1

Delos Anchoring Guide Raja Ampat, Indonesia

2

Delos Anchoring Guide Raja Ampat, IndonesiaWritten by Brian Trautman

Designed and illustrated by Karin SyrenPhotos taken by Karin Syren, Brian Trautman, Brady Trautman, Jojse Leyten

Pubisher: S\V Delos Buddah design above by Josje Leyten

Cover photo: #7 Kabui Bay

3#2

#8

#4#5

#3

#6

#7

#9#10

#11

4

Table of ContentsEssential Gear......................................................Diving References.................................................Delos Blogs...........................................................Raja Ampat Tourist Pin.........................................Provisioning..........................................................Delos Google Earth and Open CPN Tracks.........Additional Anchorage Points from S\V Totem.......

#1 Air- North Ceram..............................................#2 Kalig- SE Misool...............................................#3 Yellit – SE Misool..............................................#4 Tomolol Bay, East Misool.................................#5 Balbulol, East Misool.......................................#6 Sorong..............................................................#7 Kabui Bay.........................................................#8 Yanggefo..........................................................#9 Mansuar............................................................#10 Fam...............................................................#11 The Bullseye!..................................................

Unforgettible Moments..........................................Contact information...............................................

56 6789-10 9-10

11-1213-1415-1617-2021-2425-2627-2829-3031-3233-3435-36

37-4041

5

Essential GearDelos has onboard 75M of chain and 25M of rode on our main anchor. We carry 4x50M ¾” warp and probably another 200M in various lines we can use in a pinch. We could have used another 25M of anchor chain on the main.

Most of the anchoring in Raja Ampat is deep. Even if you do have plenty of anchor chain and rode most of the anchorages are just too small to put out sufficient scope, so you’re better off tying off to the rock faces. We found most places went from >50M to 2M in less than a boat length so the cliffs are really steep. We have four 50M lengths of line onboard that we used most of the time and found this to be sufficient. There were a few times when we needed to tie spare lines together to make them even longer however.

Quite often the reef ledges can be 20M in width before the limestone exits the water, so if you are 15M from the reef and need 10M to scramble up the cliff to tie off you’ve already used 45M and haven’t tied off to the boat yet. The longer the better!

In a lot of places we also saw existing rope loops hanging from the cliffs. Where you see one you will often fine 2 or 3 more as they’re used by local fishing boats in bad weather. If the line is in good shape it could save you some trouble and potential scrapes from scrambling over the razor share limestone.

Anchorage #7 Kabui Bay

6

Diving ReferencesS\V Delos Dive Log for Raja Ampat

Diving Indonesia’s Bird’s Head Seascape (Burt Jones & Dr. Gerald Allen)

Delos BlogsA few blogs we wrote during our amazing sail through Raja Ampat!

Wobbegong Meditation- By Phoebe

Dancing In The Trees- By Josje

Bull’s Eye Wall Dive- By Karin

When The Lungs Of The World Collapse- By Brady

Hallo Mister, Photo Photo!- By Brian

I Made It!- By Phoebe

Sorong Indonesia, Cheap Massages And Bad Smells- By Brady

Raja Ampat Dream Anchorages- By Brian

Underwater Wonderland- By Josje

Living The Dream- By Karin

Fluorescent orange bulb-tip Anemones, Nudi Rock, #2 Kalig

7

Raja Ampat Tourist PinRaja Ampat is largely a marine conservation area and is protected by the Indonesian government. To support this they are charging a tourist entry fee, which is good for one year. If you search on “raja ampat tourist tag” you will find a lot of results. Unfortunately most of them are geared towards fly-in, fly out divers going on a live aboard boat where they organize everything.

It’s a little more difficult if you’re traveling on your own boat but here is what we found: If you’re coming from the south contact and email the Misool Eco Resort well in advance. They told us they would be happy to help arrange tags in advance for boats coming from the South. We didn’t know this so ended up contacting the office that handles the Tourism Tags in Waisai. We registered our boat details, number of people, and promised to buy the tags when we got up north. Ask for a Mr. Agus, however he doesn’t speak any English so we had to have a local translate for us while we were in Banda. We were visited by different patrols a few times on our trip north and they seemed to be ok once we dropped this story.

