Does Indonesia’s iconic pink beach live up to the hype? I found out

I’m walking over the glorious dead bodies of a million creatures, and it makes me happy. Maybe I ought to feel bad, but at least my enjoyment is tempered by the thought that a three-metre lizard could charge out of the scrub and eat me.

While I’m benefiting from the demise of some creatures, I’m at risk from others, which seems a fair exchange. Anyway, it’s not as if I killed anything myself. These foraminifera have been dead for a very long time.

Komodo’s Pink Beach, one of two in Indonesia.

Foraminifera are single-celled organisms with an external test or shell that, here in Komodo in Indonesia, is often red. The result is Pink Beach, called Pantai Merah or Red Beach in Indonesian.

I’ve sailed here on the chic yacht Scenic Eclipse II on a languid expedition cruise from Cairns through the Indonesian archipelago. We anchor off Pink Beach as I’m tucking into lamb tagine and inventive salads on the deck of the Yacht Club, which is surely one of cruising’s best buffet restaurants for quality.

Before long, we’re being ferried ashore, where the ship’s diligent crew have already set up a pop-up beach bar and arranged kayaks, paddleboards and snorkelling equipment along the sand. Pink Beach might be remote, but we’re doing it in ease and style.

Most visitors to Komodo are excited about seeing Komodo dragons. Fair enough too, but there’s much more to Komodo than the big, dusty, intimidating-looking lizards we spot on a ranger-guided tour this morning.

The chic Scenic Eclipse sails from Cairns through the Indonesian archipelago.

This is one of the most beautiful islands in an Indonesia filled with beautiful islands. It has extinct volcanoes as perky as Jean Paul Gaultier’s cone bras, rumpled bays, green hills, valleys dense with creaking bamboo, and crystalline water filled with gaudy reefs and tropical fish.

And then, of course, it has Pink Beach, which Time Out nominated as the most beautiful place in the world for 2025. Pink Beach is indeed almost supernaturally lovely, although not just for its baroque sands: its landscape setting is magnificent too.

It’s all the more lovely for being rare. The expedition crew claims there are only seven pink-sand beaches in the world, which is information often repeated on the internet, perhaps because seven is considered a lucky or symbolic number.

There are in fact at least 20 pink-sand beaches worldwide – there are two in Komodo alone – but let’s not quibble. If you see one or two in a lifetime, consider yourself lucky.

Discovering the underwater delights of Komodo with a Seabob scooter.

Pink Beach – the biggest and best one – isn’t actually on Komodo’s main island but on the much smaller Pandar Island that’s part of this archipelago. The sand is salmon coloured, the bay turquoise, and the cocktails that the crew shake up are flamboyant as sunsets.

I borrow a Seabob scooter and buzz out into the bay, then dip with it below the water, which fizzes around me like champagne. Then I’m back on the beach and scooping up snorkelling gear for another plunge underwater.

The pinkness fades as I wade out into the depths, but the wonders don’t. Soft and hard corals erupt in improbable shapes and sizes that recall giant brains, Spanish fans, dinner plates and lava lamps. Fish flit in streaks of neon blue, orange and yellow.

Purple bruised clouds start rolling in by day’s end. The beach seems to change to a darker, more sultry pink. The folded hills behind glow green and the ocean is dark blue. Yes, surely this is one of the world’s most beautiful places.

As we zip back towards Scenic Eclipse II on the Zodiac, rain falls with tropical abandon. In minutes we’re drenched, but no matter. This is cruising in style and, back on board, butlers await with towels, and bar staff with drinks over which guests buzz with the adrenaline of a day well spent.

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Scenic has one more Indonesia itinerary that takes in Komodo this year. The 15-day “Discover Komodo & the Spice Islands” cruise from Denpasar in Bali to Darwin departs on July 6, 2025. From $44,430 a person including all dining, speciality restaurants, beverages, Wi-Fi, gratuities and shore excursions. See scenic.com.au

The writer was a guest of Scenic.