Diving in Indonesia

Volcanic gas bubbles through the sand off a current-swept island

Hot gas vents stream through the reef from an active submarine volcano

Turtles nest on Derawan's beaches; mantas cycle through Sangalaki's cleaning station.

Reef sharks a short boat ride out and WWII bombers on the deep slopes.

Soft coral grows so thick on Sahaung's pinnacles the rock disappears

Sheer walls drop from the surface, patrolled by turtles and napoleon wrasse.

Slow scans over black sand reveal mimic octopus and hairy frogfish.

A B-24 Liberator at 22 m and a lake full of stingless jellyfish

Blacktip reef sharks by day and the endemic Halmahera walking shark after dark.

Drift dives through some of the richest marine life on Earth

An intact Second World War Catalina seaplane on the seabed off Biak.

Reef and oceanic mantas share a cleaning station inside a patrolled no-take reserve

Granite boulders above and below the water, with coral and wrecks among them.

Whale sharks feed under fishing platforms for one of diving's most reliable encounters.

The endemic psychedelic frogfish lives on Ambon's harbour slopes

Whale sharks hang under fishing platforms year-round in Papuan soft coral

Seamounts off a still-active volcano occasionally draw hammerheads into open water.

A community-protected house reef drops straight off the jetty into dense coral.

Reefs and wrecks a fast-boat ride from Jakarta

Day-boat dives on the flanks of Krakatau's volcanic islands

The world's third-largest atoll, and a wall running the length of Selayar

Bali's best walls, sheltered enough to dive in almost any weather

Black volcanic sand that bubbles from vents, full of macro critters

Strong straits sweep past pristine coral cover between remote volcanic islands.

Whale sharks gather at Saleh Bay's fishing platforms all year round.

The USAT Liberty wreck lies coral-encrusted just off a black-sand beach.

Easy beach entries onto walls, a small wreck and an artificial reef

Eighty human figures stand in a ring on the sand off Gili Meno

Sheltered macro bays and current-swept islets from one harbour

Drift dives past sharks and tuna on current-swept seamounts

Black-sand muck slopes for frogfish and mimic octopus, with a wreck off the beach

Manta rays all year and mola mola from July to October

Schooling scalloped hammerheads on the open-sea pinnacles of Belongas Bay

Reef sharks and seasonal mantas around a quiet surf island