A fisherman tries his luck off the dock at Ampenan, Lombok.

      Islam and the Europeans

      Beginning in the mid-13th century, Indonesian traders and rulers began converting to Islam, for both political and religious reasons. The biggest boost to Islamization of the archipelago came with the conversion of the ruler of Malacca, which sat in a very strategic position on the strait between Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia.

      Most of these conversions were peaceful—the Sufi doctrine offering a theologically smooth transition for the Hinduized kingdoms—but Majapahit, past its prime, fell by force to the neighboring Islamic kingdom of Demak in the early 16th century.

      This was also about the time the Portuguese, seeking spices, arrived in the archipelago, conquering Malacca in 1511. Soon after, the Spanish and English also sought Indonesia's valuable spices, but it was a century later that Holland, newly independent of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from Spain, succeeded in controlling the market in cloves, nutmeg and pepper. During much of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch East India Company held a virtual monopoly.

      The company went broke in 1799, and in the 19th century, the Dutch concentrated their colonial efforts on Java, leading to a huge increase in the population of this island.

      During World War II, the Japanese quickly swept through the Dutch Indies, evicting the colonialists in 1942. At the end of the war, Indonesian nationalist leaders declared independence—on August 17, 1945—but it took four more years to oust the Dutch. Irian Jaya, the western part of New Guinea, was transferred to Indonesia in the 1960s; the former Portuguese colony of East Timor was annexed in 1976.

      Lush Islands

      The "Ring of Fire" runs through Sumatra, Java, the Lesser Sundas, and then up through the Moluccas. These islands are marked by jagged volcanoes, and the rich, black soil that produces the great rice crops of Java and Bali. Some of the islands—for example, Timor, Seram and Biak—are formed of uplifted coral limestone. Here the soil is poor, and some areas—particularly parts of Timor—exhibit dry grassland that is more reminiscent of Australia than the tropics.

      Two seasons of wind sweep through Indonesia each year. The northwest monsoon, usually starting (depending on the area) between late October and late November and ending between March and April, brings rain and wind. The southeast monsoon, with wind but much less rain, begins around late April to late May, and ends in early September. The pancaroba—between monsoons—brings generally calm seas and good weather, and falls just about everywhere in the archipelago in October and April.

      The worst of the rainy season in most of Indonesia is in the months of December and January. The weather in the eastern province of Maluku is the most out of step with the rest of the country, and the worst comes in July and August. Some islands— such as Bali—have mountains that block the rains, creating a dry rain shadow in their lee.

      DIVING IN INDONESIA

       Fantastic Diving, but Kafkaesque Transport

      Indonesia is the least known of the world's best dive locations. The introduction of scuba gear and the beginning of dive operations here are barely a decade old, and new locations are still being explored and opened, albeit slowly.

      It will be many years before diving in Indonesia reaches its full potential, which has both great advantages and serious drawbacks. Experienced divers will be excited by the possibility of diving clear, rich waters without being surrounded by hordes of human beings. It is still very possible to dive areas where no one has yet gone underwater. This will be a refreshing change from sites like the Caribbean, Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef, the Maldives and the popular spots in the Pacific Islands.

      In all of the huge Indonesian archipelago, containing 10-20 percent of the world's coral reefs, there are few locations with dive services, and a handful of year-round live-aboard boats.

      The diving is excellent, inexpensive (averaging around $75 a day for two dives) and uncrowded. This does not come without a cost, however: flights can be unceremoniously cancelled, the quality of guides is variable, and the weather is sometimes fickle.

      Live-aboards are the obvious solution to diving in Indonesia, with its thousands of islands and huge area. Some of the boats are luxurious and expensive but take you to the top dive locations in Indonesia. A few are more basic.

      Indonesia's Dive Sites

      The sites listed below are the main ones in Indonesia, with compressors, equipment and other facilities for diving. They appear here in the order they appear in this book, roughly west to east across the archipelago.

      West Java. The Pulau-Pulau Seribu—"Thousand Islands"— dive area is quite close to the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, and many efficient dive clubs provide all the necessary transportation and services to these islands. There is some interesting diving here, but in general coral and fish life is quite limited, and the visibility poor. The clubs will also take you diving off the islands around the famous Krakatau volcano, and off the Ujung Kulon Nature Reserve on the tip of southwest Java.

      Although it makes a heroic effort to connect the archipelago's far-flung islands, Merpati Airlines is often the bane of travelers to Indonesia. Above is one of the airline's rugged Twin Otters in Karubaga, Irian Jaya.

      A diver in the waters off Bali peers into a large barrel sponge, Xestospongia testudinaria.

      Beautiful Bali cattle wander the rocky beach at Tulamben, Bali, one of the most popular dive sites in Indonesia. These placid animals are a domesticated form of the wild cow or banteng.

      If your plans will take you through Jakarta, these dives might be worthwhile, but the diving is much better at points east. If you are coming all the way to Indonesia expressly to dive, your destination should not be Java.

      Sumatra. Just an hour's ferry ride from Singapore, north Bintan Island has opened for diving. Visibility is limited, but there's a wealth of life to see, especially at night. On the opposite side of the island, offshore Padang and the Mentawai Islands promise great diversity—shipwrecks and fringing reefs to wall dives. And much of it is still relatively unexplored.

      Bali. Bali has more tourist services than anywhere else in Indonesia. It is a beautiful island, and the diving is excellent. There are many different sites here, from the clear water and steep walls of Menjangan to the famous Tulamben wreck to the 4-knot currents and cold water of Nusa Penida. The visibility is usually very good, and the fish and coral life are excellent. One caveat: almost 1 million tourists a year visited Bali at last count, and here is one of the few places where you might find a crowd.

      Live-aboards and chartered boats from Bali can also take divers to the islands south of Sulawesi, the Lesser Sundas, and the dive sites in the Banda Sea.

      Lombok. The only diving available on this island, just a cheap ferry ride or short flight from Bali, is on the Gilis, three tiny islands off Lombok's west coast. Gili Trawangan and Gili Air have quite good reefs, but even these are far from Indonesia's best. But the Gili islands have fine white beaches and a get-away-from-it-all kind of appeal, and the diving is just offshore. You can find luxury accommodations in Senggigi beach on the mainland, an hour's ride from the islands. The dive businesses are all based there. With prior arrangements for pickup, it's better to rough it at the small places on the beach in the Gilis, with the young frisbee-tossers and sunbathers.

      Komodo Island. The

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