Voyage of Discovery

By Lauren Jarvis

A legendary Indonesian freediver known as Jago once said, “When I sleep at sea, I dream only of an underwater world.” Exploring Indonesia’s Molucca Sea on a two-week expedition with SeaTrek Sailing Adventures, the country’s only operator offering live-aboard snorkel cruises, I become entirely entranced by the ocean, too.

Closing my eyes conjures images of a candy-hued coral realm. Venturing ashore, my mind remains gently lulled by the gentle rocking of the ship. My hair is permanently wilded by sea and salt, and my fingers often crinkled from snorkelling on spectacular reefs each day, among swirling manta rays, skittish reef sharks, vibrant nudibranchs and rainbows of tropical fish. Like Jago, I’m wilfully, unapologetically mesmerised by the sea.

SeaTrek’s two traditionally designed wooden pinisi ships, the 12-cabin Ombak Putih and the six-cabin Katharina, sail guests in style to isles which lie far beyond the familiar spas and bars of Bali; remote volcanic specks on a map of the Indonesian Archipelago, once known as the Dutch East Indies. Far from the tourist trail on Ombak Putih, I spend my days exploring the sea and the land; relaxing and writing on deck; dining on fresh, local Southeast Asian cuisine and dancing under the stars to traditional songs, performed by our three Indonesian tour leaders and talented crew.

With more than 17,500 islands, stretching across the Equator between mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, Indonesia is recognised as one of 17 ‘megadiverse’ countries of the world, harbouring 17 per cent of the world’s wildlife and precious natural habitats including mangroves, peat swamp forests and coral reefs, which support a staggering variety of species.

Evolutionary Inspiration

Perhaps understandably, it’s here that the Victorian naturalist and explorer, Alfred Russel Wallace, formulated his groundbreaking ideas on evolution through natural selection during a field trip of the region to research and collect samples of flora and fauna. The letter he sent to naturalist Charles Darwin in 1858 from the island of Ternate, detailing the evolutionary epiphany he encountered during a severe attack of malaria on the island of Dodinga, spurred Darwin to publish his own theories on natural selection alongside Wallace’s essay. Separately yet together, the two men had unravelled the great mystery of life on our planet.

While Darwin is hailed today as the Father of Evolution, Wallace’s legacy is often over-looked, but his discoveries and teachings are brought vividly to life on SeaTrek’s Indonesian adventures, which follow in the naturalist’s wake on voyages from Ternate in the Maluku Islands to Bitung in Sulawesi, Sorong in West Papua and around Raja Ampat. Zoologist, evolutionary biologist and Wallace expert, Dr. George Beccaloni, leads several annual sailings offering a deep-dive into Wallace’s world of living wonders; his infectious enthusiasm and respect for the naturalist igniting guests’ curiosity and desire to explore.

Island treks lead to encounters with the illusive Wallace’s standardwing bird-of-paradise, the striking Wallace’s golden birdwing butterfly and the critically endangered maleo bird, while combing the white-sand beaches reveals lengthy longhorn beetles, industrious sand bubbler crabs and carnivorous pitcher plants, luring insects into the forests behind.

This October, SeaTrek’s In Search of Wallace and His Living Treasures expedition will seek out more endemic species and celebrate the 200th anniversary of Wallace’s death with Alfred’s great grandson, Bill, joining the cruise and the unveiling of a new memorial on Dodinga.

“The island of Dodinga is one of the most important destinations in the history of science,” says George. “There aren’t many places in the world which are the site of an amazing scientific discovery, but this is one of them – and amazingly, only SeaTrek comes here.”

Supporting Local Communities

Dodinga is one of several remote local villages, surrounded by wildlife-rich forests, which are visited by SeaTrek on its Indonesian snorkel tours. The company supports education with book donations and materials about marine conservation, distributes water purification systems, and also provides goggles, so that local kids can explore the abundant underwater world on their doorstep.

Someone who knows what riches can be found beneath the waves is Rohani, better known as Jago (meaning ‘The Master’), the freediver who dreams of the sea. One of the famous Bajau ‘Sea Nomads’ of Indonesia, heralded for their almost super-human diving and spearfishing skills, I meet Jago in the village of Kabalutan in the Togean Islands; a community built over the ocean, with rickety wooden walkways connecting stilt houses and shops, and goats wandering the streets of its more solid terrestrial interior.

The star of the documentary Jago: A Life Underwater, Rohani is legendary throughout Indonesia for his ability to dive deeper than 120 feet under water on just one breath. Now nearly 90, he greets us at the jetty like the superstar he is, holding his speargun and smiling from behind mirrored sunglasses, which he soon swaps for his trademark dive goggles. The documentary explores the Bajau people’s connection to the sea and culture of subsistence fishing, but like many of our magnificent marine ecosystems around the world, human impacts including over-fishing and climate change are taking their toll. While Indonesia’s coral reefs are healthier than most, the local people are painfully aware of what’s changed.

“Once there were plenty of fish and few people. Now there are many people, and not many fish,” says Jago. “We must travel further and hunt in places we’ve never been before.”

When it’s time for us to go, The Master folds his lean legs into his traditional wooden canoe and paddles for home across the blue, leaving the kids to excitedly jump off the jetty, eager to try their new eyewear.

The natural beauty and biodiversity of this spectacular archipelago lure many dreamers to its shores, but it’s only when we have the chance to dive a little deeper beneath the surface that we see the complete picture.

*First published on Charitable Traveller – May/June 2024 Edition