When the war ended in 2002, Timor Leste became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century. Today, it's a safe and beautiful country. The people are friendly and inviting. The capital city, Dili, is bursting with new businesses. Timor Leste is a fresh, new country worth visiting.

Tourists haven't discovered Timor Leste yet. Not having too many tourists is a blessing. In Labuan Bajo, there were sometimes 10 dive boats crowded around the same dive site. During the three days I spent scuba diving in and around Dili, the only dive boat I saw was mine.

Being a former colony of Portugal, many people still speak Portuguese.

Christianity is the primary religion.

Timor Leste's territory is divided into two pieces. The port where Portugal first settled in 1556 is an enclave called Oecussi.

Timor Leste uses the US dollar as its currency.

Another beautiful beach in Dili

• Underwater navigation
• Deep diving
• Fish identification
• Drift diving
• Night diving

With my Advanced certification, I'm ready for my next adventure.

Indonesia is full of world famous dive sites. The tides draw the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans back and forth through straits between islands. This brings nutrients, plankton and big fish into the area. The water is relatively cool: 29°C (84°F) which makes for very comfortable diving. The water is cooler than the air temperature in the afternoons. Unlike Thailand, the reefs are healthy because they haven't been bleached by warm water. Indonesia's national parks and conservation areas have put a stop to dynamite and cyanide fishing.

I was joined by five other divers. We did four dives per day. By the end of the trip, we were all good friends.

Vast schools of fish *

A Scorpion Fish − don't touch it!!! *

Click the photo to watch the video *

Ungke and Bennie, our divemasters, were with us on every dive. They knew the reefs, the currents, the flora and the fauna. They made sure that we safely saw all the wonders that are under the seas.

In addition to our two divemasters, the Indonesian crew did an excellent job taking care of ancillary details like prepping the equipment, loading the dive boat, driving the dive boat, helping us into our BCDs, cleaning equipment, and providing snacks or meals at the end of every dive.

I was also impressed by Holger, the skipper and boat owner, who ensured with his German precision that everything happened on schedule exactly as planned.

It was really amazing to spend hours swimming through one of our planet's few remaining and unspoiled marine environments.

Here are just a few photos and videos taken by my fellow divers. Click on any photo to zoom in, or to see the video link.

The mantas were particularly impressive. I'd seen many mantas in Komodo National Park near Labuan Bajo. But here in Raja Ampat, I was close enough to these huge, graceful creatures to feel their "wings" brush across my head.

I should add that Raja Ampat isn't a dive site for novice divers. The biggest challenges to deal with here are tidal currents. Almost every one of our dives was a "drift dive" in which currents carry you along past all the corals and fish. If you wish to stop and take a look at what's around you, you must drop a hook to anchor yourself.

* Photos courtesy of Claude Ghibaudo

A Clown Fish ... I found Nemo! *

A Hawksbill turtle looking for a snack *

Click the photo to see the octopus change color *

Destination #1 was the town of Nabire on Cenderawasih Bay. According to Nomad Expeditions, this is the best place on our planet to swim with whale sharks. This big, calm bay on the north coast of the New Guinea is the size of Lake Michigan. It's a breeding ground for whale sharks. If you want to see a whale shark, Cenderawasih Bay is the place to go.

The warm, clear water is teeming with fish. The fish attract fishermen and whale sharks.

To see a whale shark, all you have to do is hire someone with a motorboat to take you out to visit the bagans.

Scuba gear is not needed. The whale sharks are near the surface. A mask and a snorkel are all you need.

In other places like the Caribbean, the Maldives or the Great Barrier Reef, you'd be lucky to spend 2 minutes with a whale shark as it swims by. My group enjoyed two full hours of snorkeling in the presence of an adult and a juvenile whale shark as they circled underneath the bagan. Seeing whale sharks close up was an unforgettable experience. It's been on my bucket list for a long time.

Still, most of the Dani live very close to nature, tending their vegetable plots and pigs. They live in circular thatched huts called honai. There are few roads, just footpaths through the mountains. The raging rivers are crossed on hanging footbridges held together by natural twine.

The Baliem Valley and surrounding highlands are one of the world’s last non-western traditional regions. Coming here felt like being part of a National Geographic documentary.

If you look closely at their costumes, you might see a cell phone or a wallet tucked into their waist bands.

Jayapura has some famous World War II history. In 1944, 80,000 allied troops landed here to dislodge the Japanese in the largest amphibious operation of WWII in the southwestern Pacific. Later, this port was General MacArthur's headquarters until he moved to the Philippines in 1945. Today, there are a few rusted tanks remaining on the beach to remind us of these events.

I travel with almost no luggage. One of the benefits of traveling light is that my shirts and pants get worn out quickly. This gives me the excuse to go shopping. Yesterday, I bought a locally made shirt that's perfect for this hot, humid climate. I'm now dressed like all the other gentlemen in Jayapura. If I'm lucky, this comfortable shirt will last for the duration of this trip, and I'll come home with a shirt that I could never have found at an American mall.

