Ayau Archipelago is one of
island in Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia. The island is not only offers you
natural beauty but there you can see the conservation of leatherback which is
listed on endangered animal. Ayau is situated at north of Waigeo Island and has
5 villages, Yenkawir, Rutum, Reni, Meosbekwan and Doreker. The most attractive
village is Rutum. The infrastructure in this village is more complete because
there is guesthouse there.
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| Picture Gramediamajalah.com |
Transportation
To
reach Raja Ampat, you can take a flight from Jakarta to Sorong. After that, you
can continue your trip by riding speedboat or long boat from Sorong Pier to
cross Raja Ampat Regency. The first direction is visiting Waigeo Island.
Although its regency has 4 main islands, but Waigeo Island is the only island
that close to Ayau Archipelago. Furthermore, you won’t like to continue your
trip to Sorong directly because it will take 3 – 4 days with sea’s problems. After
you arrived at Waigeo Island, you better take a rest for a while and continue
your trip to Ayau next day because you will face long journey. From the pier of
Waisai, you can hire speedboat to take you to Ayau Archipelago. For this, you
need to pay IDR1,500,000 – IDR2,000,000 or US$155 – US$206 depend to the
passengers.
Activities
Just
like other island in Raja Ampat Regency, Ayau Archipelago is a small island
with natural scenery. Its island has beautiful underwater marine life and you
can see it clearly because it has clear water. Even when you dive, you can swim
together with colorful fishes. The panorama of coral reefs make divers love to
stay longer. The depth of water that can be dive is from 5 – 20 meters. At
evening, you can see children from Rutum Village playing and even jumping into
the sea from the pier. They are not afraid at all and that is why they continue
to try so many times.
The
other attraction you can see when you come to Ayau Archipelago is from December
to January, you can see officer of animal conservation at night. They stroll
along the coast of Ayau Beach to find whether the turtle come to lay eggs.
After that, they will take the eggs and try to hatch. They do this to preserve
leatherbacks which is become a rare animal in Indonesia. At summer, the
temperature in the island can be very hot at noon. You need to apply sun-block
to safe your skin. But, after you jump into the sea, you will feel fresh again.
Actually,
Ayau Archipelago is not a big region and it has many small villages. Furthermore,
it will be difficult to find equipment of diving stuffs. You have to prepare it
first before you come to the island. Most of visitors who come to this place
will love to spend their time in the water because they can find so many marine
life with beautiful coral reefs. Ayau Archipelaho has many bungalow and
guesthouse. But if you want cheaper prices, you can stay overnight in resident’s
house.
