Chasing Summer –

October 28-30th

People go to Sorong for one reason and one reason only. It is considered the gateway to some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world. Honestly, if you’re not going to go into the water, there’s no sense going here at all.

Most people will arrive and immediately take a ferry to the capital city of Raja Ampat. On the archipelago in the southwest of Papua and stay for 1 to 2 weeks, either island hopping or visiting a resort for diving and snorkelling.

We were only there for three days, so my options were a little bit more limited. Some people went and spent two nights at a homestay in Raja Ampat, some went for a day trip, and some got off the boat for 10 to 12 days to spend quality time there and will rejoin the boat in Darwin.

On our first day here, three of us got off the boat to see what was happening in town since we were not planning on any overnight excursion. We made a circular loop walking from the port area towards the Sapta Ratna pagoda on top of the hill, and then back down to the fish market, and heading back towards the port area, stopping off in the Marina. There were a couple of stores that some people chose to go to to see if there were certain supplies that they wanted, but other than that, there was nothing to do except visit a beach.

The walk from the ship to the pagoda was approximately 45 minutes along some fairly sketchy sidewalks and up through a back path that was more like a trail, heading up stairs to reach the pagoda. We weren’t even sure if we should take it, but some helpful locals pointed the way and watched us troop along until we reached the temple. The pagoda is one of the only tourist attractions besides another temple on the other side of the port.

The view from on top of the hill enabled us to see the city, including where our ship was docked. It was pretty hot and humid, and although Paul was only mildly damp, Claude was slightly wetter; I looked like I had just come out of a dip in the ocean. Apparently, I sweat a lot more than the two of them.

Leaving the pagoda, we took the main road down which was extremely steep and being repaved. This meant we needed to hop into the ditch to go around the freshly poured concrete and then hop back onto the road once we passed that section. It also meant that we needed to warn everyone else that if they required a car to get to Sapta Ratna, they would be unable to do it this trip because there is no way for the car to get up there.

From Sapta Ratna to the fishing market was a 20-minute walk. The fishing market does a booming business early in the morning, and there really wasn’t much left by the time we got there; however, we could still see all the fishing vessels and some houses on stilts.

There were also still a few vendors around who were very excited to see us, or really any foreigners.

From the fishing market, we made our way towards the Marina. The Marina is where almost all tours that go into the Raja Ampat leave from, so it is the busiest tourist area. There, they have a cafeteria, a small convenience store, and an even smaller souvenir shack. Here, travelers can pick up last-minute items like dive bags, waterproof phone pouches, or snacks.

I was looking for tape to complete my Halloween costume and an SD card, if I could find one for an underwater camera. I found the tape and the Bitung beer, but the SD card was beyond their merchandise.

From the marina back to the port was a 10-minute walk. We made it back in time for lunch and an afternoon rest. Later on, a group of us decided to go to a local pizza restaurant that was run by a Dutch expat and his Indonesian wife. The restaurant was up a different hill, so we took a shared car and enjoyed ordering 4 different kinds of pizza.

The next day, I had a day tour heading into Raja Ampat and some snorkeling. 30 of us had rented two boats to take us to three different dive sites and a waterfall. It costs 70 US Dollars just to buy a park permit and then another $80 for the tour itself.

By 7:00 AM, we were on the boats and on our way to our first stop, the sandbar, which was 90 minutes away. The sandbar itself is a beautiful white sand area surrounded by coral and thousands of fish species. I had purchased one of the waterproof baggies and had even tested it in my bathroom sink the previous day, so I brought my phone in with me and took some videos. The ocean is not the same as a bathroom sink, and there was some leaking. So, at the end of the snorkel, there was a warning about water in the charge port. Oh no. You guessed it, my phone shut itself off and then throughout the day continued to try and restart itself. This was not a good thing.

The snorkel itself was amazing. I could walk into the water and immediately have access to a confusion of fish of all shapes, sizes, and colours moving around. Countless different colours and types were swarming around, going in every direction busily, with the smaller fish closer to the shore and the larger fish as you got into drop-off areas. Some of the snorkelers saw sharks, but I didn’t.

When we got back on the boat, we headed another 45 minutes to our second area, where we would also be having our lunch. This section was a homestay which had six or 7 bungalows on stilts over the water where people could stay. Our two boats tied up side by side against their short pier. We needed to put our snorkeling gear on and go over the side of our boat, as we were the furthest out boat.

