Excursion to some attractions in Raja Ampat
In our blog about kayaking in Raja Ampat we already wrote that one of the best and most fantastic ways to explore the countless, beautiful islands of Raja Ampat is by kayaking. You can do a day of canoeing like we did, but if you have more time and are more adventurous, book a guided tour for several days. If there is no time, because you want to dive and snorkel a lot in this paradise for divers, an excursion by motorboat along the most beautiful sights is a fantastic alternative. Most resorts offer such excursions.
Dive resorts often combine some highlights with the most beautiful dive sites in the area. For example, with the dive centre at our homestay on Kri we were able to dive on the famous islands of Fam. You go ashore so you can take pictures of the beautiful landscape of small rocky islands and turquoise waters.
If you are not a diver, there are many resorts where you can go just for a lot of fun, a beautiful day on the water where you get to see many sights. Our resort in Waisai provided an excursion via Kabuy Bay through ‘the Passage’ (see also routes in our blog about kayaking) to Fam.
The Kabuy Bay is a beautiful, large and sheltered bay, where you can enjoy the impressive karst landscape full of small islands and overgrown or uncultivated point rocks that rise from the sea. One of those point rocks is the ‘Batu Pensil’, the Pencil Rock. You can guess what the rock looks like from the name. From the bay you go via the ‘passage’, a narrow, particularly beautiful strait between the jungle of Gam and Waigeo, to the outer water.
The boat leads past the pearl breeding grounds at Gam to the Fam islands. Here you disembark and visit two viewpoints. The highest of the two is Piaynemo. A perfectly constructed, wide staircase leads to the top of the hill. There you have a wide view over the bay and many small islands in the inland water. The lower view is Telaga Bintang, which we personally found more beautiful than the view at Piaynemo. You have to climb the hill with your hands and feet. Take good footwear and not flip flops like we did. For this view it is better if you are not afraid of heights…
Afterwards, there is a lunch at a homestay where you can see very small, special fish in the waters of the mangrove, including sharks that are only 40 cm long. Any insects on your legs do not stand a chance, as some fish “spit” the insects off your leg with water from the water surface.
What you do after lunch depends on what you and your fellow travellers want. Often the boat trip continues towards Yenbuba, the eastern part of the island of Mansuar, and to the sandbank Pasir Timbal. At Yenbuba you can snorkel amazingly at the pier. We have dived there before during our trip to Raja Ampat and found it an absolute favourite. With our Javanese fellow travellers, we snorkelled for over an hour.
After Yenbuba we went to another small, inhabited island to relax, swing on a rocking chair on a tree, and wade through the warm water of the lagoon. Then we sailed back to our resort in Waisai. All in all, a super fun day that we would strongly recommend to everyone!
