February 22^nd, 2025

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago state. All in, it’s about ¼ the size of Australia and almost three times the size of the state of Texas. With over 280 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country.

The Indonesian archipelago has been a valuable region for trade since at least the seventh century, when the kingdoms of Sumatra and Java engaged in commerce with entities from mainland China and the Indian subcontinent. Over the centuries, local rulers assimilated foreign influences, leading to the flourishing of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. Sunni and Sufi scholars later brought Islam and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after WWII and has since faced challenges such as corruption, natural disasters, and separatism, alongside democratization and rapid economic growth. Indonesian society comprises hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups, with Javanese being the largest.

The Indonesian flag features two horizontal stripes with red on top which symbolizes the bravery and sacrifices made for independence, and white below which signifies peace and unity.

 

As we are ONLY visiting Raja Ampat, we will provide info on that part of Indonesia.

Raja Ampat, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of  the island of  New Guinea in the Southwest Papua province. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals around four main islands.

The Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the equator and forms part of the Coral Triangle, an area of Southeast Asian seas containing the richest marine biodiversity on earth. The Coral Triangle itself has an approximate area west-southwest of the Philippines, east-northeast and southeast of the island of Borneao, and north, east and west of the island of New Guinea, including the seas in between. Thousands of species of marine organisms, from the tiniest  cleaner shrimp and camouflaged pygmy seahorses to the majestic cetaceans and whale sharks, thrive in these waters. The area’s massive coral colonies, along with relatively high sea surface temperatures, also suggest that its reefs may be relatively resistant to threats like coral bleaching and coral disease, which now jeopardize the survival of other coral ecosystems around the world. The Raja Ampat islands are remote and relatively undisturbed by humans.

Raja Ampat translates into English as Four Kings. The name comes from a local mythology that tells about a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven eggs hatch and become kings that occupy four of Raja Ampat biggest islands. These are Salawati, Batanta, Waigeo and Misool.

The islands have a tropical climate, with temperatures ranging from 20-33 C / 68-91F while water temperature in this region ranges from 26-30C / 82-86F.

CURRENCY: Indonesia rupia 1 IDR = $0.000061 USD (or 100,000 IDR = $6.10); Indonesia rupia 1 IDR = $0.00007 CDN (or 100,000 IDR = $8.74)

DIESEL:  11,0o0 IDR per litre (about $0.67 USD or  about $2.54 USD per gallon)

MOST POPULAR BEERS: Bintang

LICENSE PLATE:

We landed in Jakarta from Singapore on Batik Air about 30 minutes late and it took a while to disembark the plane; immigration was pretty quick (online visas already obtained) but baggage claim took quite awhile; unfortunately there was no ATM’s around the baggage claim area to get that out of the way, but we do have a chance in Sorong tomorrow morning.  (As mentioned in our previous post, our Singapore SIM card covers us here too.)

We finally got our bags and had to head to check them back in – we saw no signage at all about transiting to another flight and had to ask several people; the line up was huge when we finally found it so Fran stayed in the line and Doug went up to the front to explain our bags were already scanned as they were in “transit” and we already had claim checks so we were able to drop them right there and no longer had to stand in line. We got to the correct gate and 3 minutes later it was time to board. That took a while as there never seemed to be an end to the stream people boarding but finally it was over and we left about a half hour late this time at nearly 1am. Have we ever said, we hate red eyes?!?!?!

This was a 4.5 hour flight with no USB ports, no screens, no blankets or pillows, no meal (which wasn’t surprising because of the hour) and finally the lights never fully went out so that made it harder to try and sleep.

Upon landing in Sorong on the island of West Papua, our bags once again took ages to appear but we are thankful they did appear. It’s a relatively small airport and we were accosted by taxi drivers upon exiting. Fran asked one where an ATM was and he pointed to a glass room accessed from outdoors that seemed to have several. Fran stayed with the bags while Doug went in to get cash which we had only estimated how much we needed because the island we were headed to has no towns on it and no ability to use credit cards.

The driver quoted us a price to the ferry and we asked him if he could stop at a grocery store to pick up some coke zero as the resort does not have any. Turns out the grocery stores did not open as early as Google Maps said so we asked to just be left at the large one we’d found and we’d wait. He gave us no discount on the price as he claimed “price from airport to anywhere in town is 150,000 IDR”. We then asked a woman sitting outside the mall and she said it didn’t open until 10; our ferry was at 9. So Doug summoned a Grab on the app to take us to another grocery store but he also said it wouldn’t be open but he kindly stopped at a couple of convenience stores where we found some. We then negotiated a price to get us to the ferry office. Doug bought the tickets for Class B (125,000 IDR each) and we hired a guy to help us get everything on board.

