Anne Bonny

Komodo runs May to September out of Labuan Bajo, with private charters from two nights and scheduled open cruises at six days and five nights. Two nights is short enough to work as an add-on to a Bali trip rather than a holiday in itself, which is unusual for a boat this size. Longer tailor-made routes extend west through Sumbawa and the Gilis, mixing quiet beaches and wildlife with calmer bays than the park itself offers.

October to April out of Sorong. Two scheduled options: nine days and eight nights covering Central and North up to the Wayag lagoons, or twelve days and eleven nights through Central and South including Misool. Private charters start at five nights. Guest accounts consistently mention the cruise director building kayaking through Wallace Passage, cave exploring and early bird-watching into the dive schedule.

Once a year only. The late-October crossing from Komodo to Raja Ampat runs through the Banda Sea, starting at Ambon, calling at historic Banda Neira, and finishing among the reefs of South and Central Raja Ampat including Misool. If the dates suit, it is the single itinerary on this boat that cannot be booked at any other time of year.

Ambon is the departure port for the Spice Islands crossing, and the bay diving here is muck rather than reef. Shallow, silty and slow, which is genuinely easier ground for newer or younger divers than a current-swept reef. With bunks in every cabin and a dive team that runs Bubblemaker, this is a stretch where mixed-ability groups work rather than compromise.