Indonesia, July 2026

I had signed up for the first zodiac of the day, so it was a very early start and we were in the water a little after 6am!  As with my experience in Cenderawasih Bay in Western Papua 4 years ago, they were feeding the sharks and to be honest I was not 100% certain it was an experience I wanted to do again (but of course I did – and lived to regret it… read on).  This time the feeding was from small boats, in much shallower water, as we were less than 100m from the shore.

Initially, there were way less people in the water (20 in total) and 3 juvenile sharks around 4.5-5.5m long.  From experience, I decided to hang back and enjoy seeing them as they circled around the area.  You really had to keep an eye out in every direction, as you never knew where they might appear from and did not seem to care if we were in the way!  Despite their size, they were thankfully very calm and graceful so did not induce any fear in me.

When our 12 minutes was over, we swim the short distance to the shore, where we could relax until it was time for our second swim (if we wanted to do one).  I took the opportunity to wander around this part of the town.  Clearly the waterfront was set up for the Whale Shark tourists, with small shops and cafes (most of which were not open as it was still only 6.30am)!

But just one street back from the waterfront, normal life appeared.  We are now in a predominately Muslim area and that was apparent within the architecture and clothing of those people we saw.  We had also been advised go cover shoulders and knees when going ashore to be respectful of the culture.

Back in the water for my second session and this time there were less but, but only 2 sharks. Again I hung back and enjoyed seeing them swim around me and to be honest, I was pretty happy with the experience, until ….

I was swimming back to shore when I saw that they basically had people riding the sharks! Someone (my guess was a local tourist who perhaps could not swim) sat in a clear kayak which a ‘guide’ pulled along whilst throwing food directly in to the sharks mouth to keep them at the surface so the kayak is basically on their backs!!  What a circus – I was fuming and sadly it tainted my whole experience.  Apparently it is a social media crazy to get photos of this from drones (and yes there were lots flying around)!

It as such a shame as it is amazing to see these beautiful animals in their own habit but then to see them being treated like circus animals was so sad.  Fair to say I will not be participating in any similar events in the future!

As we had started at 6am we were back on board  by 8.30am and we had an interesting presentation on the conflict between conservation and over tourism (apt after the morning’s experience).   This was given by Abam, our Indonesian guide, who is one of the founders of the Elasmobranch Insitute Indonesia, an NGO focusing on shark and ray conservation.  He acknowledged this mornings events and noted that changes in mindset around wildlife takes time and is one of their biggest challenges.

As we continued to sail south, we crossed the equator, which of course meant an initiation ceremony for those pollywogs amongst us i.e those who have never crossed the equator at sea.  The crew always put on a fun event, where those being initiated must kiss a fish to appease Neptune.  I enjoyed the spectical (and the rum punch that accompanied it lol).

We stopped off at Malenge, in the Togean Islands (and part of Kepulauan Togean National Park) in the afternoon in the hope of spotting yet another animal I had never heard of – the Barbirusa deer-pig!  They are members of the swine family, found only in a handful of Indonesian islands.  There are species (unique to individual islands) and all are listed as threatened.  They are sometimes referred to as ‘prehistoric pigs’ as they can be seen in cave drawings 35,000 years old!

They are most notable for their long upper canines (in males) which can sometime grow around and penetrate the pig’s skull! Females only have the lower canines.

 We landed in yet another picture perfect resort where they put out food for them (it seems to be a day for feeding wildlife), but as they are wild they don’t always come to eat and unfortunately today was one of those days.  However, there was a smaller spot in the next bay where one was, so we jumped back in the Zodiac and headed around.

The one here appeared to be more like a pet and was very tame, but at least I got to see one.  It was more of a photo opportunity then a true wildlife experience – conservation may not have won today!

After such an early start the day before, the next day was a bit more relaxed as we did not arrive at our destination for the day until around 10am, which was of course followed by the usual formalities before we could start our day with a zodiac cruise around the beautiful Seho Island.  As with previous days, the water was an incredible turquoise blue, and the lush, dense green forest cascaded down the cliffs to the water.  Not too much to see in the way of wildlife but we did watch some local fisherman for a while, checking out what they had caught in their nets.

Our morning ended with a stunning snorkel.   It was a little shallow and the tide going out so you had to take real care when swimming over the coral, so didn’t stay long but it was lovely.  As was the beach which had a pink tinge to it, due to the crushed coral and it was beautiful.

 

The welcome ceremony started with Elaine (Elaine #2 that is) and Peter on shore where there feet were washed with the water of a young coconut and then they were beaten with some sort of foliage!  We then walked a short distance down the road to the town hall for a formal welcome. Again it seems much of the town was there.

Fire, ambulance, police, army, children, adults  … everyone was there and most wanted selfies either with themselves or with their children!  We were definitely made to feel like celebrities for the day.

After welcome speeches and more dancing, we were divided into small groups with local guides for a walk around the town which was madness – everywhere we went people were pushing their children on us to have photos – it’s really was an event as we walked around the town. 

We passed the government buildings, a new hospital and then through the market and back around to the water front.  I took some time to wander around on my own (trying to get out the crowds that followed us everywhere).