It’s more like a boat than a ferry and there are airplane seats inside. You keep your luggage with you and before sailing vendors come in selling water and snacks. We both noted there was NO safety talk nor were were advised where life jackets might be located!

The sailing took two hours to get from Sorong to the town of Waisai about 71 km / 45 miles away. We both managed to catch some shuteye (Fran propped up her feet on her suitcase which helped her). After disembarking, we found our way over to the Tourist Information Centre as directed by the manger of our resort on the phone the previous night. He had arranged a boat to come pick us up (we had no idea when booking we’d have to pay for this as well) and then we learned here at the Info Centre, we also each had to pay 1M IDR each for park and conservation fees (so we now have less cash for the resort and excursions).  we were each given a plastic card for the park entry (which we NEVER had to show anyone!).

Finally, finally, we were taken to our long boat and that took just over an hour or so to reach our resort on Mansuar Island. The long boat was not all that safe; no life jackets. except one to sit on. and getting out at the jetty was not easy for Fran – no ladder just rickety boards between the piers. The ride was a bit sad as we could see many streams of garbage, mostly plastic.

The person Fran had been dealing with all this time (for a few days of back and forth online) was not there to greet us, but a few of the staff came out and got our bags to take us to the common/dining area. Ramadan, the manager then appeared, offered us a drink of warm coca cola (they do not have ice here). Doug put a few drinks in the freezer and later when Fran went for one of our coke zeros, the woman in the kitchen there showed her the ones in the fridge so she grabbed two and there were barely cool.  Our room was the first next to the beach so we could hear the waves all night and we had a wooden beach to sit on right at the beach.

 

When we booked, we did not know that the power only ran from 6 pm to 8am via gennie, that the showers are not hot nor were they fresh water, that the Wi-Fi (StarLink) kept crapping out and was out most of that first afternoon (was better the other days) and that the AC in our room sucked!  When the power came on at 6, Fran went and turned on the AC but after four hours with it set at 16C, the temp in the room had dropped from 28C to only 26C. It was a rough night trying to sleep that’s for sure. It feels that calling this a “resort” is a misnomer but later we learned it is one of less than a handful that actually have power let alone AC even if only overnight! Many tourists stay in “homestays” which usually means a hut with a mattress on the floor (sometimes over the water) and a shared toilet and often no shower so we were “living high” compared to them.  We were not paying a huge pile of money (not like the Maldives so we did not expect that type of accommodation but so much was not put out there up front).   We chose this place for the AC, Wifi and the reef snorkeling off the beach.  

We were served lunch after getting shown to our room and they served chicken despite Fran advising them that we were vegetarian/vegan. They whipped up some tofu instead and we had that with rice and veggies as well as watermelon with a coolish beer. We discussed snorkeling trips with the host and think we’ll have to think on that due to the money situation. We thought Monday we could snorkel here as it’s supposed to be quite good at the jetty and take if from there.

Our room is a “standard” room with a king bed, a wardrobe, end tables and a chaise lounge to put suitcases on. The bathroom consists of a toilet and a shower – no sink. The water is somewhat salty and not hot. There is StarLink Wi-fi (which hardly worked the first day and we often had to get them to switch between power and solar depending what time of day it was). We changed into our swimsuits and went to the beach which is lovely white, soft sand but there is a lot of broken coral at the water’s edge and big rocks/coral chunks in the water – Doug went back for our water shoes and in we went. The water was a nice temp and it was nice to cool off as we won’t have AC until tonight.

We grabbed our Kindles and hung out on the beach in hammocks. After a couple of hours, we rinsed off and got dressed still feeling sticky. We spent some time on line in the dining area when the internet began working.

We met a young Dutch couple at dinner; Kirsten and Bram are here for a few days too and did some excursions today and more tomorrow.

Sunday, we awoke to sunny skies that lasted most of the day with a quick shower in the early afternoon. We went out for a snorkel just after nine after finding snorkel gear that fit; Doug had trouble with fins, Fran had trouble finding a mask that didn’t leak. We were so saddened by this outing. While there were a very good number of fish, there was floating garbage that made it unpleasant (it was nearing high tide). There were patches of decent coral but lots of dead coral – it was actually surprising how many fish there were considering this. Doug quit before Fran so he missed the two reef sharks Fran saw but they were at the edge of the reef swimming away so she couldn’t grab a photo.

We rinsed off as best we could in our cold salty shower and then Fran got the idea to use our facecloths (that we brought because most hotels in this part of the world don’t offer them) with fresh water from the jug in the room to rinse off the salt – that worked fairly well. Today we had two of our coke zeros each that we’d brought along and put in the fridge – there is nothing else on offer except beer, regular coke and water and of course coffee and tea (which is not that hot anymore by early afternoon).

