{"id":6653,"date":"2019-11-02T23:01:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T23:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=6653"},"modified":"2019-11-27T05:55:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T05:55:08","slug":"the-four-kings-waisai-raja-ampat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=6653","title":{"rendered":"The Four Kings – Waisai, Raja Ampat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We\u2019re heading to Waisai, the main town on the island of Waigeo, and the gateway to Raja Ampat.  The name means \u201cFour Kings\u201d, for the four islands that make up the Birds Head Peninsula – Batanta, Waigeo, Salawati and Misool.  It\u2019s an archipelago of over 1500 islands with the richest, most diverse marine ecology on the planet and we can\u2019t wait to explore it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The anchorage at Waisai looking towards the new Meridian resort and marina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We anchor off the new Meridian dive resort and marina in Waisai – it\u2019s been open about 12 months and currently has room for only a few yachts. Most of the space is taken up by their fleet of Lagoon 62 catamarans that I gather are used on a timeshare basis by their Russian investors. It\u2019s an impressive place with some eye-watering prices at the bar and restaurant, but they\u2019re very welcoming to us \u2018grotty yachties\u2019 and allow us to join the staff at the bar to watch the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals. It\u2019s a fun night with our new cruising buddies off \u201cJams\u201d, \u201cSarabande\u201d and \u201cKaiya Song\u201d, but the less said about the Wallabies performance the better – we can only dream that one day we\u2019ll be back in contention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heading to the bar at the Meridian Resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nice swimming pool!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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shame about the rugby…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A three-day cultural festival is also being held in Waisai this weekend, so we enjoy seeing the local kids dancing and singing and explore the stalls selling everything from hats and carvings to local food and drink.  We continue to be blown away by the friendliness of everyone we meet – they all want selfies with us, we feel like VIPs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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a manta ray hat!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stine from “Sarabande” at the hat stall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The local kids in the dance competition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There’s a mix of ethnicity and religion in this part of Indonesia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stylish, but surely oh so hot?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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more friendly locals wanting photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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exploring new taste sensations – a bit like a very sweet milkshake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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‘Hello missus’ – more cute kids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We like Waisai – it\u2019s got a great local fruit and veggie market, some fairly basic supermarkets, ATMs and several restaurants. We take our first \u201cOjek\u201d ride – the motorbike taxis that you find everywhere in this part of Indonesia. It\u2019s good fun and super cheap – just Aus$2 for a one-way trip from the anchorage to town.  No helmets for passengers, you just hang on and hope for the best!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our ‘Ojek’ drivers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We learn from our new cruising buddies that Waisai is the best place to re-provision if you don\u2019t want to go back to Sorong, but there\u2019s also a daily fast ferry service to Sorong which is a good way to bring guests in. Many of the traditional \u201cphinisi\u201d live-aboard dive boats meet their guests here, and now that the season\u2019s underway it\u2019s getting busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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a traditional phinisi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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another live aboard phinisi waiting to pick up guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We reckon we have a week or so to wait for our prop to arrive, so in the meantime we\u2019re going to get a taste of some nearby Raja Ampat islands with \u201cJams\u201d and \u201cSarabande\u201d. It\u2019s wonderful to finally have the company of other cruisers after so long on our own, and particularly as these guys have the low-down on all the best spots to go. Love this cruising life!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re heading to Waisai, the main town on the island of Waigeo, and the gateway to Raja Ampat.  The name means \u201cFour Kings\u201d, for the four islands that make up the Birds Head Peninsula – Batanta, Waigeo, Salawati and Misool.  It\u2019s an archipelago of over 1500 islands with the richest, most diverse marine ecology on … <\/p>\n

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