How to get to Raja Ampat / Irian Jaya

[Allison Finch]

I'm leaving for there on the 29th. I will file a trip report when I get back the end of Feb. I'm flying into Sorong from Manado.

 

[415Gem]

Allison , Have a wonderful trip . Hope you take lots of photos . Kind regards Kevin

 

[bugeye]

From Singapore via Manado is definately the quickest but I believe the connecting flight lands too late to catch the 2pm public ferry from Sorong to Raja Ampat so you may need to spend the night in Sorong.

Another handy connection is Air Asia which now fly direct from KL to Makassar. There are a lot of local airlines flying from Makassar to Sorong.

 

[jake11]

We flew to Sorong in 2009 from Denpasar. It was a long journey with a forced overnight in Makassar. I would not go that way again. Last November 2010 we flew from Jakarta to Ambon and stopped over on Ambon to dive a few days then onwards to Papua. This was a much better option and broke up the trip with some great diving. We flew back to Jakarta from Sorong and made it back in a long day and it was not too painful. The wait in the Sorong airport is brutal!!! If you enjoy sweating profusely and sucking in all kinds of cigarette smoke then this is the airport for you!!! Also, rest assured your flight will be late. Last November I showed the door agent our boarding pass and I pointed to the time printed on it and he burst out laughing!!! We will be at it again this coming March. This time we are flying into Sorong from Manado and then taking a boat back into Bitung. My philosophy is the least amount of time spent in domestic airports in Indonesia the better!! We shall see! As you can tell we think the diving is worth all of the hassles of getting there! Have fun!