Kaliburi Anchorage

Leaving Waisai full of food, we had a nice sail with westerly breeze for about 30 minutes while we headed towards the tidal race at Kaliburi. Typically for the doldrums, the little wind soon died, and we had to motor on for the rest of the way, as the time was right to let the tide carry us up the river.

The Kaliburi area is located on Waigeo, where a large mountain range runs north-south across the island. A little river runs along the base of those mountains, but that little river must carry the tides in and out of the large lagoon that sits between Waigeo and Gam. We saw currents in this river run at more than 4 knots, and this must be exceeded at times of greater tidal range.

Running through a narrow twisting gorge, the river creates huge whirlpools that feel like they could swallow up our little dinghy. Local villagers are seen out in little dugout canoes, using the current for a free ride, on their way to a fishing spot.

Just near the narrowest point in the river, a little bay lies off to one side, out of the main stream of current. It seems this bay may have been created by alluvial gravel beds, closing off the gap between the shore and a midstream island, and then being grown over with mangrove forest.

Around the shore of this anchorage, we found a little gorge that runs with freshwater down a fall into a creek, before running along the side of the cliff, over white sand and gravel, towards the mangroves and the river.

The attraction here is the “Blue River”, which runs down the big valley to the east of the anchorage. A visit to the Blue River requires us to head out into the current in the dinghy, before heading up a freshwater stream and walking through the jungle, but we have been told that it is definitely worth the effort.