Since my phone was unsuccessful in staying dry and was currently not functioning, I instead took out a 360 camera that a friend had lent me, which was waterproof. Now, I had not practiced with this, and I’ve never used it before, so half the time I wasn’t even sure if I was actually turning it on or not.

Once I got into the water, I realized that the current here was fairly strong and was quickly taking me to the other end of the beach. There had there was a floaty tide to the end of a rope off of our first boat that people could have hung on to, but no one realized what was going on until we were past it.

I spent the majority of this dive time struggling to get back towards the boat, and the footage from the 360 camera is pretty funny, watching me flail about. Here again, there was some pretty good fish to see, including a cuttlefish, but I tried to get a video of but it isn’t very clear.

The most adventurous thing here was having to get back on my boat. In order to do that, I needed to go back towards the pier where the current was a little more blocked and then swim across the backside of both boats to make it to the ladder that was facing the open seas. I made it to the backside of my boat, and they tossed me a rope and hauled my **** around towards the ladder. Now I only needed to get up the ladder with my snorkel mask, camera, and my flippers still on. Impossible!

Clinging to the ladder so that the current would not drag me away, I stuck one foot into the air at a time so that the tour guide could take my flippers off for me. Once the flippers were off, I could readjust myself to get my knees on the bottom rung and then start climbing upwards. I’m sure watching was a comical sight as I flopped myself back on board. One other person required a stronger swimmer to go and get them with a floaty on a rope and bring them back to the boat.

Our next site was just across the short channel, which caused me some concern because the same current was there, but this is where the manta rays are. The guide on our boat told us that there were currents to the right and currents to the left, and we needed to go straight out so we didn’t get caught in those currents. One of my fellow passengers asked if anyone got caught in the current, if they would go and save them, and we were assured that they would come pick us up eventually.

A lot more cautiously, I geared up and headed to the beach area towards where other people had already popped into the water and begun their swim. This is when the guide from the first boat came over towards me and mentioned that we needed to go on a diagonal path in order to see the manta rays and avoid the currents. Not feeling 100 percent confident in the differing directions, I didn’t go very far until I could see other people not being swept away. Again, the coral comes very close to the shore and is pretty high. I was a bit concerned that I might be scraping bits and pieces of me as I swam over the top of this.

Because of the disastrous first two video snorkels, I didn’t bring anything out with me, but was able to get some footage from a fellow passenger of the Manta rays.

Several of our snorkelers needed to have the boat go out and pick them up from that area, but we all made it back safely. We headed back across the channel again to eat lunch. This is where you could tell that this homestay was not used to getting 30 people on top of those they normally have staying with them for a meal. There was not enough cutlery or dishes, and we needed to move two tables and chairs to a larger area to fit us all.

While it took them a while to get ready, the food was tasty and I enjoyed a vegetarian lunch.

From here there was an option of another snorkel site or visiting a village. Almost everyone from boat one wanted the village, and everyone from boat two wanted the snorkeling. Our guide assured us that both were possible, as the village also had snorkeling.

At this stop, they suggested snorkel out to the left. Those who wanted to go to the village had a group of children who had met us at the pier and were walking with them to show off the village.

The rest of us hopped into the water and swam to the left. Again, there are so many fish swimming about that it was easy to get distracted looking below and not pay attention to how far out you were going. So our boat had to go out and fetch some people who had snorkeled very far out and didn’t realise that everyone else had returned from the village.

After leaving this area, we went towards a mangrove and got off the boat to walk about 10 minutes to a waterfall. We started off on a wooden dock, which eventually led to a muddy, rocky path. The waterfall had a pool below it where people could get in for a dip, and several people climbed the waterfall to jump from the top. At the end of our little adventure, our shoes were filthy, and we all needed to stop and wash our feet and shoes before continuing on. It was another 90-minute trip back to the Marina and the odyssey.

As usual, a lot of local vendors had set up right outside the port building, and I stopped to have a look at their goods before going back on the ship. My phone at this point was still not working, and I wanted to put it in a ziplock bag with a dehumidifying tablet that I have for my hearing aids.

The next morning, my phone would go on, but it takes a long time to charge, and the charge doesn’t hold for very long. So while it will work for now, I do need to replace it sooner rather than later. We are heading to Australia, so hopefully I can pick up a new one there.

While Sorong is not exciting itself, I have to agree that the snorkeling in Raja Ampat is amazing.