Biak Island

Biak sits off the northern coast of Papua and is built of raised coral limestone, which gives it caves, cliffs and a shallow reef fringe. Its recent history is heavy: the island was fought over in 1944 in one of the harder Pacific campaigns, with Japanese forces defending from the cave systems, and Goa Jepang, the Japanese cave near Biak town, is a memorial to the very large number who died in it - the fighting and the aftermath are remembered locally in ways that visitors should approach carefully. The Padaido islands off the south-east have reef and wrecks. Biak's position almost on the equator made it a candidate for an Indonesian spaceport, proposed repeatedly since the 1980s and not built, and there are endemic birds including the Biak paradise kingfisher.

What you actually see

• Goa Jepang - the Japanese cave and its 1944 memorial near Biak town.
• Raised coral coast - caves, cliffs and reef fringe around the island.
• The Padaido islands - reef and wartime wrecks off the south-east.
• Endemic birds - including the Biak paradise kingfisher and others.

When to go

All year; calmer seas April to October. Three days.

Honest expectations

The wartime sites are graves as much as attractions - behave accordingly. Facilities are limited outside Biak town. Papua travel requires checking current entry requirements before flying.

Nearby

The Padaido islands are offshore; Cenderawasih Bay is south-west.