Cendrawasih Bay in Papua

Indonesia is not only the beauty of the sea Raja Ampat ! In Papua, there is still beauty of the sea is not less interesting to the Raja Ampat.

Raja Ampat is located in the province of West Papua. But the island is not the only one who save the natural beauty under the sea at the western end of Indonesia. In Papua, there is Cendrawasih Bay National Park are no less beautiful than Raja Ampat. 

The National Park stretches from the eastern peninsula Kwatisore to Rumberpon Island with a long coastline of 500 kilometers. This makes it the largest marine national park in Indonesia, with a total area of ​​approximately 1.453 million hectares.

Cendrawasih Bay area which is used as a national park since 1993 is known to be rich in fish. At least 209 species of fish live , such as butterflyfish, angelfish, damselfish, parrotfish, rabbitfish, and anemonefish. It also becomes a breeding area of ​​four species of sea turtles, the hawksbill, green turtle, olive ridley turtles and leatherback turtles.

Occasionally, when sailing on the Cendrawasih Bay you will see a mermaid or dugong and dolphins jumping. If lucky, often seen great blue whale and shark in the water surface. The whale shark, the largest shark species in the world are also often seen in the waters Kwatisore, this Nabire. 

The whale shark is a species of water that is only found in the waters of Papua, Philippines, Australia, and South Africa. These sharks migrate to feed and breed. Typically, these sharks in Australia only seen in summer but in fact almost always Cendrawasih Bay there, quoted from the booklet of Marine Tourism Ministry of Forestry. 

The existence of a whale shark makes a great tourism opportunity for Cendrawasih Bay. These sharks are often seen swimming around the fishing boats. If you want to call them, you just throw the fish into the sea castle, then the sharks would welcome him to the surface of the water. Many travelers also are snorkeling or diving to see the whale sharks at close range under the sea.

Unfortunately, in the Cendrawasih Bay National Park is not yet available tourism facilities such as Dive Center, inn or resort. Travelers who want to stay can use the cottage belonging to National Parks in District Rumberpon or in people's homes.

To go to Cendrawasih Bay Marine National Park, you can use the plane to fly to Manokwari or Nabire. From that location, proceed along the 95 mile trip by boat motors.