After lunch, we sat in the hammocks again reading and Doug listened to podcasts as well. Today the internet was more stable and we were happy with that. We spoke to the manager about the AC and she was “surprised” and said she’d someone to look at it after the power came on but we’re not hopeful (and it never did happen).

After our disappointing snorkel, we are questioning going on an excursion tomorrow. We did some research and despite this being a diving and snorkeling hot spot, this area receives garbage from the countries all around this part of the world (especially Bali they say) – the currents that attract the marine life also cause garbage to head this way. It’s very sad and despite efforts of many organizations, and not much from local governments, things are getting worse.

 Although our room has been paid for, we need to pay for drinks and it has to be cash so we need to be cautious about excursions as they too, must be paid in cash.  Today we were joined by a Polish man from Australia, Mick, and a couple from Europe, Karl and Dorthea. The latter had been in the area for a few days already (moved here for a Wi-Fi connection for their remote jobs). That night the manager did not show up for arranging excursions but we spoke with Mick who invited us to come along on his dive trip. Monday morning we spoke with the manager and he said if we are ready in 20 minutes we can go with Mick and it would be 400,000 IDR ($28) each with two dive/snorkeling spots – SOLD. We were excited to be going and hoped it would prove better than snorkeling on our beach.

We left at 8am. The first place was excellent – we’d give it a 9. The water was clear and the fish were plentiful. Fran spotted a turtle and Doug saw a bigger one and she also saw 2 sharks race on by her. Garbage was extremely minimal too. The second place, Sawadarek, was not as good; garbage was more prevalent and got worse as time went on. Fran did see four turtles here and again, there were plenty of fish but much less colourful coral and the visibility was no where near as good as Yenbuba this morning. Doug quit before Fran did and he offered some kids a small bag of peanuts and what did they do when they finished the bag? – threw it in the ocean! He admonished them but this certainly demonstrates how poorly the locals are being educated about keeping the planet clean. So sad.

Mick advised he was going diving again tomorrow and asked if we wanted to join. He’s going to two spots again and we’ll check with the manager about that. One of the spots is for manta rays, many of which we had the good fortune to see in the Maldives last year so it was not a must do for us, but after a confusing talk with the manager (he is so unclear about so much) we opted to go with him and the price will be the same as today.

We were back at the resort by 12:30 and after showering etc. were advised lunch was ready. We again spent the afternoon reading in hammocks and chillin’. The food is simple with rice every meal, a vegetable dish, a tofu dish and sometimes another dish and usually cut up fruit. It’s not fancy but good enough.

That evening we went out on the jetty to watch the sun set.

While out there, some of the kitchen staff and the manager came over to feed the sharks! About five of them showed up and we had a good show. It was weird how different coloured they looked in the water from above. At times they looked more brown than grey.

So Tuesday we were on the boat again with Mick and headed to Arorek for an hour or so of snorkeling while he dove. At first the water was quite murky but it cleared up and when the sun came out as well, it was quite good. Unfortunately, Fran forgot to put the SD card back in the waterproof camera after taking yesterday photos off so she only had the internal memory to use.

Here Doug spotted an eel:

The memory filled up pretty quick on her camera and while take a “coffee break”, she had Doug look at the photos on the camera (she can’t see up close with her contacts in) and we deleted a few photos to make room for the next snorkel.

But just before we got out of the water and Mick and his guide returned, they spotted a crocodile fish which we’ve never seen before. Mick kindly let us have a copy of his video as Fran’s pic accidentally got erased.  You have to look closely cause it’s well camouflaged 

After the break we headed over to Manta Ray Ridge to search there. Mick and his guide dropped into the deep water and we got out and snorkeled with a young man as our guide. We did spot only one and quite deep in the water so no photos but Mick also only spotted the one and he gave us a copy of his video:

However the coral by the boat docking area was pretty good and the water here was quite clear clear. Upon getting there, Doug left Fran to continue snorkeling for another half hour or so before we had to pick up the divers and return to the resort.

As it’s our last full day, Fran didn’t shower and change right away like Doug did. We went for our lunch and then she snorkeled for over an hour more just off our beach like on our first day – the garbage flow was quite minimal at first but after about 45 minutes when the tide began to rise, it got worse. She decided she’d hang out until she either saw sharks or turtles and right after that decision didn’t three black tipped sharks show up. One allowed her to video it but the other two took off fast.

The she just floated with the current over the coral observing the fish until she got to shore – that actually probably took about 15 minutes – but she loved it.

We had some rain this afternoon again and about an hour before dinner a young Italian couple arrived and all the guests sat at the same table to eat tonight. Always nice to chat with other travelers.