If you’re coming from the North it’s much easier. We heard you could buy the tags at the Meridien hotel in Sorong but it turns out this is only for liveaboard divers. The secretary there said we needed to pay for a boat permit as well and they didn’t sell those there. We ended up sailing to Waisai and visited the tourism office next to the Acropora Hotel. She was very helpful and the whole process took only about 30 minutes. We were charged 500,000 Rupiah PP (approx. $45 USD). Luckily there was no mention of a boat permit being required so we skated through without asking. There was some confusion as to whether this was for commercial boats or not when we spoke to the secretary in Sorong. We heard the boat was an additional 1,000,000 Rupiah so we were happy not to pay.

Raja Ampat Tourist Pin

8

ProvisioningAfter leaving Ambon we didn’t see any other markets or shops until Sorong. Suppos-edly there is a village on the mainland of SE Misool but we never went there. I’m sure a local could point you in the right direction. The only things plentiful in the outer islands were cigarettes and distilled palm wine (Soppee). So stock up well on canned goods, diesel, and petrol when traveling though this area! If you don’t need to visit the super-market in Sorong there is a good fresh produce market in Waisai on Waigeo (north of Sorong). Visit Waisai and get your Tourist Pin and fresh veggies in one stop!

Ambon Market

9

Delos Google Earth and Open Cpn Tracks

Additional Anchorage Points from S\V Totem

If you have Google Earth download our KML file and you can check out our exact sailing

track. Or, import our GPX file into your navigation system and do the same.

Our awesome friends\super cruisers on S\V Totem put together this list of anchorages in

a nifty Excel spreadsheet. Be sure to check out their Open Cpn track as well. Thanks guys!

10 # 11 The Bullseye!

11

#1 Air- North CeramAnchor- Hard Pack Sand- 20M

Awesome Snorkeling just off the island. Good live coral and small fish.

Decent Protection from the reef and island to the North

We had just left Ambon and were looking for a place to rest and relax before continuing our sail north to Raja Ampat. After exploring a few islands in the area we found nothing but 75 meter drop offs that suddenly rose to 2 meter reefs. With a little bit of a dinghy mission we found our way inside this reef and found a really sweet, protected anchorage. It was only blowing 10-15 when we were there so not sure how it would be in higher winds. The bottom is hard pack so we had to put out heaps of chain. Some friendly fisherman from a nearby island came by to say hello and gave us some fish as well. No village nearby except a few fishing huts. We got spotty Edge coverage from Telkomsel, enough for text emails and weather but not much else.

12

Grilled Fish for Lunch

Cuttlefish

13

#2 Kalig- SE MisoolDual Stern Lines, bow hook, Hard Pack Sand\Limestone- 45m, Great protection in SE and E. Could get a little swell if breeze moves N.

Center of the Misool Eco Resort Protection Area, Mind blowing snorkeling and diving!

See Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #2,3,4,5,6,7

See “Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 129-132.”

This was our first stop in Raja Ampat and we weren’t disappointed! We found this one by letting Delos sail back and forth in the deep water while we dinghy explored. It’s really, really deep and big enough for 1-2 boats if they are real cozy. We put out two stern lines to the nearly vertical limestone cliff faces and set two bow hooks in 45m. If I had to do it again I would forget about the bow hooks and just tie the bow to a wall as well. It was blowing 20-25 knots SE outside so there were swirling gusts that found their way into our little piece of paradise but the water was flat and calm.

There is breathtaking snorkeling and diving right off the back of the boat. Seriously it’s a really sweet spot. After doing a few listed dives in the area we just started diving from the boat, or just outside the anchorage. It was all fantastic!

This is the center of the preservation area so expect the patrol guys to come by and have a chat. We saw them every day racing around on patrol but they only came by to ask us for our Raja Ampat Tags once. We did take a wet dinghy ride to the Misool Eco Resort for a chat and to use the internet. They were very welcoming and helpful about diving information for the area. There is a mooring at the resort but it’s pretty exposed and only would be good in calm weather.

14

Delos Stern Tied to the Cliffs

Patrol Guys + Delos Crew

15

#3 Yellit – SE MisoolBottom Unknown- 50M or more! We used one of the moorings. Great protection in SE.

Center of the Misool Eco Resort Protection Area, Mind blowing snorkeling and diving!

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #8

See “Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 129-132.”

After spending a week or so diving at Kalig we made the short sail to Yellit. It was only a few miles away and a good sail in the 20 knot southeasterly. It’s super deep right up to the reef but the liveaboard dive boats have a mooring here. This is the base for the conservation area patrol guys and they said it was cool to use the mooring so we tied up.

