It is, I think, day six of our 10-day expedition voyage in far-eastern Indonesia. To be honest it's hard to keep tabs on time because each day unfolds in much the same spectacular manner.
The sky? Blue and tranquil.
The sea? A spectrum of dazzling blues, also tranquil.
The forest? Trilling with exotic birdsong, hornbills whooshing through the canopy.
The beach? Alluringly white and deserted. Untouched by the footprints of anything larger than a hermit crab.
Divemaster Garry Bevan surveys the scene before us and beams. "I am very happy with our anchorage," he says. "I hope you are too."
We are on a voyage from the port city of Sorong, on the tip of New Guinea's Bird's Head Peninsula, through the marine riches of Raja Ampat, along the coast of West Papua until we reach the Maluku islands (also known as The Moluccas, and the Spice Islands). We follow a rough itinerary but this is an expedition at heart, so if Bevan finds something interesting-looking on Google maps, captain Wayan Widhyastya takes us there. We are never disappointed with his choices.
Neither Bevan nor Widhyastya, who's sailed these waters for 20 years, has ever been to Sabuda Island before. Bevan chose it simply because he thought it might have "some lovely beaches", and it does.
Lying before us are two of them, blinding arcs of white fringed by dense jungle and washed by translucent seas so tempting I dive in straight off the boat into a brilliant submarine world of corals as plump as upholstered sofas.
There are feathery crinoids, gaudy tropical fish in all colours and configurations, giant cowries scattered like treasure on the seabed, and barracuda stalk the edge of a steep shelf. Clouds of baitfish swirl overhead in a silver murmuration.
The crew of the Kudanil Explorer, our decadent eight-berth liveaboard, shuttle umbrellas, chilly bins, food and towels from the ship and construct a makeshift beach club beneath gently swaying palms.
The remaining nine passengers head ashore to hike, snorkel, paddleboard, sunbathe and drink. I steer a transparent kayak over the reef, marvelling at the life below.
Five Papuan fishermen, three of them called Abdul, arrive with their catch of fat skipjack tunas. They grill them on a palm-branch barbecue then insist we eat, crying, "Let's have a picnic!" The flesh – hot, smoky, deliciously oily and daubed with chilli sambal from our ship's kitchen – is better than any restaurant fish I can remember.
After lunch, I kayak to the adjoining beach and find an abandoned fisherman's camp with a hammock strung thoughtfully beneath the fragrant blooms of a sea poison tree. I borrow it for a couple of hours, swinging and snoozing in the breeze. True luxury is knowing, with certainty, that no one will come and disturb me in paradise this afternoon.
Aboard the Kudanil Explorer, launched in late 2018, indelible moments like this are a daily occurrence. It helps that we almost never see another tourist, so there's a constant sense we are charting new territories, and doing so in great style.
Dozens of tourist boats now operate out of Sorong but the majority are variations of Indonesia's phinisi fishing boats, swashbuckling affairs with twin masts and more cramped, simpler quarters.
Kudanil Explorer's eight teak- and oak-lined cabins are each a spacious 30sq m with king bed, a balcony and daybed, and en suite bathroom.
French textiles, handwoven Portuguese carpets and archipelago art – from ikat bed-runners in raw silk to ancestor figures from Nias – adorn suites and public spaces, from guest lounges to the bridge deck with its breezy bar and dining area where we feast on fried whitebait and the freshest squid, banana-leaf chicken, sushi and sashimi, even whole Peking duck.
Beyond lies the sundeck with its pergola and loungers; above the bridge, the Jacuzzi deck becomes a favourite haunt for sunset cocktails.
The vessel is a former tug that worked the Indonesian oil fields. Owners Remi and Thibaud Epstein stripped it down to the hull, then basically designed a boutique hotel on top of an industrial-strength cruiser capable of crossing oceans.
The 50m vessel is, officially, an ocean-going expedition yacht, but one with heightened levels of luxury and technology (two engines, six generators, two water machines, countless GPS and radars) and an intrepid attitude. The Kudanil doesn't do dull.
