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Transportation: Kafkaesque

Marine tourism in Indonesia is also stalled by the archipelago's transportation infrastructure. Bali, Java and Sulawesi are easy to get to, but particularly at the height of the tourist seasons, July-August and December-January, travel to Maumere, Banda, and other points in eastern Indonesia can be an exercise in frustration. Delays, overbooked flights, and broken computers will make a mess of your schedule. The guilty airport is Ujung Pandang in South Sulawesi. This is the main hub to eastern Indonesia, but too few planes fly there to and from Bali.

Since most of the Indonesian dive sites are the steep outer walls of fringing reefs, access is usually just a matter of a short ride by out-board-powered canoe. This is the fringing reef off Bunaken Island in northern Sulawesi.

Tulamben in Bali is famous for the World War II Liberty shipwreck, lying just 30 meters from the beach. This dive location is also noted for its remarkable diversity of marine life.

The scene at the ticket counters of the Indonesian government airlines—Garuda and Merpati—often produces a strange mix of Kafkaesque angst and hilarity.