World Cruise: Indonesia & The Philippines

Located on the southeastern coast of Bali is the small village of Tanjung Benoa. Still considered a fishing village, Benoa has developed over the past 20 years into a major player in the tourism sector. The calm waters and the beautiful white sand beaches have made Benoa the prime water sport area of Bali. Being a peninsula that is only accessible from one direction, Tanjung Benoa is still relatively quiet with a more relaxed feeling.

This island national park isn’t the only place the large (up to 10-foot) monitor lizards known as “Komodo Dragons” live. But they are protected here, and flourish as they have in the region for millions of years. Follow your guide and listen carefully to his instructions, because despite their torpid appearance, these giants can really move when they want to, and they apparently aren’t picky about what sort of prey they pursue.

With a population of over 750,000, Ujung Pandang is the sixth-largest city in Indonesia. Formerly known as Makassar, this bustling commercial, shipping, and government center constitutes a major air-sea crossroads between western and eastern Indonesia. The town was named Makassar and was then changed to Ujung Pandang, closer to the original Jumpandang.

This independent city occupies the mid-section of Palawan island in the southern Philippines. It is a center for eco-tourism in the archipelago, with notable coral reefs offshore including one, Tubbataha Reef, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the most famous of its sites is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, a national park and the longest navigable underground river in the world. A boat ride into the karst limestone passages, lined with dramatic stalagmites and stalactites, is a must when visiting the island. The river was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999 and recently was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Hong Kong is divided into four sections: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and the numerous outlying islands. One hundred sixty-four square miles of dense real estate dominate Hong Kong Island, including enormous skyscrapers with futuristic architecture, opulent hotels, residential compounds on Victoria Peak, and some of the oldest Chinese communities in the region. All these elements create one of the most exotic and exciting ports of call in the world; one that is universally loved by tourists and its own enterprising citizens.