Indonesia

Indonesia is still a rather new area for yachts to charter.

Indonesia is a sprawling country made up of over 17,000 islands spanning an area of 735,358 sq miles making it an ideal cruising ground. Some, of course, are more inhabited than others but each offers something new, exotic and exciting to its visitors.
Raja Ampat islands is an archipelago composed of about 1500 islands located in indonesian West Papua, also known as Irian Jaya, and stretching across the equator in the seas north-west of Papua New Guinea. The region is populated just sparsely and is still quite far from the routes affected by mass tourism. Located in the heart of coral triangle, Raja Ampat features one of the highest biodiversity of the planet, that includes many corals in excellent health state.
9 days in the Raja Ampat Archipelago Indonesia fact file One day you could be visiting the temples of Bali and the next cruising through the Ring of Fire, or past steep rainforest cliffs with the jungle canopy looming overhead fringed by pristine beaches in the Raja Ampat islands off West Papua. Many of the islands are uninhabited allowing any explorer to enjoy an undisturbed paradise above or below the water.

There isn’t actually a best time to visit Raja Ampat, as the weather is hot year-round (between 25 and 32 degrees centigrades) and there isn’t a real dry season: rains are to be expected year-round as well, although their frequency and quantity may be lower between October and December, months that are featured also by a calmer sea. The water’s temperature is around 28 degrees centigrades, although, depending on currents, there may be variations of several degrees often found even within a distance of a few meters of water.

Sorong is the capital and the main gateway to Raja Ampat islands. Sorong can be reached by about 4-5 hours flight from Jakarta or Bali, including a stop-over or an aircraft change somewhere in Indonesia (normally Makassar in Sulawesi). The flight is just daily and delays are to be expected, so it’s a good idea to not book any international connection on the same day and stay at least one night in Jakarta.