Getting to North Maluku is via Ambon or direct to Ternate, the island opposite Halmahera. Like all Indonesian internal flights, an element of patience is useful as delays are common. The upside of coming to such an unexplored area is the isolation from the development that is sweeping across parts of the country. The downside is that there needs to be more exploration to find the best diving this area has to offer.

Currents can be strong at times (and often extremely strong) and minimal at others. This is because the western side of Halmahera is sited in the Indonesian Through-flow, the current pattern that catches substantial sea movement between the Pacific and Indian oceans. Dive sites included walls, pinnacles and sloping reef mounds. A little more unusual, were the substantial rock formations. Fish quantities were lower than elsewhere and in 10 days we only saw one shark and one turtle. However, macro life was impressive with a lot of muck diving sites and masses of crustaceans.