Things to Do in Jaco Island

Snorkel the reef shelf off the northern beach

Slip in at high tide and you'll float over lettuce coral the color of fresh limes while tiny orange clown clowns dart between your fingers. The drop-off is only waist-deep for the first twenty metres, so even tentative swimmers can watch reef squid pulse like neon ghosts against the sand.

Beach-hop by outrigger canoe

A 20-minute paddle south lands you on a scooped cove where the sand squeaks underfoot and turtle tracks zig-zag from dune to waterline. You'll hear nothing but the slap of your paddle and, if you're lucky, the blow of a passing dolphin just beyond the break.

Picnic under the tamarind trees

Spread a sarong beneath the low tamarinds behind the main beach and you'll catch the vanilla scent of drying pods mixing with salt spray. Local women from Tutuala will often sell you charcoal-grilled reef fish rubbed only with lime and sea salt - smoky, tangy, impossible to replicate back home.

Trek the limestone headland at low tide

Round the island's southern knob and you'll pick your way across a lunar field of eroded coral, tide pools glinting like broken mirrors. The blowhole hisses every seventh wave, spraying warm brine that smells of iodine and clams.

Watch sunrise from the eastern sand spit

Walk the skinny tongue of sand that points toward Papua and you'll see the sun lift out of the Banda Sea, turning the shallows into molten glass. Noddies and frigate birds use the spit as a runway, skimming so close you feel the rush of air over your baseball cap.

Tutuala pousada strip - simple stilt houses with hammocks slung over the sea cliff, morning coffee delivered in tin cups

Valu Suka homestay cluster, 300 m inland, where you'll fall asleep to gecko calls and wake to breadfruit smoke

Baucau's Pousada de Baucau (former Portuguese governor's mansion) if you want a hot shower and colonial tiles before the rough east

Com guesthouses - good if you're combining Jaco with reef diving out of Com pier

Dili waterfront hostels for a soft landing the night before you head east

Beach camping at Valu (not on Jaco itself) with fishermen's permission and a mosquito dome