Diving at Raja Ampat Islands, The Coral Reefs Paradise

 Raja Ampat exotic destination in Papua, Indonesia.
Source:  wikitravel.org   

Raja Ampat or the Four Kings is dubbed as the Coral Reef Paradise by divers. It's located at the northwest tip of Bird’s Head Peninsula of New Guinea island, in Indonesia’s West Papua province. It is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.

Raja Ampat has approximately 600 kind of coral reefs, it's 75% of all known coral species in the world. This numbers is 10 times of hard coral species found in the entire Caribbean. In this area there are 5 species of endangered sea turtles, 57 species of mantis shrimp, 13 species of marine mammals, and 27 species of endemic reef fish only found in that area.

Coral Reef at Raja Ampat. Source: gorajaampat.com

This area are a truly natural phenomenon with enormous biological diversity. The conditions, high endemic level of land, sea biodiversity, coastal ecology, and local culture & tradition the islands offer more than just amazing landscapes.

How to get to Raja Ampat ?

No special ticket to enter this area. Travelers who interested in visiting Raja Ampat can be started from Jakarta or other big cities to the airport Domine Eduard Osok, Sorong, West Papua. Flight from Jakarta to Sorong usually transit at Makassar or Manado. From Domine Eduard Osok Airport at Sorong, travelers can get to the Raja Ampat using boat. There are two types of boats available: Speed Boat (40 minutes - 1 hour boat trip, carries 15 passengers and costs Rp2 million/US$208.55), Long Boat (2-3 hour boat trip and could carry 10 passengers for the cost of Rp1,2 million/ US$126). Please consider that all rates are subject to change without notice.