So we had made arrangements with the manager to take the speed boat back to the ferry today as we had enough money left over (after him allowing us to pay in USD – he waited till yesterday to tell us this!) to splurge on the more expensive mode of transport. The long boat here cost us 1M rupias and took just over an hour; this cost 1.5M rupias and was supposed to be a half hour but actually took 50 minutes! We did wonder if he went slower because we were complaining a bit about the rough ride as the seats on these boats are just wooden boards.

We did spot a small pod of dolphins enroute to the ferry as well as a couple of schools of fish including a flying fish that jumped about 2 metres!

Anyway, we made it to the ferry terminal and Doug went to buy the tickets.

While boarding we met a nice Canadian couple from Comox, BC – Mark and Danielle, whom we sat with and the two hour ferry ride passed by quite quickly. They have been traveling for about 3 months and are on their way home.

We had already arranged a hotel in Sorong so we had a place to stay. While the ferry was docking, at least 50 men jumped aboard and pushed their way onboard from the next ship. They were all taxi drivers or porters all looking for “clients”. We managed to get off pretty quickly and mostly unscathed and after the throng descended and one fellow walked with us and gave us a ride to our hotel for 100,000 IDR (about $6 USD). The Vega Prime Hotel was quite modern especially after the “resort” we had just spent four nights at.

We had a deluxe king room with private bath, AC, Wi-Fi, hot FRESH water, a fridge and kettle. We were quite comfy here. What wonders a proper hot shower can do! Doug wanted to try and do a few things in town if possible (no success except a hair cut) but after checking in (Fran had arranged an early check in), she stayed behind and got online – not having to worry about lack of power or internet for a change!

Thursday morning we partook of the included hotel breakfast which was a huge buffet style with an egg station. Fran enjoyed some scrambled eggs and we were satisfied. We called the taxi driver that brought us here yesterday and when he didn’t up after 13 minutes, Doug called a Grab. We were only a klik from the airport but the pedestrian situation here is not good.

We saw this in the airport:

We had checked in online and received seats but they didn’t give us those seats. They told us we did not have to pick up our bags in Jakarta this time either BUT we did have to get our boarding passes for the next leg there as she could not issue them. We have no immigration until we get to Jakarta and depart for Singapore. The flight left on time and arrived a little early. It was nice not to deal with bags but we now had a five hour layover.

Jakarta airport is large and we’d landed in the domestic terminal. After going to the Transfer Desk we got our boarding passes and were told to go to Terminal 2F for international – we had landed at TD. No where was the signage for F – we walked all the way through D and to the end of E when Doug saw that F was behind a wall we couldn’t get through. Turns out we did have to go outside to enter the International Terminal – would have been nice to have been told that with a sign or two.

We now went through Immigration to exit the country and made our way to the next gate where we had a 5 hour layover in the noisiest terminal we’ve ever sat it. The announcements were deafening (seemed more decibels than a rock concert when they spoke!) and the food options were abysmal. There was no option for a lounge either which was strange for a major airport.

There are plenty more snorkeling photos if you click right here.

And more general photos of Raja Ampat are right here.

Our thoughts on Raja Ampat: while it’s a beautiful place (kind of reminds us of the Bai Tu Long Bay cruise in Vietnam if you put jungle vegetation on the karst islands), it’s a poor, under developed country; the government and the people need to learn to take care of this special place or they are going to lose the money that tourism brings. The infrastructure for tourism is not that well developed ie: most of the islands have no electricity, fresh water or cell reception but then again, some people like that although we are not amoungst that crowd.

We have to say this visit, while special for snorkeling and diving, it was not on par with other snorkeling countries we’ve visited (and we’ve been to over a dozen countries snorkeling) and was not really worth the tremendous effort and expense to get here although it’s relatively cheap once you are here (IF you are told all the costs in advance unlike in our case). Due to the constant barrage of garbage, it has put us off coming to explore more of this country – we heard from many others that much of the country is the same especially Bali.

Fun facts about Raja Ampat:

1. A Dutch diver by the name of Max Ammer began to spread the word about Raja Ampat in 1990. He had spent time in the region searching for sunken WWII ships and airplanes and realized the biodiversity was like nowhere else in the world.

2. For years, Raja Ampat was still a well-guarded secret until  National Geographic called it an “emerging Island Eden” in the year 2013. 

3. Indonesia is known to be Muslim predominantly, but Raja Ampat is mainly Christian

4. There are only 50,000 inhabitants

5. There are more than 10 languages spoken in Raja Ampat

6. There Are Over 1,500 Species of Fish in Raja Ampat and over 500 Coral Species Have Been Found in Raja Ampat

7. Raja Ampat’s underwater topography includes reefs, caves, cliffs, mountains, and submerged mangroves.