Flying to Sorong - options?

[nwflyboy]

I'm researching a potential trip to Raja Ampat (it would be with a land-based operator rather than liveaboard, since mrs nwflyboy gets seasick and needs to spend some time on land rather than on the rolling waves all day and night).

I'm looking at Misool Eco Resort. The place looks and sounds wonderful, though there's no doubt it's spendy. We'll see if that pans out. Before I get to that, I'm looking at options for flying to Sorong. Misool says to be on Express Air flight XN800 from Jakarta. Looking for info on Express Air online is not producing much. They have a website, sort of, but it looks like it was abandoned before it was ever completed (last update 2008 and most pages are blank or dead links - no flight schedule, no prices).

Can anyone tell me what it costs to fly from Jakarta to Sorong? Is there any place online where one can get reasonably accurate info about Express Air? Are there better options for flying from Jakarta to Sorong (and for this purpose, my definition of "better" would be 1) very reliable, no more expensive than Express Air, and easy to book from home)?

Thanks.

 

[ncchuck]

It's been a couple of years since I was there but I believe almost everyone flies though Manado. We didn't want to go through Jakarta so we went through Bali instead. We had to overnight in Manado because of the infrequent flights to Sorong so we just stayed there for a few days and did some diving at Lembeh which turned out to be terrific and I highly recommend this diversion. Regardless of the pain of getting there, Raja Ampat is worth it. Best diving of my life. I'd do it again if I could afford it.
I don't remember the booking agent we used but she arranged the enitre trip for us including diving and transportation. Any leading dive trip specialist should be able to easily do this for you at no cost. Since local airlines are used, I'd use a specialist rather than book the trip myself.

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

Look at this link for Lion Air. You can fly thru Jakarta, Manado or Bali to Sorong.

LION AIR - We Make People Fly

 

[nwflyboy]

Thanks. For us it's a little more complicated than that. We generally travel long-haul international trips using frequent flyer miles. I believe we can get from home (US west coast) to/from Jakarta or Denpasar on a FF ticket (which is a good thing, since the resort looks stunningly expensive). Tight vacation schedules also mean we'll probably need to minimize any additional stops en route. And we've been through Manado before (2 years ago, we did a trip to dive Bali and North Sulawesi).

So basically, right now I'm looking for info about transport options between Jakarta (or Denpasar) and Sorong. Since the Misool resort seems geared to coordinate with the Express Air flight from Jakarta to Sorong, I'm looking for details on that (I'm open to other options, but want to investigate this first).

There's very little info available on The Express Air website, but the one bit of useful info is that they show their route map (Express Air Route Map). Of course, no guarantee it's still accurate, but if it is, it shows a route from Jakarta to Sorong via Makassar (coming from Denpasar would be more involved). But I have no sense of what it costs to fly that leg.

 

[nwflyboy]

Thanks for the pointer to Lion Air, Kevin. We actually flew them (Denpasar - Makassar - Manado) on our last trip. Looks like they get about US$400 each way between Jakarta and Sorong in the fall (when we're thinking about going). Wow, that's quite a bit more than I had expected. Hmmm. I'll assume that Express Air (or anybody else who flies that route) probably has similar fares. That's useful as a starting point. Thanks again.

 

[highdesert]

Some unrelated points ...

Unless schedules have changed, if you fly the Denpasar/Makassar/Sorong route, you can't make it all in one day. By the time you arrive in Makassar, the one daily flight to Sorong has already departed, and you have to overnight in Makassar(not fun) and do the second leg the next day. On the return, you can do it all in one day.

If you're tall, don't fly Express Air, period. I'm serious ... I have NEVER been on an airplane with tighter seating, including little eight-passenger shuttles in the Caribbean.

If Express Air is overweight departing Sorong, your bag just might be left there, like ours were. And I'm talking about all of our dive gear. Luckily, we had an extra day in Denpasar before departure to the US, and our bags caught up to us, with some help from the guy who booked our trip. Some have not been so lucky.

I recall that in the fall of '08 our two RT tickets Bali/Sorong/Bali were about $800 ... no clue what they are now.

There are reliable travel companies in Indonesia who can book your domestic flights there. Much smarter than trying to book them from the US, if you can manage that at all.

 

[nwflyboy]

Thanks. I know that schedules are often inconvenient (and often represent wishful thinking). I also know about bags getting left for later (it hasn't happened to me but I've been on small Caribbean shuttles recently where it happened to others).

Further digging suggests that the following airlines seem to fly between Jakarta and Sorong: Merpati, Lion Air, Express Air and Batavia Air. For travel in the fall (Oct - Nov, when we're thinking about going), roundtrip fares look look they range from US$400 to US$800 (that's a pretty wide spread).

We can indeed make use of an Indonesian travel agent if/when we're ready to get serious. I'm still in the "can we/should we do this?" stage. The rough numbers (and rough schedules) I'm finding now are helpful in answering that question.

Thanks again.

 

[frogfish]

Hi - I am looking at exactly the same at the moment - The operator strongly recommends flying via Jakarta, and gave me the following schedule for Saturday/ Sunday flights:

Saturday: Jakarta – Sorong via Ujung Pandang, Batavia Air, ETD 22.30pm ETA 07.00am (Arrive Sorong on Sunday morning)
Sunday: Jakarta – Sorong via Ujung Pandang, Merpati Air, ETD 05.00am ETA 12.35pm
Sunday: Jakarta – Sorong via Ujung Pandang, Express Air ETD 05.00am ETA 14.30pm
Sunday: Sorong – Jakarta via Ujung Pandang Batavia Air, ED 10.20am ETA 13.20pm
Sunday: Sorong – Jakarta via Ujung Pandang Merpati Air, ED 13.20pm ETA 16.20pm
Sunday: Sorong - Jakarta via Ujung Pandang, Express Air ETD 11.00am : ETA 14.55pm

hope this helps

 

[jeremyl]

I am looking into a RA trip this Oct as well. I plan to use Miles to get me close. But Singapore seems easier (I can get there pretty openly from Oregon). Then Silk Air to Manado I did last year for ~$250 RT (on sale). Dont know how much it is from Manado to Sorong... haven't planned that much yet. Anyway, just an option. Just curious - what airline gets you to Jakarta from NW?

Please do keep updates on what you find. I will probably head from Sorong to Bali area to do a Komodo liveaboard after going to RA.

 

[nwflyboy]

Just curious - what airline gets you to Jakarta from NW?

Depends which airline/alliance your miles are in, of course. For this trip, I plan to use miles I've got on United. Those should be redeemable on Singapore Air and Thai Airways (at least in theory - the rub is always finding the seats).

Last trip we went Seattle -> San Francisco (on United) then -> Hong Kong -> Singapore -> Bali (all on Singapore Air, a long slog). We spent 10 days in Bali (loved it), then flew to Manado (paid, on Lion Air) for a week of diving Bunaken. The return trip (still using miles) went Bali -> Bangkok (Thai Airways) and we spent a few weeks in Thailand. Then (continuing on the same FF ticket) Bangkok -> Tokyo -> Seattle (all on United). We really milked a lot out of that ticket.

I'm pretty sure that both Singapore and Thai fly to Jakarta (also Bali, but those seats are harder to get).

I'm still looking at coordinating work vacations and other constraints, if all those bits work out then I'll try to make the flights work. Good luck with yours.