Getting to Raja Ampat
Located on the north-western tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat (or Four Kings) comprises of 1500 small islands, cays and shoals surrounding four main islands of Waigeo, Misool, Salawati and Batanta. Raja Ampat has been named the most diverse marine region on earth, with 75% of known coral species in the world and 1430 species of reef fish, a natural phenomenon of enormous biodiversity and a paradise for divers. Sounds familiar isn't it? After months of procrastination and consideration, I finally decided to go for it.
Getting to Raja Ampat was not so easy for me. I had to rush home after 10 hours work to grab my luggage for the evening flight to Jakarta, transfer to the domestic terminal and waited 3 hours for the 6-hour flight to Sorong via Makassar. Minutes soon after the plane took off, I fell asleep until 4 am and woken up by some noise, feeling hungry and the passenger next to me handed me a bread and water. I was disappointed that a $500+ flight do not serve a proper meal! Arrived Sorong at 6.30 am, waited 30 minutes for my luggage and transported to a hotel cafe/lounge (sorry no room!) to eat and rest while waiting to get to the boat at 1 pm. This trip could be more relaxing if I could arrive in the afternoon and spend a night at a hotel and look around Sorong before going across to Raja Ampat.
Find a hotel in Sorong.
Gosh! Another 6 hours of waiting! Really disappointed with the resort's last minute change of plans when they were supposed to pick me up at 9.30 to the boat. Had a simple wash up, brushed teeth and breakfast. Nothing seemed appetitizing to me due to the lack of sleep and some gastro discomfort. There was no wi-fi for non-staying guests so I tried to sleep sitting down. I did had a few short naps, then it was time for lunch. After a hearty meal of Chinese culinary, I got back my energy. Then a black guy arrived, it was Dovan. He was much thinner and fairer when I saw him early last year in Lembeh. Haha ... after one year in R4, he now looked like the local Papuan! We had so much to catch up over the next few days and diving together with no one else.
Before the boat embarked, we collected 4 male + 1 female American divers from the LOB Black Manta whom I spent the whole week diving and dining with at the resort. They are professional photographers, in the filming and dive/travel industries. The lady is a pilot ... wow! How admirable! Finally after about 40 minutes boat ride, we arrived at Raja Ampat Dive Lodge at 3 pm. Got our welcome drinks and towels over a briefing by the manager, Harry. Immediately after that I checked in to my standard room, transferred my dive equipment to the basket for Dovan to set up and bring to the dive boat while I assembled my photo equipment. In less than 30 minutes, I was on the dive boat.
Raja Ampat Dive Lodge
Find a hotel in Sorong.
Gosh! Another 6 hours of waiting! Really disappointed with the resort's last minute change of plans when they were supposed to pick me up at 9.30 to the boat. Had a simple wash up, brushed teeth and breakfast. Nothing seemed appetitizing to me due to the lack of sleep and some gastro discomfort. There was no wi-fi for non-staying guests so I tried to sleep sitting down. I did had a few short naps, then it was time for lunch. After a hearty meal of Chinese culinary, I got back my energy. Then a black guy arrived, it was Dovan. He was much thinner and fairer when I saw him early last year in Lembeh. Haha ... after one year in R4, he now looked like the local Papuan! We had so much to catch up over the next few days and diving together with no one else.
Before the boat embarked, we collected 4 male + 1 female American divers from the LOB Black Manta whom I spent the whole week diving and dining with at the resort. They are professional photographers, in the filming and dive/travel industries. The lady is a pilot ... wow! How admirable! Finally after about 40 minutes boat ride, we arrived at Raja Ampat Dive Lodge at 3 pm. Got our welcome drinks and towels over a briefing by the manager, Harry. Immediately after that I checked in to my standard room, transferred my dive equipment to the basket for Dovan to set up and bring to the dive boat while I assembled my photo equipment. In less than 30 minutes, I was on the dive boat.
Raja Ampat Dive Lodge
Entrance to the Standard Rooms
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| Dive Centre & Camera Room |
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