First Time in Raja Ampat? 11 Things We Wish Travellers Knew Before Coming
Raja Ampat is one of those places that can be surprisingly difficult to prepare for.
You can find hundreds of beautiful photos online, but considerably less information about what traveling here is actually like.
How much cash should you bring? Will you have internet? Does sunshine mean good weather? Can you simply book a boat whenever you want? And what exactly happens after your flight lands in Sorong?
After living on Kri Island and welcoming travellers from all over the world, we've noticed that many first-time visitors arrive with the same questions and sometimes the same misconceptions.
So here are 11 things we wish more travellers knew before coming to Raja Ampat.
1. Getting Here Takes Time
Raja Ampat is remote.
That's part of what makes it so special, but it also means you can't simply land at the airport and be on a tropical beach 20 minutes later.
For most travellers, the journey involves flying to Sorong, traveling from the airport to the harbour, taking the public ferry to Waisai and then taking another boat to your accommodation.
Depending on your flight and ferry connection, you may also need to spend a night in Sorong.
Our biggest advice?
Don't plan your itinerary too tightly.
Give yourself enough time for transfers and remember that your arrival and departure days aren't necessarily full holiday days.
👉 Read more: How to Travel to Raja Ampat
👉 Taking the ferry? Our Step-by-Step Guide to the Public Ferry from Sorong to Waisai
2. Cash Is Still Really Important
Digital payments are becoming more common in Raja Ampat.
At Paparisa, for example, we accept payments and international transfers through services such as Wise, Revolut, PayPal and SentBe. Some dive schools may even accept card payments nowadays.
But this is not the standard everywhere in Raja Ampat.
Please don't arrive in the islands assuming you can simply tap your card or pay with your phone everywhere you go.
Boat rides, smaller homestays, local shops and unexpected expenses may still require Indonesian Rupiah.
ATMs are available in Sorong and Waisai, but once you travel further into the islands, access becomes much more limited.
We always recommend bringing enough cash before heading to your accommodation.
Better slightly too much than discovering halfway through your trip that you're running out.
👉 Read more: What to Bring to Raja Ampat
3. Sunshine Does NOT Automatically Mean Good Boat Weather
This one surprises a lot of people.
You can wake up to blue skies, sunshine and what looks like perfect tropical weather...
while the sea further away is far too rough for a long boat trip.
In Raja Ampat, wind and sea conditions can be just as important as rain.
This is particularly relevant during the windier months, generally around June to September.
Kri can sometimes feel relatively protected while conditions around more exposed areas such as the Fam Islands are completely different.
If your boat driver tells you conditions aren't safe, please listen. They're not trying to ruin your holiday. They know these waters.
No viewpoint or snorkelling spot is worth putting yourself or your boat crew at risk.
👉 Read more: Raja Ampat Weather & the Best Time to Visit
4. Raja Ampat Is MUCH Bigger Than It Looks on Instagram
Piaynemo.
Wayag.
Misool.
Kri.
Arborek.
Manta Sandy.
You see all these names online and it's very easy to start adding them to one giant Raja Ampat bucket list.
But Raja Ampat is enormous, and many of these places are nowhere near each other.
Misool, for example, is in the far south of Raja Ampat. Getting there from Sorong by public ferry takes around eight hours, with departures only on certain days. It isn't somewhere you simply visit on a day trip while staying around Kri.
Wayag is another name you'll see on plenty of Raja Ampat bucket lists and older travel blogs. However, at the time of writing, Wayag is closed to tourists following a local conflict that started in June 2025. There is currently no confirmed reopening date, so always check the latest situation when planning your trip.
Piaynemo and the Fam Islands are much more accessible from the central Raja Ampat area, but even those are significant boat journeys rather than somewhere just around the corner (with our Pardidu boat, the journey takes on average 1.5 hours from Kri island).
Looking at Raja Ampat on Instagram or even Google Maps can therefore be a little misleading.
You don't need to see all of Raja Ampat in one trip.
