Explore a curated collection of media features and firsthand accounts from world-renowned publications like National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveller. Read the stories behind our unique voyages, from rare wildlife encounters to cultural discoveries across the remote islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
Steve Leland travels the world in style. This issue, he’s swimming with whale sharks, thanks to SeaTrek Sailing Adventures.
In Indonesia’s West Papua province, a father and son discover how responsible tourism is helping protect one of the planet’s most diverse marine ecosystems.
Weavers echo the curves of waves in their textiles, carpenters craft boats and tools for life at sea, and artisans practice techniques passed down through the generations.
There are many cultural items that represent Indonesia on the world stage, but none quite as beautiful as ikat.
Cruising provides a smooth gateway to Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s pristine marine park, finds Chris Morley.
by Jeannine Williamson / Travel Weekly / September, 2025
Hulking whale sharks and huge Komodo dragons are the big draws on a small-ship sailing in Indonesia
A traditional Indonesian phinisi, flying foxes at sunset and the joy of swimming with whale sharks — Jacqui Gibson forms unexpected bonds on a small ship sailing adventure in the seas of Sumbawa and Komodo National Park.
Wilde Drachen, Inselleben in Dörfern, atemberaubende Aussichten
und eine faszinierende Unterwasserwelt – die Schönheit des KomodoNationalparks in Indonesien lernt man am besten mit einem
traditionellen Pinisi-Schiff kennen. Katja Gartz berichtet
by Jacqui Gibson / The Post / September, 2025
Our guide motions for silence, pointing up to the gnarled branches of a rengas tree and there he is: a shaggy figure with a blunt red fringe and an ebony face as round as a saucer. I can barely contain my excitement at seeing my first orangutan in its natural habitat.
by Jacqui Gibson / Stuff NZ / September, 2025
Swimming with whale sharks, getting up close (not too close) to Komodo dragons and watching strongmen perform a ritual whip fight are highlights of a small ship cruise in Indonesia, writes Jacqui Gibson.
Why is Connecticut dubbed The Nutmeg State? And, if nutmeg does not, in fact, grow here, where does the spice actually come from?
by Hannah Wotton / Australia Financial Review / May, 2025
Venturing out on a dinghy before 6am on a patch of ocean just west of Timor, I’m nervous. Swimming with whale sharks is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I’ve already failed at it twice.
Die Artenvielfalt im Herzen des pazifischen Korallendreiecks ist atemberaubend. Und es ist höchste Zeit, dieses letzte Paradies mit dem Segelschiff zu entdecken
The discoveries made by the Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace should have ensured his place in history; now a thrilling voyage among the Indonesian islands and seas that inspired his revelations to right that wrong.
The principle of natural selection does not owe everything to
Darwin. The British naturalist co-authored this revolutionary invention with a compatriot, Alfred Russel Wallace, whose explorations in the Moluccas and Papua inspired a fabulous cruise in the company of his great-grandson and a biologist passionate, in search of the bird of paradise.
There are far more wonders than what’s beneath the waves.
by Gemma Tipton / The Irish Times / January, 2025
Komodo dragons, orangutans, stingless bees and a flight of fruitbats are a feast for the eyes during this trip to Indonesia.
Brett Atkinson sets sail from the Spice Islands on an evolutionary adventure through a remote archipelago to a far-flung city on the eastern edge of Indonesia.
Home to unique species, including flamboyant birds of paradise, shy nocturnal primates and rare butterflies, these remote islands inspired one of the great scientific discoveries, the theory of evolution by natural selection. Now, conservation initiatives are aiming to protect them.
Playful orangutans, whale sharks and Komodo dragons are never far away on this sustainable voyage of discovery.
The route I chose, The Remote Ring of Fire, showcased Komodo National Park, home to the world’s largest lizards, and the lush, sun-soaked islands of Flores and Alor.
by James Draven / Conde Nast Traveller / 12 August, 2024
A voyage through the Malay Archipelago in search of the animals that inspired Alfred Russel Wallace’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
by Brett Atkinson / Stuff – New Zealand / 12 February, 2024
More than 1500 islands, 1700 different species of fish, and 80% of the world’s varieties of coral make eastern Indonesia’s remote Raja Ampat province a world-leading destination for snorkelling and diving.