On the island there is an absolutely beautiful beach to chill on, and a great shallow spot just inside the reef for exploring. We saw a few small white-tips swimming in the shallows. There were massive 2M barracuda and a decent sized shark under Delos so the protection of the area is really paying off. We didn’t dive off the boat here but took the dinghy around the corner to dive Yellit Kecil (see Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #8)

There’s a shallow pass into the patrol base where they take their small boats in that’s marked with a few sticks. These guys are seriously friendly and nothing but smiles. Not really any English but we communicated with gestures and had an awesome party fueled by sweet tea. Just pure joy and love here.

16

Delos on Mooring Lovely Beach

Sweet Tea Party!

17

#4 Tomolol Bay, East MisoolAnchored, Hard Pack Sand, 20M Good protection from SE and E.

If you’re searching for the Goa Cave this is a great place. Amazing dinghy adventures await here!

After a few weeks of epic diving we decided to try and track down the Goa Cave we’d heard about from the guys at the Misool Eco Resort. Apparently it was somewhere close by so we sailed from Yellit to Tomolol Bay.

This entire area looks like a solid land mass on the chart but in reality it’s a MAZE of inlets, limestone islands, and amazing protected water. I bet you could spend an entire season here just exploring this little area.

As we sailed West into the bay we were blocked by a string of pearl farms so we didn’t go any further with Delos. We had a bit of trouble getting the hook to set because of the hard-pack sand over limestone even though it was only 20M. We ended up dumping all our chain and held good, but probably wouldn’t leave the boat in a massive squall.

That afternoon we were visited by some stern looking guys that were security for the pearl farms. Apparently they protect the farms from theft and also warn away dynamite fishermen with their AK’s. After they found out why we were there it was nothing but smiles. Yes, they carry fully loaded automatic weapons here but they are super cool and even took us into the nearest village in their boat to buy smokes. We had a party onboard and showed them Transformers on the projector. They unloaded their guns before boarding of course…..

The next day we went on a dinghy mission in search of the cave and ended up going to the very West end of the bay to a massive platform that serves as a sort of makeshift camp for the pearl farm workers. We were welcomed by about 150 people and ended up getting an escort from the Indonesian Army, Local Police, and Pearl Farm Security to the cave. And then a personal guided tour which was really cool. All they wanted was to take pictures with us.

The cave is truly breathtaking. It’s a Muslim holy site and we were asked not to swim out of respect for their ancestors. If you don’t feel like searching out the Army for your own guided tour try GPS points below. It’s a windy dinghy ride with lots of cool channels to explore. Take a GPS so you can find your way out! It’s about 4.5 miles to the first waypoint from our marked anchorage.

18

Nina on Watch Duty through Maze of Limestone Islands

19

Goa CaveGoa Cave

20

Welcoming Pearl Farm Workers

Our Security Escort to Goa Cave

21

#5 Balbulol, East MisoolTwo Stern Lines, Two Bow Lines, Nearly 360’ protection Hard Pack Sand\Limestone 40-45M

If you’re searching for some solitude, epic snorkeling, and an amazing beach this is the place!

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #9

See “Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 124-125.”

After our adventures in Tomolol we were looking for a little solitude and a beach for Karin’s birthday party. We sailed East towards the string of islands that trails off Misool’s East coast. The water seems to be very deep or very shallow so it’s easy to spot depth in good light. We wound Delos through the maze of limestone islands looking for a protected spot to tie up with close proximity to a beach for a good birthday party. Using the binoculars we found a perfectly protected anchorage with an amazing beach just around the corner. The anchorage was too deep to anchor so we used two stern lines and two bow lines.

It was blowing 20-25 SE and too rough to do any dives outside the protection of the islands but the anchorage was nice with flat water. The snorkeling was just absolutely amazing right off Delos, as you would expect in Raja Ampat. The diving inside was also pretty good, see our S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #9 and #10.

The beach was one of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen and ideal for a beach party day. We didn’t see a soul for our entire week here. There was an abandoned fishing hut but no other signs of people.

22

Delos Stern Tied to the Cliffs

Beach Fire!

23Fantastic Beach Island, #5 Balbulol, East Misool

24

25

#6 SorongAnchored- Stinky Mud 10-15M. Good holding but some swell and weather as it open to the South.

Dirty water, lot’s of rubbish, no good dinghy landing place. Kind of gross.