Today is my last day in Indonesia, which is still one of my all-time favorite countries. If all goes well, I'll do a land crossing this afternoon into Papua New Guinea where I'll start my next adventure.

Papua New Guinea (aka PNG) is not a well-known or heavily-touristed country. That's fine with me. It's fun to go to places that few people know about.

Getting into PNG isn't difficult. If you fly into Port Moresby, PNG's capital, you get a free 60-day visa on arrival just by filling out a form. For me, it was more complicated because I wanted to walk into PNG from Indonesia. For my visa, I had to write a letter to the consulate in Jayapura explaining why I wanted to visit this country. Then, I had to wait 3 days ... perhaps so that someone might take the time to read my letter.

It was worth the wait. PNG is wonderful.

Meanwhile, nature is everywhere, and everyone lives close to nature. Except for cell phones, pickup trucks, plastic bags and churches, Papuans are living almost the same way that they've lived for the past 40,000 years.

I read that PNG has social problems related to high unemployment and drug usage. Corruption of public servants is also a concern. The crime rate in Port Moresby is among the highest in the world. Other risks include drunk drivers, poorly maintained vehicles, rock throwing, over-crowded transportation and bad traffic. These problems are concentrated in Port Moresby. I stayed in small towns, passing through Port Moresby only to change planes. So, I didn't see any of these problems.

I also heard that cannibalism still exists in the mountain highlands. No worries. I kept to the coastal areas.

Everyone in PNG seems to be chewing betel nut. Most adults have bright red mouths and stained teeth. Chewing betel nut is not particularly healthy, but then neither are the world's other popular psychoactive substances: Nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine.

With limited time, I had to pick one place in PNG that I was most interested in. So, I went by air to the northeast end of New Britain Island, in the remote Bismarck Archipelago. Here is the ruined city of Rabaul. During World War II, Japan made Rabaul their military headquarters in the South Pacific. More than 100,000 Japanese troops were stationed here. After the war, Rabaul blossomed into a prosperous trading and shipping center ... until 1994. That's when the volcano next to the city erupted and buried the city under volcanic ash. Today, Rabaul is an historic ghost town. People come here to see Japanese tanks, supply barges, submarines and aircraft which are in the jungles and in the sea around Rabaul. This makes for great wreck diving.

Teams of international scientists monitor the five volcanoes around Rabaul. Modern instrumentation allows them to estimate the size and movement of the magma plume underneath the harbor. At this point, there's no prediction as to when or where the next eruption will occur − except to say that it will happen.

In Rabaul, there's a welcoming hotel within walking distance of the hot springs and the volcano: The Rabaul Hotel. This hotel is one of the few structures in Rabaul built before 1994 that's still standing. In 1994, while the rest of Rabaul was being crushed by tons of volcanic ash falling from the sky, the staff of the Rabaul Hotel worked round the clock sweeping ash off the roofs during the eruption. One wonders if perhaps the rest of the city could have been saved by similar efforts.

This lodge is run by a family that's been on the island for generations. The staff provides first class service and delicious home cooking in a gorgeous setting. The bungalows and the guest rooms are right on the beach. I'll come back here some day and stay for a few weeks.

The Ataliklikun Bay has calm water, no currents and great visibility.

The Kabaira Beach Hideaway has a private reef with stunning hard and soft corals, schools of tropical fish, and irridescent blue starfish. Kayaks are available for when you want a break from being under water.

Port Moresby may not be an attractive place to visit, but what I saw of PNG fits my image of a South Pacific paradise.

With only a week, I saw very little of Papua New Guinea. There is much, much more to see in this exotic, multi-cultural country.

Next stop, the Solomon Islands.

The Spanish returned 30 years later with plans to colonize the Solomons. Apparently, the Solomon Islanders remembered that the Spanish had stolen food and desecrated sacred sites on their previous visit. On this second visit, the Solomon Islanders killed some of the Spanish sailors − and ate them.

The Solomon Islands' reputation as an unfriendly place persisted into the 20th century. When Jack London sailed from San Francisco to the Solomons in 1908, his logbook describes his captain's beheading by cannibals.

The Solomon Islands had very few visitors ... until the Japanese decided in 1942 to build an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal.

The Battle of Guadalcanal lasted six months. In all, about 100,000 ground troops were involved − which was about four times the native population of the island at that time.

Overnight, the Solomon Islanders went from being cannibals to working as guides and radio operators, assisting the Americans in finding trails through the jungles, and as Coastwatchers reporting on the movements of Japanese ships, planes and ground troops. When the Japanese sank John F. Kennedy's PT-109 patrol boat, the Solomon Islanders rescued Lt. Kennedy and his crew.

Sometimes, the only way to really know a place is to learn its history. I learned a lot of history on Guadalcanal.

