Tag Archives: raja ampat

Arborek: As Far as it Gets from Bali

I doubt there is a more relaxed tropical island in the world than Arborek, a tiny pancake-flat beauty fringed with palms and surrounded by stunning azure blue waters. Metaphorically and physically speaking, this is as far away from Bali as you can get in Indonesia. No cars, no motorbikes, no tacky drunk Australians, no five star resorts, and no erupting volcanoes. My family in the UK were slightly panicked since Gunung Agung on Bali erupted while we were in Indonesia. We were more than 1000 miles away and blissfully unaware of flying lava and freaking out family!

Arborek is less visited than the Raja Ampat islands closer to Waisai. Many tourists give it a miss because of the relative expense of the boat ride from Gam, Waigeo, or Kri. At most they take a day trip. We think most tourists are making a big mistake! This island is an absolute must-see.… Read more

Raja Ampat – Dive Resort or Homestay?

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You have three travel options to choose from when thinking about a trip to Raja Ampat in Papua, Indonesia. The high-end choices are typically liveaboards or deluxe dive resorts. The mid-range would put you in a very comfortable dive resort. The cheapest option is one of the hundred-plus rustic homestays dotted all over the archipelago. We opted for 6 days in the fantastic mid-range Biodiversity Eco Dive Resort and 8 days in 3 different homestays across the archipelago.

If you dive or want to learn to dive, plus you want more certainty over your trip, and you can afford it, then there is no better experience than checking into one of the dive resorts. There will be a high degree of comfort and excellent food. The diving trips will be run by trustworthy and dependable operators. Pre-trip communication, whilst not exactly fast, will be easy and your trip is likely to go as planned.

If you have plenty of time and are short on cash, then stay in homestays. If you wish to dive you can drop into Biodiversity and see if they can take you (albeit at a high price). Otherwise, you can chance it with one of the … Read more

Raja Ampat: A model of sustainable tourism?

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Update: Do you want to help the people of Raja Ampat protect their coral reefs? Contribute to the Indiegogo campaign to create Locally Protected Areas signposted with marker buoys. For as little as $25, you can help a homestay declare a traditionally protected “sasi” area on its house reef.

When we came home from our big trip in 2016, we had a sense of unfinished business with Indonesia. We had fallen in love with this country’s landscapes, people, and above all its oceans. I logged most of my dives in Indonesia, and Paul went from reluctant swimmer to novice scuba diver. We explored the less-visited provinces of Sulawesi and Maluku, where we saw something amazing every time we got into the water.

Other travelers told us about Raja Ampat, the group of islands off the western tip of Papua. The name sounds exotic and the stories we heard about pristine beaches and dive sites swarming with fish sounded even better. But we also heard stories about strong currents and high prices relative to the rest of Indonesia. For these reasons, and due to the timing of weather and seasons, we went home without visiting the fabled islands of Raja Ampat.… Read more