Insider Recommendations

Secret Insider Yacht Charter Tips!

Ikat Textile Villages, Eastern Flores Archipelago, Indonesia

See the handcraft art of Ikat Textile weaving from carding and spinning the cotton, to creating the natural dyes, to seeing how the actual Ikat design is created when being woven in these Ikat Textile Villages where this particular method of dying and weaving was born. These villages are located in the Eastern Flores Archipelago.

Komodo Island, Komodo Archipelago, Indonesia

The only known home of the Komodo Dragon and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Park, visit this island for a hike with a Park Ranger to see the Komodo Dragon in their natural habitat, along with other wild animals such as Javan Deer and buffalo. The Park Rangers are a wealth of knowledge, providing information not only about the Komodo Dragon but also the other wildlife and flora and fauna natural to the area.

Black Pearl Farms

Located in French Polynesia and in Indonesia, Black Pearl Farms have been developed to grow cultivated Black Pearls. Often welcoming visitors, with a small shop for purchasing directly from the farm, visiting a Black Pearl Farm is an education in learning how these pearls are cultivated and can be a great opportunity to purchase Black Pearls at a good price.

Lovo or Umo, South Pacific

Known by many different names, depending on the country, all words refer to an underground oven for baking a feast. Created by lining a pit with stones and then lighting a fire for hours to heat the stones to a certain temperature, removing the coals, and then layering food in the pit and covering with various items to seal the “oven” shut, such as banana leaves and palm fronds, while the food cooks for a number of hours. When done, the underground oven is “cracked” and opened to serve the various foods customary in each country for a feast cooked in this manner.

Phi Phi Island Rock Climbing, Thailand

An excellent location for rock climbing, this island offers rock climbing venues for all skill levels from beginner to expert. This location is easily visited on a yacht charter out of Phuket, Thailand.

Sevu Sevu Ceremony, Fijian Out Islands

A cultural ceremony that is a “must do” when requesting permission to anchor in the waters and/or come ashore to a village in the Fijian Out Islands. Your village chief (Captain) must request permission of the village chief or designated person in a ceremony that includes your chief providing a present to the village chief which is usually dried Kava or the more highly prized dried Kava roots. During the ceremony, which occurs around the village kava bowl, permission is asked, and usually granted to use the waters or visit ashore the village that has claimed ownership of the surrounding area, both land and sea.

Ceremonial Dance Exhibitions

Part of the culture of virtually every island group in French Polynesia, Fiji, and Indonesia, often when visiting, and for a small fee, ceremonial dance exhibitions can be organized, each of which is specific to that area, and derived from that area’s history.