to the boat on the first day of your Moluccan adventure. After settling into your cabins and having a safety briefing and orientation, we will set course north for about 90 minutes and enjoy our first snorkel of the trip on a lovely coral reef. Lunch will be served as we continue cruising through the afternoon cruising north-east with the jungle and volcanic landscapes of Halmahera Island to starboard with the volcanoes of Ternate and Tidore to port. Arriving after dark, we find a suitable spot and spend a quiet night at anchor. NB* Due to the unpredictability of flight schedules it is necessary to arrive in Ternate the day before departure. Ask us about pre-tour accommodation options.

Meals:  L,D

Waking up off a forested set of islets we will enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we head off in the tenders to explore the local bays of an area renowned for its limestone outcrops. A big highlight of the day is to visit a waterfall, which cascades directly into the sea in a beautiful, enclosed bay. We will also get to snorkel on a nearby reef before lunch on the boat. Later this afternoon, we will have a second snorkelling session, and at sunset we will enjoy cocktails on deck and raise anchor to head south on an overnight crossing to our next destination.

Meals:  B,L,D

Our morning breakfast view today will be dominated by volcanic peaks to the north and south off the island of Makian, which really bring the Ring of Fire to the fore. We will head out on the tenders to enjoy a good snorkelling session before coming back to the boat for lunch as we raise anchor and cross east towards Halmahera Island. In the mid-afternoon, we will go ashore to the village of Bastiong on Halmahera, where we will be welcomed by the friendly residents and guided through their fruit plantations and forests to a giant waterfall, where we can bathe in its cool clear waters. On our way back, the villagers will likely get their musical instruments out and invite us all to sing and dance together. At sunset, we will raise the anchor and head south, crossing the equator in the darkness, to a small chain of islands and spend the night at anchor.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today is a day of play and adventure as we snorkel, paddle board, kayak, and explore the beaches and reefs and mangroves of two beautiful small island groups. If we are lucky, we will see white-tipped reef sharks as we swim among the rich beautiful coral gardens. At sunset, we will move the short distance south to the island of Bacan and spend the night at anchor in anticipation some jungle exploration in search of some iconic Indonesian species.

Meals:  B,L,D

Beautiful rare and endemic wildlife if what awaits us today on Bacan as we go see the Golden Birdwing butterfly, one of nature’s biggest and most beautiful specimens. We also hope to see the stylishly quaffed Black-crested macaques, mohawk-sporting monkeys that live in the forests. This is the first of two chances to see them on this trip. We will also stop to see a copra processing plant and learn how the villagers make their living from their coconut plantations. We will have lunch on the boat then head back to the island and visit a local hot spring in the afternoon to bathe in the thermal waters. After sunset cocktails and dinner we will head east for an overnight crossing to a Bajau “Sea Gypsy” village.

Meals:  B,L,D

We wake up at the village of Dowaro, which is home to a large settlement of the famed Bajau ‘Sea Gypsy” people, who spend their entire lives living on, above and near the water. We will be welcomed into the community by the village head and shown around to see their way of life and how they make their living from the ocean. Expect lots of wonderful, smiling and excited kids to accompany us as we move around the village – always a huge treat. After lunch on the boat, we will snorkel on a local reef, and then later in the afternoon we will weigh anchor and head west in the direction of Bacan once more ready for some more wildlife encounters.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today calls for a very early wake up and a quick breakfast as we go ashore in search of one of the highlights of the trip, the Wallace Standardwing Bird of Paradise which inhabits the deep forests in the interior. We will also have a second chance to see the Black-crested macaques as we return to the boat later in the morning. Later that morning we will have a hearty breakfast on the boat, we will go back ashore to the town of Labuha, the capital of Bacan, and a vibrant fishing and trading port. Back on the boat for lunch, we will make the fascinating passage north through the narrow, island-filled channels that separates the heavily forested islands of Bacan and Kasuruta. At the head of the channel, we will stop on the white sand beach of an uninhabited island to snorkel, paddle, kayak, swim and play. Sunset cocktails beckon at dusk before we will make a short voyage to the north where we will spend a quiet night at anchor.

Meals:  B,L,D

We will go ashore and meet with the local people of a small fishing village to see how they live their lives, and enjoy a dance performance which will be performed just for us. After lunch on board, we will go by dingy to explore the river and mangroves at the north of the island to see the ruin of an old 17th century fort. Later that afternoon we will go snorkelling on a nearby coral reef.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today is a day of pure play and relaxation on we spend time snorkelling, paddle boarding and exploring the local islands and reefs and beaches of this very untouched part of Maluku. The area is pristine and relatively untouched and known for its white sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise water, which is ideal for snorkelling and swimming with its limestone formations and very picturesque setting. After sunset cocktails and dinner, we will make a short crossing north and spend a quiet night at anchor.

Meals:  B,L,D

The beautiful Guraici Archipelago, awaits us today as we have another day of play and exploration. This is a chain of islands with white sandy beaches, vibrant coral reefs, and some lovely local villages. We will spend a full day here snorkelling, swimming and beachcombing. The islands are part of a government-controlled conservation area, designed to protect the reefs and the many beautiful marine species that live there. We will also have the chance to see manta rays which are often found in these waters.

Meals:  B,L,D

Today is a special day as we will cross the Equator in the daytime and partake in a centuries’ old seafaring ritual for novices to celebrate their first crossing. The crew dress up in gaudy costume and we will countdown to ‘zero’ on the GPS as we approach the Equator and then all take a swim in the sea with one leg in each hemisphere to celebrate. In the morning we will go snorkelling on the reef of a small island, and then we will go ashore and visit the Equator monument. After lunch, we will explore the island surrounds and later in the afternoon move to another location for a second snorkel of the day. Tonight we will get to experience the glorious tradition of a beach BBQ and party under the stars with our crew.

Meals:  B,L,D

We go ashore today Tidore Island, an island dominated by a massive volcanic cone, and once a rival sultanate to Ternate just across the bay. We will visit a local blacksmith, and a an old Spanish forts as we circle the island by car. During lunch, we will head east to Halmahera and visit Dodinga Village, a seminal place in the history of science, and the place where Victorian explorer and naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace first formulated the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection, which was later published together with Charles Darwin. Later that afternoon, we will cruise north to have a last snorkel on a colourful nearby reef.

Meals:  B,L,D

oday marks the end of our cruise adventure, but not before we take you on a short tour of the town of Ternate, the provincial capital. Once the world’s only source of cloves and highly contested by European powers, we will visit the Sultan’s palace, the market, and an 17th Century Dutch fort, a remnant of Indonesia’s colonial past After lunch, we will say farewell to our crew before taking you to your hotel or the airport for the next leg of your journey.

Meals:  B