February 9, 2026

The view below shows the channel to the north of Ha'apai Island and King's Island  in the background. The protected lagoon is to the right and the sea and Fiji  are way to the left.  Here's our happy group at the beginning of the week in the lounge pit before dinner.

(L to R) Bosco, Susan & Memo, Doug & Lucia , Anna & Jimbo, Ben, Aliana, Basia, Me, Kim & Phil. ( Whitney is sadly missing).

Speaking of Dinner - the food at the resort was delicious! Below are some of the ones I remember to get a photo of before eating.

Dinner was at 7 pm every night and is very social with all the guest and host joining. We reviewed the day and set up schedule for next days activities. We ran out of time to do everything because the weather was a little stormy the last 2 days we were there and the water got a lot more swell action going - so we never kayaked or snorkled all the spots we intended. Great reason to go back, plus whale season there is supposedly spectacular! Lots of mom's come to have their calves here!

I did get to ride a bike, into the village, on Sunday morning, to go to the local church and experience their incredibly loud and enthusiastic singing ( over 1.5 hours at full volume!)

I also went with Basia & Jimbo on a morning adventure to uninhabited Bird Island via an hour boat ride, each way. As I walked around the tiny island, it reminded me of my childhood nightmare after watching The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.  Except these birds didn't swarm me and the island was quiet serene, with tons of crabs and actually very peaceful.

PENYALI RESORT, ANAMBAS ISLANDS, INDONESIA

By Pat Patrick • June 25, 2026
Today was just pure relaxation! We arranged with Tourism lady from yesterday, to have Penyali Resort send a boat to Tarempa port to pick 10 of us up and take us to the Resort, for the day. The speed boat ride took about an hour. Some of us just floated about with cocktails, others snorkled but all had a great time. They prepared a yummy lunch for us, with a fresh grouper fish, we literally picked up, on our way there.

SIANTAN ISLAND BOAT TOUR of COAST

By Pat Patrick • June 24, 2026
Today we arranged to see Siantan Island by hiring a local Captain & boat owner to take us, along with 2 lovely young ladies, we met at the Tourism office, who spoke great English. The ladies found the Captain and we negotiated a price of 1,200,000 IDR or $67 USD to take four of us out and about, for 2 hours. Since the forestry on the island and the soil is gigantic hard boulders, almost all the villages are on the water on stilts or the edge of the coast. Excavation cost would be a huge premium and best done with equipment, they don't possess.

TAREMPA, ANAMBAS ISLANDS, INDONESIA

By Pat Patrick • June 23, 2026
The ANAMBAS ISLANDS REGENCY, is a remote Indonesian archipelago in the South China Sea, part of the Riau Islands Province known for its stunning clear waters, pristine reefs and rich biodiversity. It is located between Singapore and Borneo and consist of over 200 islands of which only 26 are inhabited. Tarempa is the administrative center of the Islands and is located on Siantan Island. We are anchored, about a 15 minute tender ride, from the Tarempa Wharf . Our first day here, was all about celebrating our friend Terri's Birthday!