Anyone who wants to visit Raja Ampat needs to fly from Jakarta to Sorong city which is located in the western trip of mainland West Papua. After that he or she can cross the sea by passenger ferry boat to Waisai harbor. There are boats that can bring tourists to homestay or beach resorts.
There is another alternative route which travelers can choose. Visitors can fly from Jakarta to Makassar and then to Ambon city. After that they can cross the island and take Trans-Seram bus to Bula in the eastern region of Seram island. The bus will pass through a lot of villages, Manusela National Park and arrive in Bula town. There are passenger boats that go to Misool islands of Raja Ampat. This alternative route is not popular because the passenger boats or ferries that connect Bula and Misool islands are not available every day.
Raja Ampat archipelago is a famous destination in the world for marine tourism. A lot of visitors go there to enjoy swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving or exploring remote islands in the regency to see its beautiful scenery, colorful tropical birds and wildlife.
Waigeo, Gam, Kri, Mansuar, Five Rocks, Mioskon, Arborek, Dampier Strait, and Manta Point are some of the many dive sites in Raja Ampat. For sightseeing trips, visitors can travel by speedboat to Piaynemo, Wayag, Harfat Jaya, and Kabuy bay to see beautiful marine landscape of Raja Ampat's karsts.
Rainforest Birding Tour - I like to organize hiking and birdwatching trips to Waigeo island. Its tropical jungle is the natural habitat of a lot of birds such as Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Lowland Peltop, Blyth's Hornbill, Eclectus Parrot, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Red-cheeked Parrot, Yellow-faced Myna, Hooded Butcherbird, and a lot more. This rainforest birding tour is often combined with island hopping trip to beaches in islands inside Kabui bay where visitors could watch White-bellied Sea Eagle, Spice Imperial Pigeon, White-breasted Wooddwallow, Eastern Osprey, Whimbrel, Beach Kingfisher, Striated Herron, Pacific Reef Egret, and a lot more. When I organize birding tour, my favorite places will be the southern and northern area of Waigeo island. The duration of the tour is 3 to 4 days and can be added with another tour to places such as Klasow valley in Sorong regency or Arfak mountains in Manokwari. If these places are combined with Raja Ampat in one tour package, the total duration of travel time can be as long as two weeks.
Travelers who want to enjoy this adventure tour in Raja Ampat need to bring snorkeling gear, binoculars, camera (superzoom bridge camera such as Nikon Coolpix P900 for taking pictures of birds and waterproof Nikon W300 for taking underwater videos and photographs of coral reef and fish). This was written by Charles Roring