It’s west of West Papua and east of Timor-Leste. Saumlaki, which receives probably no more than one domestic flight per day is our embarkation point for the 40-metre boat, Damai II. The vessel is a traditional pinisi, seven-cabin wooden dive boat and our home for 11 diving days at sea. 

This is the first time for a few years that I have travelled to explore an area quite as remote as this one and I am psyched to be here. My diving explorations vary wildly from wrecks of the Baltic Sea, cold-water destinations on polar fringes, temperate UK and tropical destinations further afield. However, one thing that doesn’t vary is the discovery of plastic items I find in the ocean each time I go beneath the surface. From Philippine reefs lined with nappies and single-use plastics through to quaint English coves covered with fishing jettison; I have almost come to expect to see it in the water on every dive I now make and have collected a grim folder of images to prove its existence. On the flip side, I am interested to learn whether there are still some remote regions left on the planet, free of the visual plastic problem that dominates our social media. 

The Indonesian Banda Sea and Missol and Raja Ampat marine reserves promise a wildlife experience of times gone by. There is a group of nine divers aboard the pinisi – a mix of photographers and videographers. Much of our travelling will be done at night, heading north and stopping to explore what’s beneath the waves and fabulous far-off places with adventurous names such as The Forgotten Islands, Manuk Island, known as ‘The Island of Snakes‘ and The Banda Islands, which is perhaps more widely known as The Spice Islands, famed for their nutmeg, mace and cinnamon and the bloodshed distributed by those seeking to monopolise on their global trade.

The boat crew reminds us that, for the most part, we will be quite alone while at sea with no rescue helicopter to call upon or any means of a quick evacuation should we have a serious problem. With this in mind we must dive well within safe limits. Don’t go deep for the sake of going deep and don’t stay there too long if you do. Land, with its plumes of agricultural land fires falls behind the horizon as we leave Saumlaki, the sea darkens to a foreboding shade of black and the tangerine sky fades into purple. We are just below the equator and night fall comes quickly here.