Wayag lies just north of the equator in the Raja Ampat region of Papua. It is a small collection of islands, surrounded by coral reefs and white sand beaches, with towering columns of rock about a labyrinth of lagoons.
The landscape is heavily influenced by geological joints and faults, which facilitate the erosion process, resulting in the scattered, maze-like islands and hidden lagoons. We arrived here on New Years Eve 2024-2025, and stayed about a month. There were a number of other yachts here, many Americans and Europeans who were circumnavigating, and all attracted by this jewel of Raja Ampat.
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NYE 2025
We left Kawe early morning on New Years Eve, heading for the party that was planned on Wayag. When leaving Australia months ago, Wayag was the destination we were heading for, with no real plans for where we would go next. The guide book had suggested that the anchorage at Wayag could fit 4 or…
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Birgit turns 70
January 4 2024 is a significant date for Bibbi, as it her 70th birthday. We were lucky to be together with a significant family of yachties for the special day. They arranged a surprise party for Birgit, and I was able to keep it a secret until moments before she set foot on the beach.
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Wayag Interior Lookout
On the islands of Wayag, there are two walking “tracks” to lookouts. Yesterday we took a trek to the top of the “interior” lookout. Wayag is a group of islands in the north of Indonesia, in the northern hemisphere, composed of the soluble Karst rocks as we’ve been seeing elsewhere in Raja Ampat. The Karst…
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Wayag Plastic
While we continue to be stunned by the scenery of the islands of Indonesia, we continue to shudder at the amount of plastic waste that is disposed of into the oceans. Here at Wayag in Raja Ampat, we are in a remote area of Indonesia and thought we may have escaped the volume of rubbish…
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Wayag Manta Rays
Wayag is famous for the friendly manta rays that approach human swimmers in the water, and then put on a display of gymnastic movements. With my ear infection, BIrgit has been forced to snorkel with other boats when possible. Yesterday, while snorkelling with the crew off Wanda, Birgit had her first experience of swimming with…
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Wayag Sharks
A well known attraction on Wayag are the tame reef sharks at the ranger station. This morning, we travelled around to the beach with a couple of other yachty couples in our dinghies, and spent the next four hours snorkelling and wading with the sharks. At first, we had the place to ourselves, and were…
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Mount Pindito Lookout
It is just a short steep climb up bare karst rock to the lookout on Mount Pindito in the Wayag archipelago, but the view is stunning. The track to the summit begins in rainforest jungle at the edge of the beach, but soon becomes a scramble up an almost vertical wall of rock. The karst…
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Wayag Lagoon
Our time in the northern hemisphere is drawing to a close for this trip. We have enjoyed a month in this anchorage now, having moved around a few times to get a different view. Tomorrow we plan to leave, doubling back and beginning to head south again. One of the highlights of Wayag is the…
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Wayag Mangroves
Back in Australia, we are familiar with mangroves growing on sandbanks and mudflats. It took us by surprise when we found that the mangroves grow in coral here at Wayag, in Raja Ampat.