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The Andaman Sea is fast becoming one of the premier cruising destinations in the world, renowned for its sheer beauty, bio diversity, and perfect weather conditions during the dry season. There are 4 distinct areas offering everything a tropical cruise could offer:
Langkawi & Butangs
Langkawi, on the northwest coast of Malaysia, is an internationally served resort desination and a duty free island set against the backdrop of a beautiful mountainous rainforest. With 3 marinas, and 99 islands in the surrounding area, including the beautiful Butang group, Langkawi is an established yachting haven. Cruises can also venture south to the island of Penang. Here vistors can enjoy both tranquil tropical sailing and the colourful, exciting aspects of this bustling & multicultural island.
Phuket & Phang Nga Bay
 120 miles of Langkawi is Phang Nga Bay, enclosed on 3 sides by Phuket and the Thai mainland, and dotted with over 100 islands. The area is notable for its breathtaking geography with steep karst mountains rising vertically from sea, hidden turquoise lagoons and idyllic beaches. Phang Nga Bay also has the legendary islands and beaches of Phi-Phi and Krabi, with trendy lounge bars, fire dancers, and full moon parties. Northwest of Phuket lie the Similan and Surin Islands which have a deserved reputation for offering the best diving in Thailand. Whale sharks, Manta rays and Leopard sharks are common sightings in a dramatic boulder-covered underwater world. Not just a divers paradise, above water the beautiful landscapes harbour a balanced and untouched tropical ecosystem. Many species are endemic, including the Nicobar Pigeon and Hairy Leg Mountain Crab.
Andaman & Nicobar
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, part of the Union Territory of India, are isolated, pristine, with deserted white sand beaches and virgin jungles. Located 400 miles west of Phuket, there are over 500 islands extending north to south, with India's only active volcano. Some islands are uninhabited, others rich in aboriginal culture, such as the out-of-bounds North Sentinel, where indigenous inhabitants are among the last people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization.
The Andamans are also a diver's paradise characterised by stunning underwater visibility, an abundance of abnormally large fish and sharks, huge barrel sponges and fan corals, pinnacles, and vertical wall dives.
Mergui
 The Mergui Archipelago of Burma is one of the last remaining untouched paradises on earth. An archipelago of 800 virtually uninhabited islands, Mergui is characterised by dense mountainous rainforests, white silica sand beaches and perfect natural bays providing ideal shelter for visiting yachts. Diving and snorkeling here is superb, with great variety in the underwater topography. On the beaches macaques and monitor lizards can be seen feeding on crabs at low tide. Hornbills and sea eagles fly from the rainforest canopy, and the dense jungle is home to large fauna; tracks have been found of the rare Asian rhinoceros; crocodiles have been seen here too. A cruise in the Mergui is the ultimate in tropical paradise exploration.
Indonesia
 Blessed with 1,000 islands, stunning volcanic geography, fascinating cultures, natural diversity above and below water, and more than its fair share of remote and unexplored lands, there is nowhere in the world that can compare with Indonesia.
Most travelers into Indonesia will arrive in Bali, an internationally served holiday island, and gateway to travelers in the vast archipelago of Indonesia.
Starting from Bali you can cross the imaginary Wallace line to the Komodo National Park and beyond, where the flora and fauna of subtropical Asia make a sudden and dramatic change into those typical of Australasia. In this area all holiday types are possible: pristine beaches, world-class surfing and diving are found in abundance.
Indonesia's cultural diversity is as varied as its natural diversity. Bali, a Hindu island with 1000's of temples, offers luscious green landscapes, terraced fields of Padi, and mountainous retreats that serve as a relaxing alternative to the buzzing parties found in and around Kuta, Legian & Seminyak.
Crossing eastwards to Lombok shades of green turn to shades of brown, and vast landscapes open up. Further east again, the island of Komodo is home to giant monitor lizards, buffalo, and deer. The protected waters surrounding the island offer world class diving.
Several hundred miles to the northeast of Bali, the Moluccas and Banda islands were once highly prized spiceries fought over by the Dutch, English and Portugese in the 16th & 17th Centuries. It is no exaggeration to say that the age of exploration, with far-reaching consequences, was launched in search of spices, with pepper and nutmeg so valuable in London's markets that sailors and merchants willingly risked their lives on extraordinarily arduous voyages. Today these small islands are only footnotes on the world map, but to illustrate their importance, 17th century copper plate maps show islands in the spiceries out of all proportion to their size.
To the north of Banda and west of Irian Jaya (West Papua) are the islands of the Raja Ampat, at the heart of the Wallacea Triangle. Comprising dozens of idyllic islands and bays, Raja Ampat harbours the world's greatest diversity of marine life, with over 1,070 fish species, 537 coral species, and 699 mollusc species. Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs. Suffice to say the variety of marine life is staggering and dozens of new species being discovered each year.
Vast and varied you're never sure what you will see when embarking upon an Indonesia expedition, however you can be assured that you'll leave wanting to return.
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