Following high consumer demand, Aqua Expeditions will add two new itineraries to the Asmat region and West Papua in 2025: the 12-night “Spice Islands, Raja Ampat and West Papua Expedition” and nine-night “West Papua and Asmat Tribe Expedition.” These one-off itineraries will take guests through East Indonesia, home to lush islands, cave systems, underwater ecosystems and remote indigenous communities. Both sailings will be hosted on Aqua Blu, a former British Royal Navy Explorer and the first-ever long-range ocean explorer yacht permanently based in East Indonesia. The new itineraries join the four limited-edition expeditions that were launched last year, extending Aqua’s Indonesian offering for a limited time.
The 12-day “Spice Islands, Raja Ampat, and West Papua Expedition” (October 11-23, 2025) will start in Ambon. Guests will discover the colonial heritage of the Banda Islands, where the 17th-century Fort Belgica tells the story of the region’s spice trade. The Spice Islands were once so valuable that the Dutch traded the British the island of Manhattan to secure tiny Banda Run. Next up is the Koon archipelago, home to snorkeling and diving sites with chances to spot hammerhead and leopard sharks. The itinerary includes One Thousand Temples—rocks that have been eroded by the ocean and rain, leaving behind steep spires of limestone. In the following days, the expedition explores the limestone karsts and lagoon complexes of Raja Ampat. The expedition heads to West Papua to discover the Kitikiti Waterfall in Momon, which drops directly into the sea; and the waters of Triton Bay, a diver’s paradise with over 1,000 species of marine life.
The nine-night “West Papua and Asmat Tribe Expedition” (October 23–November 1, 2025) starts in the town of Kaimana, on to the Kei Islands, known for crystal-clear waters where the rare, half-inch pygmy seahorses are often spotted. Next, guests explore the beaches of Cape Papisol, before sailing the Arafura Sea and venturing deep into the uncharted West Papua region. The expedition heads into the jungle on private speedboats to discover local villages and meet with members from Indonesia’s most remote indigenous Asmat community. Guests will have the chance to visit the tribe’s communal houses and observe their wood-carving tradition. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a collection of Asmat art largely sourced in 1961 by a member of the Rockefeller family. The journey ends in Triton Bay where guests can swim with 40-foot-long whale sharks, and a visit to Namatote Passage, famed for its prehistoric cave paintings estimated to be 3,000 to 5,000 years old.
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