The Raja Ampat Islands are a series of four adjacent islands and are located west of the Bird's Head (Vogelkoop) island of Papua. Administratively, this group is under the Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua Province. The islands are now a destination for divers who are interested in the beauty of the underwater scenery. The four groups of islands that are members are named according to the four largest islands, namely Waigeo Island, Misool Island, Salawati Island, and Batanta Island.

The origin and history

The origin of the name Raja Ampat according to local community myth comes from a woman who found seven eggs. Four of them hatched into four princes who separated and each became a ruling king in Waigeo, Salawati, East Misool and West Misool. Meanwhile, three other eggs become a ghost, a woman, and a stone, see another review in http://bit.ly/2ul7c2v

In the course of history, the Raja Ampat area has long been inhabited by aristocratic communities and implemented the Maluku customary system. In this system, society is a group of people. Each village is led by a king. Since the establishment of five Muslim sultanates in Maluku, Raja Ampat has become part of the claims of the Tidore Sultanate. After the Sultanate of Tidore surrendered from the Netherlands, the Raja Ampat Islands became part of the claims of the Dutch East Indies…..http://bit.ly/2ul7c2v

Public

Raja Ampat Islands people are generally traditional fishermen who live in small villages that are located far apart and on different islands. They are friendly people who receive guests from outside, especially if we bring souvenirs for them in the form of areca nut or candy. This item has become a kind of ‘Indian peace pipeline’ in Raja Ampat. Talking with eating areca nut is also called “Para-para Areca”, often taking turns throwing each other at each other, the local term for funny stories.

They are Muslims and Christians and often within one family or clan there are members who embrace one of these two religions. This makes the Raja Ampat community remain harmonious despite different belie

Prehistoric relics and history

In the area of ​​the Misool cluster found prehistoric relics in the form of handprints placed on a rock wall. Uniquely, these handprints are very close to sea level and are not in a cave. According to estimates, the age of these handprints is around 50,000 years and is part of a series of directions for the spread of humans from the western archipelago to Papua and Melanesia.

World War II shipwrecks can be found in several dive sites, such as Wai Island.

Tourism

Raja Ampat can be reached by plane from Jakarta or Bali to Sorong via Makassar or Ambon and Manado. The flight takes approximately 6 hours.

From Sorong, there are two ways to go to Raja Ampat: http://bit.ly/2Q0zmII

Take a tour by boat or Pinisi

Stay at Raja Ampat Dive Lodge resort.

Most tourists who come to Raja Ampat today are divers. For non-divers there are a number of white sand beaches, karst islands and endemic flora and fauna such as red paradise, Wilson’s paradise, maleo waigeo, various parrots and parrots, waigeo cuscus, and various types of orchids.

Conservation efforts

To preserve the underwater preservation of the Raja Ampat Islands, conservation efforts are urgently needed in this area. There are two international institutions that concentrate on the preservation of Raja Ampat’s natural resources, namely CI (Conservation International) and TNC (The Nature Conservancy). The government itself has determined the sea around South Waigeo, which includes small islands such as Gam, Mansuar, Yeben group and Batang Pele group, has been approved as Marine Wildlife Sanctuary. According to Minister of Forestry Decree №81 / KptsII / 1993, this area reaches 60,000 hectares.

In addition, several other marine areas have been proposed to become conservation areas. They are Marine Misaka Island Marine Reserve, Kofiau Island Sea, Asia Island Sea, Sayang Island Sea and Ayau Island Sea.