A new train linking Soekarno-Hatta airport to central Jakarta is up and running, cutting the journey time to just 45 minutes.
Increasingly popular Labuan Bajo is booming, with a new port and shopping centre and luxury hotels opening. It’s on its way to becoming the next Bali – now is the time to visit.
A ‘park on paper’ since 2004, the Togean Islands have now been officially recognised as an area of ecological importance and high tourism potential, which means regular patrols protecting the world-class reefs and improving travel infrastructure.
Wildly popular with the locals, the DMZ: Dream Museum Zone in Semarang is supposedly the world’s largest 3D selfie complex. Pose for selfies against 3D backdrops from around the world.
Pulau Weh has got even more traveller friendly with a free dive school and foreign-run dive shops opening up, along with new cafes serving up some of the most authentic international fare you’ll find in Sumatra.
Earthquakes in 2018 caused widespread damage across central Sulawesi, northern Lombok and the Gili Islands. Some areas in those regions were inaccessible or off-limits at the time of research, including the famous Guning Rinjani climb on Lombok.
Samarinda and Sintang saw airports open in 2018, making getting around Kalimantan easier.
This East Balinese temple is one of the oldest on the island, but is only now becoming a visitor hot spot thanks to the awesome but long trek to reach it.
Accessing some of the finest dive sites on the planet is now much cheaper thanks to this liveaboard.
Offering spellbinding views over the countryside, this boutique hotel also has a superb restaurant.
Kei Pirate Divers is the first dive operator on the remote Kei Islands, opening up splendid sites that few have dived before.
The Indonesian government has designated this idyllic island in north Maluku as a future tourism hub: get here quick to experience the beaches and reefs before everyone else does. There’s surf off the far northern coast too.
For more recommendations and reviews, see lonelyplanet.com/indonesia