Sometimes experiencing one area properly is much more enjoyable than spending half your holiday packing, unpacking and traveling between accommodations.
This is especially worth considering during wind season, when longer crossings can become uncomfortable or unsafe.
Raja Ampat isn't a checklist.
5. Internet Exists, But There Is One SIM Card Mistake You Really Want to Avoid
Yes, you can have internet in Raja Ampat.
Telkomsel generally provides the best mobile coverage around Kri, and some eSIMs work here too. We've had guests successfully use Nomad and Airalo.
But here's the important part:
If you buy a Telkomsel SIM card or data package elsewhere in Indonesia, specifically ask for DATA NASIONAL.
Please double-check this.
Some packages sold in Bali, Java or other regions contain a large amount of local data that can only be used in that particular region, plus a much smaller national allowance.
You can therefore arrive in Raja Ampat thinking you have plenty of data left and discover you actually have almost none.
And even with the correct package, remember you're traveling somewhere remote. Telkomsel can occasionally lose connection.
👉 Read more: Internet in Raja Ampat: SIM Cards, eSIMs & WiFi
6. Life Here Follows a Different Rhythm
Not every day in Raja Ampat works the same way.
For example, Sunday is traditionally a rest and church day for many Protestant communities around Kri and Mansuar.
At Paparisa, we don't organize snorkelling or day trips on Sundays.
We still cook, arrange necessary transfers and welcome or say goodbye to guests, but our staff also have the opportunity to attend church and spend time with their families.
Other communities have different traditions.
Sawandarek, for example, has a large Seventh-day Adventist community and observes Saturday as its rest day. Our neighbours at Kri Eco Resort are also Adventist, which is why you may see their dive boats operating on Sunday instead.
These aren't inconveniences that tourism needs to fix. They're part of visiting a place where people actually live.
👉 Read more: What to Do on a Sunday on Kri Island & Raja Ampat
7. You're Coming for the Ocean, But Don't Forget to Look Up
Understandably, most people come to Raja Ampat for what lives underwater. But Kri has a surprising amount of wildlife on land too.
We regularly see coconut crabs and cuscus, and hornbills love visiting the trees around Paparisa to eat jungle nutmeg. There are also white cockatoos, monitor lizards known locally as soa-soa, thousands of tiny hermit crabs, geckos, butterflies and some impressively enormous katydids.
And yes...
Occasionally there is a snake.
You are staying on a tropical island covered in jungle, after all. 😅
One animal you won't find naturally on Kri is a monkey, and there's actually a fascinating geographical reason for that too.
👉 Read more: Animals You Can Spot on Kri Island
8. Please Think About What Goes on Your Skin Before You Jump Into the Ocean
Raja Ampat sits within the Coral Triangle and is home to an extraordinary marine ecosystem.
That also means we all have a responsibility to be careful with it.
One easy thing you can think about before traveling is your sun protection.
Covering up with a rash guard or UV-protective clothing reduces the amount of sunscreen you need in the first place. (We love to buy our UV-protective clothing at Decathlon whenever we take a break from the island life. Good price/quality ratio!).
For exposed skin, take some time to look at the ingredients in your sunscreen rather than relying only on a big "reef safe" claim on the bottle.
When choosing sunscreen, we personally look for mineral formulas using non-nano zinc oxide and/or non-nano titanium dioxide as the active UV filters, and avoid oxybenzone and octinoxate.
Not sure about your sunscreen? Copy the ingredient list and ask your favourite AI tool: “Does this sunscreen use non-nano zinc oxide and/or non-nano titanium dioxide as its active UV filters, and does it contain oxybenzone or octinoxate?”
And please remember: sunscreen isn't the only part of responsible snorkelling.
Don't stand on coral.
Don't touch it.
Don't chase wildlife for a photo.
Take only memories and approximately 7,000 underwater GoPro videos you'll probably never watch again. 😂
9. Pack for a Remote Island, Not a Resort Holiday
You don't need to bring your entire house.
But there are a few things that are much easier to buy before you arrive.
Medication.