"Where many ships have very set itineraries, we are a lot looser than that," says operations consultant Jason Friedman. "We are about adventure and explorations. We like to pride ourselves on the fact we will take our guests to those places other boats just won't go. And we will do it faster, safer and in more comfort than any other boat in Indonesia."
"We will cover off key attractions and then go beyond," Thibaud adds. "That's part of the luxury, to find places where we can be alone."
And we are almost always alone. One day we'll be kayaking around the surging basin of the Kiti Kiti waterfall, a powerful wedding-veil cascade that gushes straight into the Ceram Sea, on the Fakfak Peninsula (yes, it really is pronounced that way). Another we'll be hiking to a spring-fed swimming hole hemmed in by jungle, with only larrikin lorikeets for company.
My favourite days? Hard to say, but perhaps they were the charmed hours spent at Raja Ampat, in the heart of the world's richest reef system.
It's humbling to discover that just north of us, in a part of the Pacific we probably couldn't find on a map, lies a biodiverse marvel, its protected waters home to some 600 species of corals and about 1400 reef fish.
Raja Ampat is so remote and uncharted that new species are discovered here almost every week. I might have seen some myself while snorkelling at the cult dive site Magic Mountain, but I was too distracted by the bizarre apparition of a spotted unicorn fish to focus on finding new fish species.
Diving is obviously a big drawcard in these teeming waters, but the Kudanil is much more than a dive boat. It also offers enriching voyages hosted by leading cultural historians and access to "secret" surf spots in West Papua and beyond. (There's a general air of indulgence on the ship that pampers any guest whim, so the trip can be whatever you want it to be.)
At another site, Four Kings, divers watch in awe as huge manta rays slice through the water above them. No wonder Epstein calls this place, with its treasures underwater and 1500 karst-and-jungle-islands above, all of it looking too postcard-perfect to be real, "kind of like a Disneyland".
The British biologist Alfred Russell Wallace, whose research in the archipelago in the 1850s bolstered Darwin's theory of natural selection, described Raja Ampat best. "Every islet was covered with strange-looking shrubs and trees and was generally crowned by lofty and elegant palms," he wrote, "forming one of the most singular and picturesque landscapes I have ever seen."
In the far south of West Papua at the scuba hotspot of Triton Bay, home to 30 dive sites and unusual species including walking sharks, we have intimate encounters with whale sharks, the largest fish in the sea.
Rickety fishing platforms called bagans, strung across the Namatote Strait, are magnets for hungry fish. We pay eager fishermen a small fee to toss bait into the water to attract the giants. As they surge to the surface, suddenly I'm a tiny morsel in a massive fish sandwich. Whale sharks average five to 10m in length, but can up grow to 18m, the size of a long bus. They are docile creatures but it's still a genuinely daunting experience when they surface right beside you.
There is also a memorable visit to the remote village of Lobo, which lies at the base of a towering stone mountain on Mauwara Island. The village is simple but fertile and beautiful, brimming with dark-skinned children and lush gardens, the trees heavy with nutmeg, avocados, mangoes and coconuts.
Waiting to greet us at the shore are a welcoming committee of mostly children, curious and shy but excited at the unexpected arrival of visitors from afar. There is singing on the wharf, a visit to a classroom, guided tours of the town's four churches and six schools, and an unexpected meeting with the chief of this 500-strong village.
He tells us the villagers' roots go back 10 generations but we are only the fifth tourist boat to visit Lobo in living memory. He assures the Kudanil crew that next time they come they need only pay him a visit and he'll issue a note of permission for them to visit anywhere in the region.
That's the Kudanil experience in a nutshell. It's a hedonistic, access-all-areas pass to some of the least explored parts of the planet.
The Kudanil Explorer offers scheduled and private charter journeys through Indonesia's remotest island groups including Raja Ampat, Triton Bay, Komodo and the Spice Islands. Rates from US$1650pp plus VAT, per night, twin-share, or US$20,000 plus VAT a day for exclusive use (up to 16 people).
Tariff includes full board, all diving and activities but excludes alcohol and spa. Itineraries range in length from five nights focused around Komodo Island to 7-12 nights in Raja Ampat and West Papua. kudanil.com
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