One Happy Island Aruba is a small island in the Caribbean a few kilometers off the north coast of Venezuela. It’s hot, sunny and windy year round but the main tourist season is around Christmas and New Year’s, when it’s cold and grey in the northern hemisphere. Aruba is easily accessible from the United States;…
Category: Snorkeling
Zanzibar: White Sand, Blue Water, and a Cool Breeze Jambiani, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Stone Town is wonderful but it’s not a place to relax. For that, you best go to Zanzibar’s east coast, to Jambiani, for example. The beaches are endless, the sand whiter than anywhere else, and the water shades of blue and turquoise you can’t even imagine. In short, it looks a lot like paradise. Finding…
The Yasawas: Always on Fiji Time Fiji
What comes to mind when you hear “South Pacific”? Beach? Turquoise water? Snorkeling? Island hopping? Probably yes. Don’t we all dream the island dream..? The Yasawas and How to Get There While dreaming is free, making dreams reality isn’t. It’s actually pretty expensive, especially in Fiji. But you cannot go to Fiji and not go…
Malekula: The Banana Boat and the (Rough) Sea Vanuatu
Did I say I was scared on Dukono? Or on the boat to Bunaken island? Well, back then, I didn’t know what being scared was really like. What I felt on the boat from Ambrym to Malekula was a whole new dimension of being scared. I was terrified. No Easy Way to Get to Malekula Ambrym…
Efate: Music on the Beach and a Post Office under Water Vanuatu
Efate is Vanuatu’s most populous island, has an international airport, and is home to the capital city of Port Vila. Port Vila may be the capital of Vanuatu but that doesn’t mean it’s a metropolis. Probably the only thing to do here – and that’s a must-do! – is a visit to the central market. The produce…
Island Hopping Indonesian Style Morotai, Dodola, and the Bandas. Or not.
Banda Islands: Sounds Like a Plan Plans are just that; plans. Where you really end up is another thing altogether. Our plan was (and we were looking very forward to it) to go to the Banda Islands. From Ambon, they’re accessible by plane or by speedboat. At least that’s how it should be but, for…
Pulau Saparua: Dream & Reality Maluku, Indonesia
Who doesn’t dream of a tropical island with white sand beaches, palm trees lining the shore, and colorful fish swimming in the corals off the coast? Dream islands like that exist, yes, but unfortunately, in reality they often look a bit different. The white sand beach is strewn with garbage and it’s not uncommon to swim among…
Bunaken: Overwhelming Underwater World Sulawesi, Indonesia
A Change of Plans Back from Tangkoko, we booked a flight to Ternate for the next day. Ternate is practically just a volcano sticking out of the ocean. Unfortunately for us, that volcano decided to spit out some big ash clouds the day we wanted to fly and all flights to Ternate were canceled indefinitely….
Semporna: Ocean Life Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
Google “Pulau Bohey Dulang” and you’ll see why we absolutely wanted to go to Semporna. Semporna itself is an ugly place. It’s that forgotten place in the outermost corner of the country, it’s dirty and full of rubbish and children beg in the streets – something we haven’t seen anywhere else in Malaysia. How to Get to…
Caye Caulker, ATM Cave & Corozal: Relax. Go Slow. Belize
Belize doesn’t seem to be part of Central America anymore, it’s much more a Caribbean country. People speak English and Kriol (and Spanish, and Garífuna, and a whole lot of other languages), rice is flavored with coconut (in my opinion that should be the normal way to cook rice), the houses look different, and once…