Reef-conscious sun protection.
Mosquito repellent.
A reusable water bottle.
A rash guard.
A dry bag.
Enough cash.
Torch / headlamp
And if you're sensitive to noise: earplugs.
Our bungalows are comfortable, but they're wooden and surrounded by jungle.
You may hear birds in the morning, waves, insects, occasionally a barking dog and potentially a karaoke session somewhere in the neighbourhood.
That's island life.
If you're a light sleeper, those tiny earplugs take up approximately zero luggage space and might become your favourite thing you packed.
And there are a few things you can leave at home. Hairdryers and other high-power appliances can be too much for the generators used at many homestays, including ours, and there's really no need to bring your own kettle or other unnecessary electrical appliances.
We'd also think twice about bringing extremely valuable items. Most homestays in Raja Ampat, including Paparisa, don't have in-room safes, so this probably isn't the trip for your most expensive jewellery or anything else you'd be devastated to lose.
10. Talk to a Travel Health Professional Before You Come
This isn't the most exciting part of planning a trip to Raja Ampat, but it is an important one.
Papua is officially considered a malaria-risk area, and mosquito-borne illnesses such as dengue and Zika are also something travellers to Indonesia should be aware of.
And Indonesia, including Papua, also has some infectious diseases that travellers from many Western countries may rarely encounter at home, such as tuberculosis and typhoid fever. This doesn't mean you should be worried about traveling here, but it's another good reason to discuss your destination, planned activities and recommended vaccinations with a travel health professional before your trip.
That doesn't mean you need to panic or arrive with half a pharmacy in your suitcase. 😅
But please don't base your health decisions solely on what another traveler, a Facebook group, your accommodation or someone on Instagram tells you.
Before traveling, we recommend speaking to your doctor or a travel health professional in your home country.
And be specific.
Tell them you are traveling to Raja Ampat in Southwest Papua, rather than simply saying you're going to Indonesia. Health advice for someone spending two weeks in Bali may be very different from advice for someone traveling to eastern Indonesia.
Your healthcare professional can advise you based on your personal health, travel plans and the latest official guidance regarding vaccinations, malaria prevention and mosquito-borne illnesses such as dengue and Zika.
Whatever you decide together, protecting yourself from mosquito bites is always sensible. Bring a good mosquito repellent and consider covering exposed skin, particularly when mosquitoes are active.
And don't forget enough of any medication you regularly use.
Pharmacies and medical facilities become much more limited once you leave Sorong and Waisai, so Raja Ampat isn't the place to discover you've left an important prescription at home.
Our job is to help you have an amazing time here.
Medical advice? We'll happily leave that to the professionals. 😉
11. Raja Ampat Is Not Bali, And That's Kind of the Point
Sorong may be your first introduction to Papua.
From there, things become increasingly remote.
Infrastructure is limited. Electricity isn't always available 24/7. Water supply works differently. Shopping options disappear. Boats replace cars. Weather sometimes decides your plans for you.
And things may simply work differently from what you're used to.
Try not to arrive expecting Bali with better coral reefs.
Raja Ampat is Raja Ampat.
Come with some flexibility. Ask questions. Be curious about the people who live here. Respect local traditions. Slow down a little.
And leave some space in your itinerary for things not going exactly according to plan.
Because strangely enough, those often become some of the stories you remember most.
One Last Thing...
You don't need to understand everything about Raja Ampat before you come.
We certainly didn't when we first arrived either.
Part of traveling somewhere this remote is figuring things out along the way.
But a little preparation can make a huge difference.
Know how you're getting here. Bring enough cash. Pack the important things. Don't underestimate the sea. Talk to a travel health professional before you leave. And arrive knowing that you're visiting someone's home, not just a destination.
Then once you're here?
Put your phone away every now and then.
Jump in the ocean.
Look up at the birds.
Talk to people.
And enjoy being somewhere that still feels very far away from the rest of the world. 🌴 We hope you enjoy your time in Raja Ampat! xo Team Paparisa Homestay
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