Raja Ampat Adventure Snorkeling and Birding Tours

Fish Lagoon in Raja Ampat

This is the picture of Fish Lagoon in Raja Ampat. The scenery is very beautiful. It is located in the eastern region of Waigeo island and has become my preferred destination for snorkeling and rainforest birding tours.
There are sites where tourists can swim and see coral reef and a lot of tropical fish that thrive at depths between 1 to 10 meters.
Very few tourists have visited this region because it is located in remote region. I have organized several marine tours to this place for tourists who want to see Red Bird of Paradise, Colorful Orchid flowers in the forest as well as clownfish and butterfly fish in Raja Ampat waters.
The usual duration for marine and jungle tour to Fish Lagoon and its surrounding areas is between 4 to 6 days or even more.
I highly recommend that visitors bring their own snorkeling device, at least an underwater action camera and binoculars if they want to take adventure tour to this site.
For birding vacation in Raja Ampat, I suggest that visitors buy field guide book: Birds of New Guinea written by Thane K. Pratt and Bruce Beehler. This book will greatly enhance the identification of birds in Raja Ampat and other parts of West Papua.
Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Raja Ampat Itinerary

Adventure Tour in Raja Ampat Islands
Here is an itinerary for visitors who are interested in visiting Fish Lagoon in Northeast of Raja Ampat archipelago.

Traditional Wooden Boat

Day 1
We are going from Sorong city to northeast region of Raja Ampat by a traditional motorized wooden boat. We will go to a village to put our things first, and after that we will go to Isanak beach to enjoy snorkeling and do some walks in the island to watch birds, its forest and tidal lakes. Before sunset, we will continue our trip to Mamdifu river and spend one night camping in the jungle.

Fish Lagoon of Raja Ampat islands

Day 2
We will wake up early in the morning at 05.00. After drinking tea or coffee and some biscuits, we will go hiking up some slopes to watch Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra). The forest is also the natural habitat of blyth's hornbill, kingfishers, pigeon and parrots.
At 09.00, we will return to the village to have lunch. After that, we will enjoy snorkeling at the beach. In the afternoon, we will have a walking tour in the village to see local people in their daily life. If there is still time, we will visit the nearby forest or harbor to watch birds.
Overnight stay in the village.

White sandy beach at en empty island

Day 3
We will continue our trip to another uninhabited island to enjoy snorkeling, fishing. Local guides will help us in catching fish and grilled them fresh at the beach as our lunch. If the tide is low, we will go to Sandbar that is located at the middle of the sea. We can enjoy swimming, and taking pictures or watching such sea birds as tern, black noddy, and plover that like to find fish in the surrounding waters of the sandbar. We will stay one night camping at the beach of the island

Sea star in Raja Ampat

Day 4
After that we can continue our trip to Fish Lagoon to see its karst islets formation.
We will go to the nearby village and take a rest for a while. In the afternoon, we will continue our trip to the jungle where we will go hiking and watching birds, hopefully, we could see Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Eclectus Parrot, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Western Black-capped Lory and Papuan Hornbill.

Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra)

Day 5
We will go hiking to a hill behind the village and watch the panoramic view of the height.
In addition to seeing the scenery, visitors can also take pictures of tropical plants, flowers, butterflies, beetles, and birds.
We can enjoy snorkeling or birdwatching and have walking tours around the village. We will return to Sorong city after lunch.
Visitors can extend their tour in Raja Ampat to 1 full week or take land tour in the mainland West Papua on a separate itinerary.

Jungle Tour in Mainland West Papua
This tour can be extended to mainland West Papua for several more days in Klasow valley of Sorong Regency, Tambrauw mountains, or Arfak mountains of Manokwari. There, visitors can enjoy another adventure tour in the jungle to watch Paradise Birds, and see the bio-diversity of tropical rainforest.

Booking
Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send text/ whatsapp message to my cell phone: +6281332245180.

Adventure Tour in Raja Ampat

Adventure in Raja Ampat

I have just completed a five-day adventure tour in north-east region of Raja Ampat islands with three visitors from India. We went snorkeling at Isanak beach. We camped at the bank of Mamdifu river and explored the forest to watch birds such as the Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra), Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), Blyth's Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus), Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perlatus).

Fish Lagoon in Raja Ampat

The coral reef at Isanak beach was very beautiful and was the natural habitat of a lot of species of fish including butterfly fish, grouper, moorish idol, stingray, and anemonefish. One the second day, we had barbecue at the beach of an empty island where we grilled at ate fresh fish that were caught by our local guides. Squids, grouper, butterflyfish and red snapper became our lunch that day. Our local guides caught them by fishing and shooting.
Visiting Villages and Meeting Local People
Local villagers were very friendly to us. During the adventure tour, we visited several coastal villages in Waigeo island and stayed in the houses of local people. They were happy to receive us. We had the opportunity to walk around the villages and to see how people live in their daily life. Most of the villagers were fishermen. They caught fish, lobster and sea cucumber and sold them in Sorong city.
Fish Lagoon

Boat that brought us to visit islands

One of the most important destinations in our tour was Laguna Ikan (meaning Fish Lagoon). There were a number of karst islets that formed a protected waters for fish and fishermen. The lagoon was very beautiful. I and the Indian tourists went hiking to the top of one of the islands in the lagoon to see and make pictures of its landscape.
Hiking and Birding
In addition to snorkeling, and doing village tours, we made several trips into the tropical rainforest of Waigeo island. We did this to watch birds. Some birds that I recognized were Mountain Peltop, Yellow-bellied Sunbird, and Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, and Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus). We did hiking and birdwatching trips early in the mornings and in late afternoons. We walked along the road that had just been constructed by local government to connect coastal villages in Waigeo. The road was still empty - no cars and motorcycles around. Most of the villagers use motorized boats to travel from one village to another.

Tidal Sandbar at sea in Raja Ampat

The north-east region of Raja Ampat has not been famous as tourist destination. There were no guesthouses or beach resorts in the area. Visitors have to stay in the villagers houses or built tents at white sandy beaches of empty islands or at the side of a river in the jungle.
Watching Red Bird of Paradise
We spent 1 night camping in the jungle to watch Red Bird of Paradise. The night when we were in the jungle, it rained a lot. We had to move to higher ground to avoid the rising water level from a flooding river. The next morning, we were able to see Red Bird of Paradise and other birds. We still did some birding in the village and were able to see starlings, sulphur crested cockatoos, yellow-bellied sunbird and kingfishers.
Booking
If you are interested in taking an adventure tour in Raja Ampat archipelago and you want me to guide you and organize the trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send text/ whatsapp message to my number +6281332245180.