Sorong isn’t really a place you want to spend a lot of time if it can be avoided. Get in, get fuel, provisions, and get out! The holding is good and the people in the shops are exceedingly nice but that’s about it. We did get boarded in the night by some thieves that made off with our remote VHF but they scared off easily enough. Lock up everything! There is a decrepit pier that the workers use to get to and from the work boats in the harbor. You can tie your dinghy up and land but at low tide it’s a 2M climb and there’s often massive swells rolling in here. We didn’t leave our dinghy at the pier, only used it to drop people on and off. If you are waiting for crew to come in there is a quick ferry to Waisai to the north which is much nicer.

26

Decrepit Pier as our Dinghy Landing

Hello Miiister, Foto Foto

27

#7 Kabui BayDual Stern Line, Bow Line, Hard-pack sand\limestone 15M, Great protection 360’

Awesome bird life, fireflies in the hills, mill-pond still water, close to Kabui Pass.

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #11

“Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, West Waigeo 8, page 84.”

If you’re looking for a base to launch adventures into Kabui Pass this is a great place. This was our first stop after Sorong and we just wanted to get away and chill for a few days so we sent the dinghy in to find a deep water pass through the limestone islands. It’s a pretty small location but felt very secure. You could probably fit a few boats if you rafted together. Every few days the tour boat from one of the resorts would putt by so we put out a float on our bow line for them to avoid. Other than this we saw absolutely no one.

You don’t get much breeze in here as it’s completely protected so it does get a little hot but the water is perfectly still. The snorkeling and swimming off the boat isn’t amazing because there isn’t much water flow here so it’s looks a little stagnant. But, you’re just a few minutes dinghy from Kabui Pass which is an absolute blast to drift snorkel when the current is running. We spent many days exploring the caves, diving, and snorkeling in the pass. Really cool area.

We were able to take Delos through Kabui Pass on our way to Yangeffo which saved us a lot of motoring miles in the windless heat. Our draft is 2.1M. A few times we saw under a meter which told us we were on the wrong side of the channel, so we’d just scoot towards the other side and deeper water.

28

Kabui Pass Bat Cave

Delos Tucked in between Limestone Islands

29

#8 YanggefoDuel Stern Line, Bow Hook, 30M Hard Pack, good 360’ Protection

Amazing diving in the pass and snorkeling right off the boat! Nice beach to explore on the North side of the island.

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #12, 13, 14.

“Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 82-84”

This is a really nice anchorage with some incredibly protected dive spots, great for novice divers to get accustomed to dealing with currents. The anchor seemed to hold good on the steep wall, with our bow in 30M the stern was in 5M. It gets shallow quick!

This is a very popular spot for the live aboard dive boats and we saw quite a few. They’re really friendly and they filled us in on some local knowledge. We were told there are crocs in the mangroves in this inlet and to beware at night. When they do night dives they slap the water, the dinghy, and rev the engine before people get in the water which seems to scare them off. We did some night dives off Delos and snorkeled during the day right along the mangroves and it was awesome!

Just around the corner there is a sweet beach where an older fishing couple was living. No English, but they were super cool and we hung out with them for the most amazing sunset!

30

Sunset Beach

Delos Stern Tied to the Mangroves

31

#9 MansuarMooring! Really deep here > 50M. Ripping current at 2-3 knots sometimes. No protection from the North.

Great access to the Raja Ampat Dive Lodge where they serve amazing food and have internet you can use!

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #15, 16

“Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 86-92”.

We had been out a few weeks and were feeling social so rocked into the Raja Ampat Dive Lodge. They have two moorings here that are used by the live aboards. If one is open just talk to reception and make sure they aren’t expecting another live aboard that day. The charge is typically $15.00 US per night which is a bit pricey but there really are no other options for this area for anchoring, especially due to the massive current that flows through the strait.

There is good food but it’s fairly expensive at $20-25 per plate. It was a buffet though so we went for it and gorged ourselves after having cooked our own food for so many weeks. The internet is painfully slow but can be used in their nice bar\reception area over Wi-Fi. The entire resort is beautiful and very relaxed. You can even hike on their trails over to the other side of the island if you want to stretch your legs.

The diving and snorkeling off the end of their pier was surprisingly good and they regularly take tourists diving there in the evenings. The staff were very cool and we felt welcome. Best of all it’s a great place to run around the corner and do the amazing Cape Kri dive for a day trip.

Directly north is where all the Red Bird Of Paradise tours are run from so with Delos on a mooring we dingied across in the early morning light for this experience. Amazing! Just take the dinghy to the long pier at the village marked Red Bird Of Paradise. It’s best to go the day before to arrange a guide. Once you have that set up he’ll meet you at dawn at the pier and take you into the jungle. It’s quite a show and well worth the fee they charge. We had a slight misunderstanding thinking the fee was for our group, when in fact it was per person so be sure to sort this out ahead of time!

