Known for centuries for scenic and cultural beauty on land, Bali is only just becoming known for its potential as a gateway to marine tourism, stretching eastward through some of the world's most unique islands and cultures.

With the only international port facilities between Kupang, Darwin and Surabaya, Bali is the ideal short/long-term base for marine visitors to explore our islands or develop marine-based tourism operations. Indonesia ideally could be to Asia what the Caribbean is to the Americas.

Indonesia has the world's richest assortment of coral (450 species) from fringe and barrier reefs to atolls and patch reefs. Indonesia's 85,700 sq km of reefs constitute 14 percent of the world's reefs. This alone means a wealth of potential for underwater tourism attractions.

As tourism has succeeded in helping Bali maintain its culture, marine tourism can become a means for preventing further destruction of our valuable marine resources from human activities, such as dynamite and cyanide fishing, pollution, over-exploitation and environmentally-unfriendly tourism.

We welcome visitors to explore our marine abundance and ask you to do so with care. Suggestions, observations and critique for the future sustainability of our seas are critical and welcome. Please help us maintain our resources as we develop, for the world's future generations and the health of our planet.

Bali Tourism Authority Chief Dr Ir I Gde Pitana