Four large islands that became the starting point of the spread of the entire population of Raja Ampat who mostly work as fishermen. The territorial waters are the main attraction of Raja Ampat, considering the waters of Raja Ampat is one of the 10 best waters around the world. This is based on various studies on the richness of marine nature and flora that Raja Ampat. To find out interesting facts of Indonesia Raja Ampat, you can read the following paragraphs.
If the Amazon is a forest that has the largest land animal species, then the water of Raja Ampat is “Amazon Forest” under the sea. Here, divers can find Papuan Epaulette to Wobbegong Shark carpet sharks, pigmy type ponylings as big as a pinkie to a large fish with wingspan reaching five meters, and a troupe of Barracuda fish. Raja Ampat is like a live library of the world’s most diverse collection of coral reefs and marine biota.
Raja Ampat is basically a national park, so deliberately not developed and promoted as a tourist destination. Raja Ampat residents are very concerned about the sustainability and cleanliness of nature. Therefore they will limit the people who visit Raja Ampat. The community will do anything to make Raja Ampat beautiful and sustainable.
Native people of Indonesia are notoriously friendly, so is with the population of Raja Ampat. They are very friendly that makes visitors will feel like at home there. Many people think that Papuans are notoriously harsh but in fact they are very friendly.
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The beauty of Raja Ampat started to be well known in 1990. At that time, a diver of the Dutch named Max Ammer visited the region. His original purpose was to trace the existence of the planes and ships used in World War II that were thought to have sunk in the inspection. It turned out that Max Ammer was fascinated by the diversity of biota in Raja Ampat, so in 1998 he invited Gerry Allen, a fishery expert from Australia, to conduct a survey in this place.
For a diver, the existence of a coral reef is an amazing attraction. Moreover, Raja Ampat is a coral reef paradise. There are some coral reefs whose condition is still very good with the percentage of live coral cover up to 90%, ie in Dampier strait (strait separating Waigeo Island and Batanta Island), Kofiau Islands, East of Misool Island and Wayag Islands. The types of coral reefs in Raja Ampat are generally coral reefs with sloping contours to steep.
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There are some famous diving spots in Raja Ampat, such as Manta Point, Mike’s Point, Sardine Reef and Shark Point. Each point has its own features. For example, in Manta point, easily found Manta fish with a diameter of 9 m downstream around you. Around the Bay Rocky Kaboei Islands there is a bay beneath which is a rock tunnel. In Kaboei Bay Rock there are also coral caves that are inhabited by bats, and in some places are found the remains of human bones.
As if to strengthen its position as an “Amazon Forest” under the sea, every year in this district is organized Maritime Festival or Maritime Festival. The festival is held around the district capital in Waisai, about 3 hours on a speedboat ride from Sorong City. This festival invites other districts in Papua that have beaches to participate.
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Although the journey to Raja Ampat needs a lot of budget, it does not reduce the interest of tourists who visit. In 2007, the number of tourists visiting there was only 1,000 people. While currently, the number of tourists in Raja Ampat reaches 15,000. 73 percent came from foreign countries. Interested to visit there soon?
In a joint study conducted in 2001-2002 by Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the National Oceanographic Institute (LON) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) it was noted that in these waters there were more than 540 hard corals (75% of the total types in the world), more than 1,300 species of fish, and 700 species of soft animals. This makes up 75% of the world’s coral species in Raja Ampat. No place in the world with the same area has as many coral species as like Raja Ampat does.
Raja Ampat underwater biodiversity is due to its location in the coral triangle area. The coral triangle is the boundary of coral reefs in the area resembles a triangle shape. The coral triangle actually covers Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Salomon Islands, but Indonesia is the largest covering Raja Ampat, Derawan, Wakatobi and Komodo.
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The name of Raja Ampat is taken from the folklore in the region. In Indonesian, Raja Ampat means “Four Kings”, ie four Kings who rule the four kingdoms in the region, namely Waigeo, Misool, Salawati, and Batanta. For more about the story, you can see History of Indonesian Raja Ampat.
Apparently, the beauty of Raja Ampat has attracted visitors from abroad, especially the famous people in the world. There’s Sergey Brin, Google’s boss, who is vacationing in Raja Ampat at Christmas. Sergey claimed to really enjoy the natural beauty of Papua is natural. Unfortunately, it is not everyone can visit this place because the number of Raja Ampat visitors is always limited.
The Raja Ampat Islands consist of about a thousand islands consisting of small islands, mainland, and four main islands, Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo as well as the small island of Kofiau. Residents in the Raja Ampat Islands are scattered in no more than five percent of the islands that can be occupied.
All in all, how amazing the nature, history, and culture of the Raja Ampat Islands can make the world amaze. Now Raja Ampat has become one of the famous tourist destinations in the world, it’s just because of limited access to achieve it required a lot of money. However, not to worry, Raja Ampat increasingly improves itself by providing various facilities for all walks of life.
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