32

Red Bird of Paradise in Action Delos on Mooring

33

#10 FamThe only normal anchorage we came across. Just drop the hook in 10-15 meters and your set! Good protection from the south.

Probably one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve seen. Off the charts snorkeling from the boat to the beach. Even spotted a few black tip reef sharks and a small spotted ray in the shallows during our daily beach walks.

After leaving the Raja Ampat dive lodge behind we ventured further West looking for a decent anchorage to explore the Fam group of islands. After a wrong turn into a dead-end bay we found a really sweet looking beach and sent the dinghy in to check the depths. We were surprised to find a nice, gentle sloping area leading all the way into the beach! It was hard-pack sand but still we didn’t need to stern or bow tie. Just drop the hook. Too easy!

We anchored out a few hundred meters because we didn’t want to risk damaging any of the coral that was closer in. Snorkeling in we found multiple sandy spots amongst the coral where you could anchor a shallow draft boat. We probably could have snuck Delos into within 50M of the beach but the snorkeling was so good we were happy to have a longer swim in.

We did see a few local fishing boats here but they were working on some sort of a conservation effort with Sea Sancturies so only fishing with hooks. No netting and no dynamite fishing made for an amazing display. One guy came up claiming to be the Harbor Master, wearing a uniform of sorts, and demanded beer. I gave him a handshake, a stale piece of bread and some tea. He never came back and we were to ourselves during the entire stay.

The beach in itself is a perfect piece of paradise. Walking in the perfect sand we could see sharks and rays playing in the shallows. Absolutely amazing! We had it completely to ourselves during our 4 day stop here. We did our share of beach BBQ’s, sundowners, and soul nourishing walks. Truly peaceful place to stretch your legs.

34

Harbor Master

Sweet Beach Anchorage

35

#11 The Bullseye!Stern Hook, Bow Hook, 55M Hard Pack, good protection from SE, S, W. Open to N and E.

This is the Bullseye of the Coral Triangle! Dive, Dive Dive!

See S\V Delos Raja Ampat Dive Log #18, 19, 20, 21

“Diving Bird’s Head Seascape, pages 110-113”

After a few days of snorkeling and chilling on the beach at Fam we saw an unfamiliar sight. Another dinghy! We immediately chased them down and found them to be the

crew of the Sea Sanctuaries boat Hang Tuah. See our blog on these awesome guys! They told us to come over and explore some dive sites with them so we pulled up the hook and set sail north.

There’s a mooring close to our anchorage location but the Hang Tuah boat was on it so we explored and found a “shallow” spot of 50M where we could at least get our bow hook to set. There was nothing to tie the stern line to so we set the stern hook in a patch of sand on the reef and were pretty comfortable for the week we spent here.

We came here to dive, and dive we did! Sometimes diving the same spot 2 or three times in a single day. It really was that good. Check out Karin’s favorite dive in the Delos dive log.

There is a bay similar to the one in Wayag just around the corner on Penemu, about a mile north of the anchorage. We didn’t try to get Delos in there as it looked too shallow for us, but it’s great for dinghy exploring! There’s even a walk to the top of the hill with an amazing overlook of the entire area. Well worth it.

We spent quite a lot of time around the small island marked “Bullseye”. On the East side of the island there is a TINY pass that will get you into a really nice lagoon. From there you can climb up the hill to the Sea Sanctuaries look-out post and have an amazing view!

Stunning view from Sea Sanctuaries look-out post.

36

Lagoon Hike

37

Unforgettible Moments

Local tribe dansers, #9 Mansuar

Chill at the bow, #2 Kalig Boat trip with security dudes, #4 Tomolol Bay

38

Clownfish in Sea Anemone, #11 The Bullseye!

Huge school of Trevally at Cape Kri, #9 Mansuar

Dinner, #8 Yanggefo

Beach day! #10 Fam

39

Beach walk, #9 MansuarFloaties + drinks, #1 Air

Awesome dive at Tank Rock! #2 Kalig

40

Children coming to say halo mister! #6 Sorong

Local fishing boat, #8 Yanggefo

Crab, #3 Yellit Wahoo bitten in half by shark, Leaving Misool

41

www.svdelos.com

www.facebook.com/svdelos

www.youtube.com/briantrautman

Thanks for checking out our Anchoring Guide!

If you found it useful please feel free to pass it on or buy us a beer! :)

If you have any suggestions or comments please contact us on

svdelos53@gmail.com