For more than a decade, Aqua Expeditions (aquaexpeditions.com) has been setting the bar for curated adventures on the Peruvian Amazon and the Mekong between Vietnam and Cambodia, with seasoned guides and state-of-the-art tenders alongside sleek and beautiful riverboats. Now owner Francesco Galli Zugaro has set his sights on Indonesia – specifically, the ancient spice-trade routes that crossed the Ceram, Cebu and Banda seas.
Aqua Blu (from $7,525 per person for a seven-night itinerary based on two sharing) is a long-range expedition-class yacht – the first such boat to be based in Indonesia and with the power to move between the hotspots of Raja Ampat and the Komodo Archipelago via Ambon and Banda Neira. All this with a near one-to-one crew-to-guest ratio and top creature comforts.