kri & batanta - two Special Raja Ampat Islands
BATANTA
Batanta is one of the bigger islands in Raja Ampat, the smallest of the four large islands which give Raja Ampat its name the ‘Four Kings’. Its not far from Waisai port, only around 2.5 hours away and 3.5 hours from Sorong port. Batanta is a great option if you wanted to explore more than just the marine life. Some homestays offer other land-based tours not just snorkelling and diving tours. We have done jungle trekking, bird watching, visiting local nearby village and waterfall trek, fishing / spear fishing and even met people who did camping in the jungle too. We stayed at Batanta Adventure Homestay (you will not find this on any booking sites and will need to contact them on the number listed on Google) and we had an incredible 5 days here. This is in the northwest of the island of Batanta which has a manta ray cleaning station just a few meters swim from your hut. The hosts are very accommodating and even offer to take you to the exact spot with their boat for free since the currents to swim there can be quite strong. This area is full of stunning coral all over and its bursting with life. Just snorkelling we saw very big manta rays, sharks, sea snakes, eels, cuttlefish, rays, turtles, plenty of fish and some of the nicest coral gardens we have ever seen. If you are lucky, you can also see dugong and oceanic manta rays that can have up to 7 metres wingspan! We weren’t lucky this time round. What’s really unique about Batanta is that the liveaboards have been banned to berth in this area which means that guests of the surrounding homestays get to visit these sites with practically no one around!
The downside to Batanta is that it isn’t as close to other islands like Kri is, for example. Generally, if you stay here, you wouldn’t do much island hopping during your stay but there is plenty to do on and around the island to keep you busy!
Here are some snaps of our great trip to Batanta.
KRI
Kri is a great option when visiting Raja Ampat. Its only approximately 1 hour away from Waisai port so is a great starting destination. Its not a big island but is a popular one with quite a good few homestays to choose from. Kri is a good choice because it has some really good snorkelling along the whole coast. Beautiful reefs with so much marine life just a short snorkel out no matter which homestay you choose to stay at. We stayed at Lukeson homestay on the northeast of the island and at Warnhaus dive homestay on the south side too and we saw turtles, rays, massive schools of many types of colourful fish, lionfish, black tips, lots of macros and of course some beautiful corals. We also were very close to some of the most popular diving and snorkelling sites in the Raja Ampat like Blue Magic, Sardines Reef, Manta Slope, Cape Kri, Yenbuba jetty and Suandarek. These were all under 30 mins away from Kri Island. So it does serve as a really great base for the best underwater experiences. Its also quite central, which means that you can get some day tours to other islands too such as Arborek and Mansur.
The downsides to Kri are its known to have a healthy population of rodents. Also, there isn’t much land to explore since its a small island and most of the land is occupied by homestays. Lastly, it can be more popular and therefore busier (this might be a positive too depending on your preference) but it’s positives definitely outweigh its downsides.
For more key recommendations and tips on planning your trip to Raja Ampat check out the blog post ”Tips for your dream holiday to Raja Ampat”.
Here are some of our favourite snaps of Kri island.
