Hey Juliette, definitely go if you get the chance. Scuba is best in Raja Ampat (but also the most expensive) and the food is not only good everywhere but also slightly different in every city/region (although Jogja and Bali are known as the best).

Never recall drinking an Indonesian-distilled whiskey but there are several various homemade types of “jungle juice” as I call them to be found in the country. First is “brem” (pronounced brum) made from rice and the other is “arak”, a traditional alcoholic drink from the Muslim world that has made its way to Indonesia. Oh and then there is “cui” (pronounced “chew” because all C’s in Indonesia are pronounced Ch) but that is only found in one city, Solo, and it is so nasty and so cheap (less than $1 USD a litre) that if it doesn’t kill you, you’ll probably wish you were dead the next morning.

Yeah, sometimes people get so caught up reading their Lonely Planet that they completely miss those hidden spots that the locals are going to. Monggo was the only place on that list I stumbled upon just by walking around with fellow traveler Aaron (@adventurousness) — all the rest were shown to me by locals.

The problem is there is no public beach clean-up or trash collection. So, if there is a hotel near the beach or some vendors who stand to profit more by keeping the beach directly in front of their property/shop clean, they will. But all the rest of that unclaimed public beach just gets….well, overused and abused. Shame, really.