Indonesia was the heart of our 2026 Southeast Asia trip. We started on the island of Flores, based in Labuan Bajo, then boarded a traditional wooden liveaboard for a multi-day voyage through Komodo National Park — Padar sunrises, Komodo dragons, pink beaches, manta rays and whale sharks — all the way across to Lombok. From there we set our sights upward, on the three-day trek up Mount Rinjani, before flying on to the jungles and volcanoes of Sumatra. All our stories from the Indonesia leg are collected below.
Posts from this destination
Crossing to Lombok — whale sharks on Noah’s birthday, dolphins and a Bounty island
The second half of the liveaboard from Komodo to Lombok: a rough night crossing, jumping off the boat, two huge whale sharks on Noah’s birthday, a pod of wild dolphins — and finally stepping ashore in Lombok.
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Komodo National Park by boat — a 4:30am sunrise, four dragons and manta rays
Boarding the Alfathran III liveaboard: a 4:30am climb to the Padar Island sunrise, the not-very-pink Pink Beach, four Komodo dragons (a baby included) and manta rays gliding under us at Manta Point.
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Labuan Bajo — a shark bite, flying foxes and Vitus finally catches a fish
A sunset island cruise with a genuine (if tiny) shark bite, thousands of flying foxes at dusk, and a chaotic-then-brilliant fishing trip where Vitus caught six fish — grilled for us at NY Crab.
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Arriving in Flores — Labuan Bajo, caves and the best fish ever
Landing in Labuan Bajo after the airport chaos in KL — a quicksand beach, a forgettable hotel dinner, crawling through caves, a swim in a hidden water cave, and the best grilled fish of our lives at the night market.
Read more →More from Indonesia still to come — Mount Rinjani and the Sumatra jungle. Stories and photos will be added here as we write them up.