No, unfortunately, the government does not allow bareboat. In some way, it is safer for you, as the maps are not always accurate in these remote areas. The captain with his crew will show you the best places.

Raja Ampat is located in the North-West of Indonesia in the province of Papua. It must not be mistaken for Papua New-Guinea in the west of the same island which is a separate country.

The Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the Equator and forms part of the Coral Triangle which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth.

The best time to visit Raja Ampat is between November to May during the dry season.

The average temperature are between 25-32° C

Flight info presented here is aimed at international travelers seeking the quickest route to Raja Ampat from outside Indonesia. Therefore this ignores flights to Sorong from airports not serviced by international flights (Ambon, Jayapura etc).

Domine Eduard Osok Airport – SOQ

Sorong’s airport is Domine Eduard Osok (IATA code: SOQ) not Jefman Airport as some sources report. Jefman is an older airport (originally built by the Japanese during World War II) on an island off Sorong.

• There are no international flights into Sorong
• There are no direct (non-stop) flights from Bali to Sorong

From outside Indonesia:

Via Jakarta or Surabaya:

• Lots of airlines fly from Southeast Asian hubs to Jakarta and Surabaya.

Via Makassar:

• Silk Air flies from Singapore to Makassar (flights codeshared with Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia)
• Air Asia offers direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Makassar

Via Manado:

• Silk Air flies from Singapore to Manado (flights codeshared with Singapore Airlines)

Note that these are merely the most convenient entry points for international travelers bound for Sorong. There are other international airports in Indonesia, but to the best of our knowledge, none of those offer non-stop flights to Sorong. (Correct us if we’re wrong about that!)

From inside Indonesia:

• • Use Traveloka, Tiket.com, Tiket2Indonesia or Skyscanner to check the availability of flights from your departure point
  • Many international credit cards do not work on Indonesian websites. Most guests report they have no trouble paying by card on Garuda’s website. Nusatrip.com sells Indonesian domestic flights and is worth a try if you have problems.

• If you want to experience sea travel in the archipelago, here’s Indonesia’s Pelni ship schedules.

Direct flights to Raja Ampat (Sorong)

As Raja Ampat tourism grows, so do the number of flights available to Sorong. We used to publish a table of airlines and their flight times here, but the last few years’ growth in the available options has made it impractical for us to keep those up to date.

Listing of available sites to visit for direct flights

Instead, here’s a list of links of airlines that fly direct (no stops) to Sorong from the most convenient international airports mentioned above. This information was current in March 2018. We recommend searching one of the flight aggregators linked above to quickly find available flight dates and times from the Indonesian airport that best suits you.

Jakarta to Raja Ampat (Sorong) (CGK-SOQ): Garuda, Xpress, Sriwijaya (Nam Air), Batik Air, Air Asia

Surabaya to Raja Ampat (Sorong) (SUB-SOQ): Batik Air

Makassar to Raja Ampat (Sorong) (UPG-SOQ): Garuda, Xpress, Sriwijaya, Batik Air

Manado to Raja Ampat (Sorong) (MDC-SOQ): Garuda, Nam Air, Lion (Wings Air)

If you arrive in Labuan Bajo for the Komodo or in Sorong for Raja Ampat, both have an international airport. A driver and the cruise director will be waiting for you at the exit of the airport and bring you to the marina. From there a dinghy will bring you on board.