Guadalcanal was the first land battle between America and Japan. The Allies' victory preserved shipping lanes between the US and Australia, and reversed the Japanese advance across the Pacific.

Looking down on Guadalcanal's beautiful green hills, it's hard to imagine that this island was the scene of incredible carnage.

If you want to see war relics, you have to go under water in the channel north of Guadalcanal. I wanted to see some of these World War II relics. So, I found two fellow scuba diving enthusiasts to share a boat with me for a couple of days.

• A Japanese submarine
• A B-17 Flying Fortress
• An American seaplane (the PBY Catalina)

Diving the lava tubes was breathtaking. The tube walls were lined with corals and sea fans. Fish were swimming in all directions. Large lobsters were on the walls. A reef shark was waiting for us on exit.

Descending into the first lava tube

Starting in 1998, there were six years of ethnic violence between local residents and settlers from other islands. With ineffective police, lawlessness, corruption and extortion, the Solomons appeared to be a failed state. In 2003, Australia and New Zealand intervened with 2,200 troops. They negotiated a peace agreement, and collected and destroyed more than 3700 guns, including police weapons and licensed firearms. Today, the Solomon Islands has one of the lowest rates of gun-related violence in the world.

This wasn't the end of troubles in Guadalcanal. In 2006, resentment against the minority Chinese business community led to rioting and arson in Chinatown. Hundreds of Chinese were evacuated by chartered aircraft back to China.

Then, in 2007 and 2013, the Solomon Islands experienced deadly magnitude 8+ earthquakes with accompanying tsunamis.

There were minor earthquakes almost every day that I was in the Solomons.

As with the other Melanesian countries I've visited, the Solomon Islanders are friendly and welcoming. I used public transit − which consists of minivans packed with shoppers going between villages and markets. I had no trouble getting good service and finding what I needed. As a tourist in the capital city of Honiara, I felt safe and was treated well everywhere I went ... and always with a smile.

If you want to come diving here, I can recommend Tulagi Dive. Troy Shelley, the dive master, runs a professional shop. Buy him a beer at the end of the day and he'll entertain you with his own scintillating war stories.

From here, I'll continue island-hopping across the South Pacific to see more of Melanesia. My next stop is the island nation of Vanuatu.

Distance and isolation have led to each island evolving its own culture. In the 18th and 19th centuries, European colonization re-shaped each island's economy and demographics. Then, World War II brought changes that affected some of these islands dramatically. Today, it's no surprise to find that each island is unique.

Vanuatu consists of 83 frangipani-scented islands. Thatched roof villages are nestled under palm trees beside turquoise lagoons ringed by golden beaches. The reefs are full of tropical fish and turtles. The menu features fresh fish cooked in coconut milk.

Yet, all is not perfect in this South Pacific paradise. Vanuatu sits on the leading edge of the Pacific Plate, on top of a subduction zone. There are nine active volcanoes. Port Vila is the world's most exposed capital to natural disasters. Cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic activity, and tsunamis strike regularly. In 2015, Cyclone Pam wiped out 95% of Vanuatu's homes, along with vital crops and plantations. When I arrived here, there were still broken boats beached on the shoreline.

From my balcony, I had a stunning view of Port Vila's harbor. In the mornings, I could practically roll out of bed onto the dive boat.

Every island in Vanuatu has its own language, culture, masks, dances and rituals. If you had a few months to spend here, you might be able to visit them all, see wonderful scenery, bargain for shell jewelry, attend a few festivals, and paddle an outrigger canoe. With only a few days, I had to be satisfied with the collection of traditional artifacts at the Vanuatu National Museum in Port Vila.

Yam cultivation is at the center of the village culture. Yam farming determines the cycle of the year. Months are named after yams.

One of the highlights of the Yam Festival on Pentecost Island is land diving (Nahgol or N'Gol). Men make spectacular leaps from high towers as a gift to the gods to ensure a bountiful yam harvest. The ropes are made of liana vines tied around the ankles. There is no safety equipment. For a land dive to be successful, the man's hair must touch the soil to fertilize the yam crop.

It's said that Vanuatu is where the worldwide phenomenon of bungee jumping originated.

The Cargo Cult got a huge boost in World War II. Anticipating a Japanese invasion, the Americans arrived in 1942, bringing with them supplies for thousands of troops. With Japan’s defeat in 1945, the Americans withdrew, abandoning huge quantities of cargo.

The religious figurehead of this cult is an American soldier named John Frum. ("John Frum" is a corruption of "John from America.") February 15 is John Frum Day in Vanuatu. The John Frum movement has its own political party.

Today, followers of John Frum perform various rituals to encourage American airplanes to bring more "cargo." They build symbolic landing strips, march in parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles, carve headphones and wear them while sitting in fabricated control towers, light signal fires to light up runways and lighthouses, and build life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw.