Indonesia's Gili Islands are an underwater museum of art and marine life

Bit by bit, these sculptures are becoming home to soft corals and sponges. Soon, they will form coral reefs

My mother was surprised and pleased when I declared myself willing to change two flights to attend a cousin’s wedding in Bali. It pleased her less to learn of my real agenda: to sneak out to the Gili Islands. 

The Indonesian archipelago has 17,508 islands, so it’s a bit of a mystery why the Gili Islands regularly manage to charm their way onto travel bucket lists. The lure for me was that they were home to a “sculpture garden” by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, a man whose work I have followed for years. How hard could it be to