West Papua Calling
Misool Eco Resort
Tourist excursions to Indonesia’s West Papua province are often dreamt about in addition to rarely undertaken. Those who do head to Papua usually congregate inside the Baliem Valley, in Papua Province’s Highlands, or in Papua Barat’s northern Raja Ampat. inside the Baliem, trekking is usually well-known, as is usually climbing: Trikora is usually a well-known peak, as is usually Puncak Jaya. In Northern Raja Ampat, liveaboards are well-known, in addition to the dives on in addition to around Kri are some of the finest inside the planet. For those who are looking for off the beaten track diving, Southern Raja Ampat is usually a frontier diving area—at a cost. For budget divers hoping to find something they can afford in Northern Raja Ampat, some land-based operators are more affordable than liveaboards. in addition to for non-diving options, Mayalibit Bay features some of the finest bird watching around.
The Amira liveaboard
Southern Raja Ampat
While most dive boats in addition to operators are found inside the north of the archipelago, the divers who manage to get to the south of the famed area will find some of the richest in addition to most unspoiled marine environments in existence. South eastern Misool Island hosts a no-take zone the size of Singapore. The zone, enforced by locals since 2005, is usually replenishing once-depleted fish stocks. Only locals are allowed to fish, using hand-lines: boats are banned, as is usually shark-finning, turtle egg harvesting, in addition to some other destructive practices. Those who do reach the area will find some of the richest in addition to most diverse reef systems inside the planet, with ever-increasing schools of reef in addition to pelagic species.
Huge schools of jack fish, big-eyed, golden in addition to giant trevally, red in addition to midnight snappers, pickhandle, blackband in addition to great barracudas, bumphead parrotfish in addition to napoleon wrasse, including large adults of which are rare in some other dive areas of the archipelago, abound, so much doing sure of which dive guides don’t bother to point them out. Large grey reef sharks are found on every dive, with the largest adults down at 45 metres: in shallower waters, black tip in addition to white tip sharks, in addition to smaller grey reef sharks are common, as are wobbegongs. Epaulette sharks are common on night dives. although the area’s biggest attraction is usually manta rays – reef mantas in addition to their much larger oceanic cousins – with the largest reaching wingspans of nine metres. Shoals of terrified anchovies in addition to some other schooling species provide the food for the zone, which at times resembles an overstocked aquarium. Bottlenosed dolphins are often seen via boats, although are rarely seen underwater. Seeing the aforementioned creatures is usually guaranteed: less-common animals of which were seen inside the two weeks the author was inside the zone were shovelnosed rays, a family of blotched fantail rays (the largest which has a three metre diameter), sargassum frogfish, in addition to a three in addition to a half metre scalloped hammerhead shark. Macro enthusiasts flock with their camera gear to the zone for the varieties of pygmy seahorse of which hide on gorgonian fans. The finest dive sites include Magic Mountain, Four Kings, Rats Reef, Nudie Rock, Boo Windows, in addition to Kalig Corner. Nearby islands host 3,000 year-old petro glyphs.
Diving the zone
Misool Eco-Resort (http://www.misoolecoresort.com) is usually the only land-based operator, in addition to its rangers, all locals, many of them ex-shark fishermen, patrol the zone. Liveaboards of which visit the zone (as well as northern Raja Ampat, the Blue Water Mangroves, in addition to some other well-known in addition to rarely-visited areas) are the Amira (http://www.amira-indonesia.com), the Pindito (http://www.pindito.com/welcome.html), the Damai (http://www.dive-damai.com)in addition to up to 18 others. Your dive operator will arrange your Surat Jalan (travel permit) in addition to Raja Ampat diving permit for you as part of your package: the liveaboards in addition to Misool Eco Resort arrange pickups for guests in Sorong, Papua Barat. Airlines flying to Sorong via Jakarta or Makassar are Sriwijaya, Express Air, in addition to Lion.
These are all expensive options. Travellers on a budget who want to dive Raja Ampat have land-based options inside the North to choose via. The Waiwo Resort (http://www.waiwodiveresort.com/), a 10-minute taxi ride via the Waisai dock where the once-daily public ferries via Sorong arrive, offers land-based diving for divers on a budget. Papua diving (http://www.papua-diving.com/) caters to a non-backpacking clientele although seems to have a soft heart for some independent travellers. Enquire in advance.
While the diving in northern Raja Ampat is usually already famed, some other tourist opportunities are lesser known. Mayalibit bay divides Raja Ampat’s Waigyo Island in half: the bay is usually bordered by fjord-like cliffs in addition to mountains, in addition to is usually one of the most beautiful in addition to untouched above-water sites in Raja Ampat. The bay is usually world-renowned for bird watching, with rare species seen across the bay. The famed birds of paradise are found here, namely the Wilson’s in addition to red varieties (endemic to Waigyo in addition to Batanta in addition to found nowhere else on earth), as is usually the rare Bruijn’s brush turkey. Hornbills, parrots, in addition to some other birds are more common. The bay is usually large enough to seem like an inland sea: of which hosts large juvenile populations of barracuda in addition to some other reef species, in addition to is usually also home to salt water crocodiles, including one of which lives at the mouth of the bay in addition to is usually over six metres in length.
Getting to Mayalibit Bay in addition to Northern Raja Ampat
Fly into Sorong in addition to catch one of the once-daily public ferries to Waisai, the capital of Raja Ampat. via there, if you are diving, arrange for your land-based operator to pick you up at the dock. For Mayalibit bay, a taxi ride of one to one in addition to a half hours takes you to Warsambin village, where you need to charter a boat. Home stays in villages are possible: your boat pilot can make recommendations. Those who wish for someone to organize their tour in advance can try Papua Expeditions (http://www.bird-watching-papua-adventure-travel.com). There are no hotels or restaurants on the bay. For those looking for a less adventurous non-diving adventure, Papua Diving (http://www.papua-diving.com) plans to organize kayaking / bird-watching trips in their area of Northern Raja Ampat.
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West Papua Calling
West Papua Calling