The best of Indonesia: spectacular experiences island by island
Indonesia's most spectacular and uncommon experiences, island by island: pink beaches, the blue fire of Ijen, horse riding on the beaches of Sumba, Komodo dragons, Raja Ampat and much more.
Most images on this page are AI-generated
Indonesia isn't a single destination — it's more than 17,000 islands. That's why the best of it is rarely on the usual postcards: it's on a pink-sand beach, on a volcano spitting blue fire at night, in riders hurling spears on horseback, or in a village of cone-shaped houses above the clouds. This is our pick of the spectacular and uncommon, island by island —and we'll keep adding to it.
Java
Kawah Ijen: the blue fireMount Bromo at sunriseTumpak Sewu waterfallsBorobudur at sunriseKawah Putih, the white craterDieng Plateau
Bali & the Nusa islands
Kelingking Beach (Nusa Penida)Diving with mola mola and mantasSekumpul waterfallUSAT Liberty wreck (Tulamben)Makepung buffalo racesBioluminescent planktonSurfing UluwatuScooters along the beachBeach clubs (Luna Beach Club)Tanah Lot templeUlun Danu lake templeLempuyang, the Gates of Heaven
Lombok & the Gili islands
Trekking Rinjani and its crater lakePink Beach, LombokTiu Kelep waterfallsSwimming with turtles in the Gilis
Komodo & Flores
Komodo dragonsKomodo Pink BeachPadar Island at sunriseSailing a wooden phinisiWae Rebo, the village in the cloudsKelimutu coloured crater lakesSpiderweb rice fields (Cancar)
Sumba
Horse riding on the beachThe Pasola festivalWeekuri LagoonTanggedu waterfallTraditional villages and megalithic tombsSurfing Occy’s Left (Nihiwatu)
Sumatra
Orangutans in Bukit LawangLake Toba and Samosir islandPacu Jawi: bull races in the mudSurf and tribes of the Mentawai
Sulawesi
Tana Toraja and its hanging gravesTarsiers and macaques in TangkokoDiving in Wakatobi and BunakenStingless jellyfish lake (Kakaban)
Kalimantan (Borneo)
Tanjung Puting by klotok boatSekonyer river and fireflies
Raja Ampat & Papua
Raja Ampat: Piaynemo viewpointSwimming with whale sharksBirds of paradise of PapuaBaliem Valley (Dani tribe)
