Raja Ampat trip report September 2022

[drrich2]

Stayed at Anara airport hotel at Jakarta airport on both the inbound and outbound. I never left the room , but it was a nice airport hotel attached to terminal 3 of CGK airport in Jakarta. You could access with what I think was the second level of terminal 3 (hotel calls it Mezzanine level or via the 3rd floor of the parking garage). There were some escalators up from the floor where you exited customs. The escalators mostly lead to a security checkpoint but you can get to the hotel without going through security (I actually went through the parking garage because it looked like the escalators were going to feed me straight into a security checkpoint the night I arrived)

I stayed in FM7 hotel in the past. I may try this one next for my November trip to Ambon for Banda Sea.

I'd like to know more about how these options compare. It's my understanding the FM7 Resort Hotel in Jakarta is a popular choice for dive tourists flying in to Jakarta one day on an international flight, then out of Jakarta to Sorong on an Indonesian domestic flight the next day.

I thought the FM7 resort hotel might be near the airport, requiring a taxi or shuttle; I saw the name listed at FM7 Resort Hotel Jakarta Airport online on Google Maps, and it appears the FM7 hotel is very near the airport (I see they have a photo of a bus marked Airport Shuttle); from their website:

"FM7 Resort Hotel was established on September 1st, 2006, stand out as a new luxury Hotel in Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport area. Our 386 well designed rooms will meet your highest expectations and you can be assured that we are the best value for money."

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So, I take it you could walk to the Anara Airport Hotel after clearing customs and without going through Security. While at the hotel, were you considered to still be on airport grounds? In other words, the next day when heading back for your domestic flights, did you have to go back through Security with your bags? I'm guessing so, but figured I'd ask.

I've never stayed in a hotel in an airport.

And for those of you who've used the FM7 Resort Hotel, did you have any hassles getting back and forth from the airport?

 

[Dan]

FM7 is about 2.3 miles from the airport. Traffic in Jakarta is horrendous. So, any hotel at the airport is better. There are shops in the airport that you can go out to, instead of what’s available in the hotel.

I also stayed in another airport hotel in Domestic terminal, called Jakarta Airport Hotel (see the link, below). However, it’s often booked up when I wanted to book it, that’s why I booked FM7 as plan B.

It’s good now that we have 2 hotels at Jakarta airport.

Jakarta Airport Hotel

Jakarta Airport Hotel is located inside Airport Soekarno Hatta Terminal 2E, this is one stop solution for Domestic and International travelers looking for comfort, convenience, and a peaceful rest and recuperation. The hotel views to Airport runaway with soundproof room system. As hotel transit...

www.jakartaairporthotel.com

 

[scrane]

I think it depends on what terminal(s) you’ll be using. My EVA flight in and Garuda out both use Terminal 3 so Anara is the obvious choice for me. I could have chosen a quick connecting flight but a 13 hour sleep layover makes all the difference.

 

[cozcharlie]

I'd like to know more about how these options compare. It's my understanding the FM7 Resort Hotel in Jakarta is a popular choice for dive tourists flying in to Jakarta one day on an international flight, then out of Jakarta to Sorong on an Indonesian domestic flight the next day.

I thought the FM7 resort hotel might be near the airport, requiring a taxi or shuttle; I saw the name listed at FM7 Resort Hotel Jakarta Airport online on Google Maps, and it appears the FM7 hotel is very near the airport (I see they have a photo of a bus marked Airport Shuttle); from their website:

"FM7 Resort Hotel was established on September 1st, 2006, stand out as a new luxury Hotel in Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport area. Our 386 well designed rooms will meet your highest expectations and you can be assured that we are the best value for money."

---

So, I take it you could walk to the Anara Airport Hotel after clearing customs and without going through Security. While at the hotel, were you considered to still be on airport grounds? In other words, the next day when heading back for your domestic flights, did you have to go back through Security with your bags? I'm guessing so, but figured I'd ask.

I've never stayed in a hotel in an airport.

And for those of you who've used the FM7 Resort Hotel, did you have any hassles getting back and forth from the airport?

Once you exit customs you are out of the security area, so you will have to go through security regardless to take another flight. The Anara is outside of the security area.

The international terminal is terminal 3, but I think some domestic flights might also leave from there (though probably a different part of terminal 3 than the international ones since I actually had to go through immigration to get to my gate at Terminal 3 on way back to the US ). I used Batik for my domestic flights— I gather it is more of a discount carrier than Garuda, but Garuda didn’t have flights to Sorong on at least one of my travel days so I was kind of stuck with Batik (think Garuda only had Saturday flights at that time of year ). I think Garuda allows an extra bag for scuba stuff and is a SkyTeam affiliate so there are real reasons to use them if it works for your schedule.

Anyway Batik domestic flights actually use Terminal 2 which I think is a couple of kilometers from the station at Terminal 3 when using the SkyTrain (the taxi actually took ~10 minutes in no traffic—was worried I was getting taken for a ride but maybe that is just the way the roads run). SkyTrain is outside of security also. The hotel said the SkyTrain wasn’t working at that time of night when I had a midnight departure so that I why I took a taxi/car from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2. Later others seemed surprised train wasn’t running but I didn’t verify one way or another (I just grabbed a car from the main arrival area so it wasn’t like hotel got a kickback or anything ). As I noted I used the free SkyTrain when I returned on a mid-day flight.

 

[SharkSteward]

How was the viz when you were down in Misool? I heard it's so-so this year with Algae blooms

 

[cozcharlie]

The viz wasn’t great by my standards anywhere , but the fish more than made up for it . I think we probably averaged about 45-50 ft viz across the trip. I was on a boat full of photographers so the boat probably guided us away from sites with particularly bad viz. There were a couple of dives where people said “the viz reminds me of Monterey, CA”). Think viz in south was generally lower than the north , but also had some spectacular dives down there that I would love to do over and over again (Puri Pinnacle). Bottom line: I am in no position to argue if people say this isn’t a great viz year —but I had numerous spectacular dives in the south even if viz wasn’t great so not like I regret a second of it .

You can look at the album link in the first post under this thread if you want to get a feel for it. I am sure I cleaned up the photos some , but I didn’t do any wholesale photo-shopping that would turn 30 foot viz into 90.