Indonesia’s Spice Islands with its exotic crops of nutmeg and cinnamon have been fought over for centuries. But the eastern archipelago straddling the Equator are also entrenched in history thanks to natural historian Alfred Wallace’s revolutionary theories on evolution.
by Gemma Tipton / The Irish Times / 17 December, 2023
There is no wifi on the Ombak Putih. Some of my fellow passengers picked up signals in sight of the more populated islands, but I took the SeaTrek advice and turned my phone off entirely for 12 glorious days of escapist bliss. Highly recommended.
Remote archipelagos, untouched cultures and stunning creatures await on this intimate sailing adventure.
Why the traditional boatbuilding techniques of the Buginese people in Sumbawa continue to thrive.
Lynn Gail follows the Spice Trail to the Banda Islands, where the scent of cinnamon is on the breeze, and where traders became the richest people on the planet during the 16th century.
We’ve heard of swimming with dolphins … but jellyfish? Lynn Gail finds the courage to bathe in an Indonesian lake that’s brimming with them.
by Sarah Baxter / The Daily Telegraph / 21 February, 2021
Sarah Baxter finds an unexpected calm while snorkelling in a landlocked lagoon on her trip around Indonesia’s remote waters.
Set sail along the eastern fringes of Indonesia’s vast archipelago to discover remote atolls home to communities of sea nomads, the world’s largest concentration of reef species, and the birds and butterflies that helped shape the theory of evolution.
As a family we only travel independently. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about someone ringing a bell, albeit on a boat, to summon me for something. In the end though, this voyage with its ‘help yourself’ pile of sleeping bags, didn’t just show us unseen Indonesia, it set us free.
While the predominant colour in the picturepostcard image of the tropics is blue, Raja Ampat is decidedly green…
In the Banda Sea, Lynn Gail heads toward the Ring of Fire and ends up in the house of the chief of a remote tribe.
Lynn Gail visits the Manggarai people on the Indonesian island of Flores, where an age-old Caci ritual of whip fighting symbolises new life.
Bajau sea gypsies have spent centuries perfecting the art of free diving among the pristine corals of Indonesia’s Togean Islands.
Sail in the wake of Sir David Attenborough’s favourite naturalist to a remote archipelago where wildlife still thrives, says Sarah Baxter.
We swam within touching distance of a whale shark, the most docile and massive fish in the sea. This one, about six metres long, broad-backed, Armani grey and mottled with big white polka dots, was half the size to which they can grow. It was still impressively big.
Whether you’re wild about Wallace, or just love being on the water, there’s no better place in the world for an intimate sailing adventure. Best of all, tourists here are still few and far between.
Alfred Russel Wallace endured shipwreck and starvation on the eight-year voyage that led to the idea of natural selection. 150 years on—and in rather more comfort—Mike Carter retraces his steps.
The sound of the ancient gong called the two warriors to the stage. This was no ordinary stage; we were on a remote island in the Malukus, the birthplace of the original Cakalele dance.
We’re on a 12-day voyage on the theme of Corals, Cultures and Dragons amid the eastern islands of Sulawesi and then down to Flores and Komodo islands. Snorkelling is high on the agenda and our first plunges set the tone, spectacularly.
Lynn Gail explores centuries-old maritime routes where adventurers fought and died for spices more profitable than gold.
Indonesia is known throughout the world for its excellent diving and snorkeling, thanks to colorful and healthy reefs. Nearly every day (and sometimes twice), the boat stops while on its way to the next destination and drops anchor adjacent to a reef for you to snorkel.
The Spice Islands are wrapped in an aromatic history of cloves, mace and nutmeg, Kings and Sultans, spice wars, and the rise and fall of invading armies.
by Susan Wyndham / The Sydney Morning Herald / 12 February, 2015
Next day we sail south on the Katharina, an elegant two-masted, 40-metre sailing boat built in the style of the traditional phinisi used by Indonesia’s nomadic seafaring people.
The two of us had flown halfway around the world to spend 10 days together cruising from uninhabited island to uninhabited island in Indonesia on a boat full of strangers.