T
he clear blue underwater space around us
stretched to infi nity—the visibility must have
exceeded 100 feet. Clouds of fi sh hovered above,
between, and behind the exquisite coral. These
waters off Pulau Kri have one of the world’s
richest coral communities. Green, red, yellow,
and purple, the coral covers the slanting bottom
in mushrooming plates, circles, antlers branching like trees, and
frilly lace. It wasn’t all dreamy beauty, though. A lightning-fast
strike of a shark on a hapless grunt scattered schools of minnows.
But they soon settled back into the magical waterscape.
Hengki Kolit, our translator, guide, and friend aboard Whale
Song, our 94-foot expedition motoryacht on the way westward
from Papua New Guinea, pointed us to Raja Ampat—a region
off Irian Jaya in the Indonesian islands fabled by world-wise
scuba divers. Besides offering diving grounds, Raja Ampat’s main
island, Waigeo, gave us our last chance of seeing the dance of
the birds-of-paradise. Kornelius, an experienced tracker from the
nearby village of Kaboei, piloted our tender through shady creeks
to a steep bank of dense woods. Sweaty and muddy, slipping
and sliding, we climbed to the lek where the birds display. As
slow walkers, we missed the best time, which is just after dawn.
Still hoping, Kornelius set off a concert of whistles—cooing,
screeching, and hollow gurgling—all confi rmed by unseen distant
calls. A bird swung by, bright blue coverlets, orange legs and
white chest, the size of a large raptor, but actually just an imperial
pigeon. Then it started to drizzle, and birds-of-paradise defi nitely
don’t dance in the rain.
Returning a different way we passed a large hull under
construction, which was almost ready for launching from a cradle
of saplings. Wooden boatbuilding in Indonesia continues in the old
tradition with hardwood pegs holding planks to the frames. Some of
these pinisi cargo carriers are up to 100 feet long. And fi shing bagans,
wide and spidery with outriggers on both sides, can be massive, too.
We steered southward, convinced that we had already seen
the best reefs. Wrong! An archipelago of smaller islands spreads
southeast from Misool. Tempted by the pillar rocks off our
anchorage at Pulau Wagmap we splashed in. Underwater, the
pillar shapes continued, wrapped with sponges, hard corals, and
soft corals, pliable and gaudy. In the slight current of the dropoff,
the fuzzy soft coral trembled, teeming with fi sh life. We swam
upside down through a cathedral-like arch bursting with color,
a giant Napoleon wrasse keeping station near us. This was truly
the best dive of the voyage, and maybe of my life.Vibrant, Volcanic Indonesia
Indonesia includes thousands of islands with only the largest
populated. Various ethnic groups live on these islands, each with
its own language and religion. Today all can speak the unifying
Bahasa Indonesia lingua franca, but tensions often surface. On
Seram Island, Whale Song anchored off Sawai, a village where both
Christians and Muslims live. The port captain in military garbThis Photo: Sawai, Seram Island. (Opposite Page) Top Right: We
wait for Birds of Paradise to show up as Kornelius warbles enticing bird
calls. Bottom Right: Peaked thatch roofs shelter the whaling boats
Bottom Left: A friendly elder mending nets in Sawai, Seram Island.
CRUISING LOGISTICS
- Start paperwork fl ow two months before you enter
Indonesian waters. Regulations often change; for more
information, visit http://www.noonsite.com. - For the most satisfactory visit, arrange to have a translator/
guide aboard. Contact Indonusa Marine by email: info@
indonusa-marine.net or [email protected].
Call +62 361-70004 or fax +62 361 722236.
CRUISING GUIDES- Cruising Guide to Indonesia
By Andy Scott - Imray’s Southeast Asia Cruising Guide, Volume II
By Elaine Morgan and Stephen Davies - To get an idea of Indonesia’s wonders read Malay Archipelago
by Alfred Russell Wallace, a 19th-century naturalist explorer.