Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Marine biologists use the term 'the Coral Triangle' to describe the oceanic zone where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, centered on the seas around West Papua, Indonesia. Within this triangle, Raja Ampat — a name meaning 'Four Kings' in the local Biak language, referring to its four principal islands — is the absolute epicentre. The numbers alone are staggering: 75% of all known coral species on Earth, more than 1,400 species of fish, 700 species of mollusk, and reef ecosystems so intact and productive that marine scientists continue to discover new species here every year. The rest of the world's coral reefs are declining. Raja Ampat's are not.

This is not a destination that gives itself easily. There are no roads connecting the islands. The airport at Sorong, on the West Papuan mainland, delivers you to the departure point for a two-to-three-hour speedboat crossing to Waisai on Waigeo island — or, if you are arriving by liveaboard, you board directly in Sorong harbour. The infrastructure is frontier-level: a few eco-resorts, a small number of homestays, and a fleet of purpose-built liveaboard dive vessels that move through waters largely empty of other traffic. The remoteness is not a problem to be solved. It is the entire point.

The diving is what most people come for, and it exceeds even its extraordinary reputation. Cape Kri, in the Dampier Strait, holds the world record for the number of fish species observed in a single dive: 374 species counted in one site assessment, a number that has since been expanded further. The dive itself is an exercise in sensory overload — reef walls dropping into deep blue, schooling surgeonfish in numbers that block the light, vast Napoleon wrasse moving through the column like slow submarines, and pygmy seahorses — three centimetres long — clinging to sea fans at fifteen metres. Manta Sandy and Manta Ridge are cleaning stations where oceanic manta rays with wingspans exceeding four metres descend in patient circuits while cleaner wrasse work their gill slits. Blue Magic, a seamount in the Dampier Strait, attracts schooling hammerheads, dogtooth tuna, and barracuda tornadoes. Sardine Reef, the Passage, and Yenbuba are among the dozens of secondary sites that would be the headline attraction of any other dive destination on the planet.

Snorkelling in Raja Ampat is as remarkable as the diving. The reefs are so shallow and so dense in the northern passages that mask and fins are sufficient. The colour of the water — electric turquoise over white sand, deepening to cobalt in the channels — is not an Instagram filter. It is genuinely that colour.

Beyond the water, the landscape above the surface is what gives Raja Ampat its visual signature. The Wayag karst islands are one of the most photographed natural landscapes in the world: hundreds of limestone towers rising sheer from the sea, their flanks bright green with vegetation, encircling lagoons of improbable turquoise. Reaching Wayag from the main Waisai base requires a two-to-three-hour speedboat journey — longer from most liveaboards — and the viewpoint on the highest karst peak demands a thirty-minute scramble. Every step of the approach is worth it.

Pianemo, south of Waigeo, offers a similar karst landscape closer to most bases and is the more practical choice for travellers with limited time. The lagoon below the Pianemo viewpoint is shallow enough for snorkelling directly from the base of the karst — an experience of swimming through turquoise water surrounded by limestone towers that becomes a reference point for everything you do after.

Misool, the southernmost of the four principal islands, has a distinct character. Its marine reserve — established in part through the work of Misool Eco Resort — has been closed to fishing since 2005, and the result is visible underwater: reef life at a density that even experienced divers find startling. Misool is accessible from most liveaboard itineraries and from the resort's own speedboat transfers. The resort itself runs coral restoration programmes and employs exclusively local West Papuan staff.

Come between October and April for the northern season — calm seas in the Dampier Strait, optimal visibility, and the best conditions for Wayag. The southern months (June to August) bring swell to the Dampier but leave Misool sheltered and, for those willing to work with the conditions, almost entirely free of other travellers.