14^th April 2026 – In and Out of Sorong

Last blog was almost a couple of weeks ago but there really has not been that much going on as I wait for Nik to arrive.

I managed to hold out in the peace and quiet of Matan island until Wednesday the 9^th April then decided to make the move into Sorong.  It was an easy 3hr motor across to Sorong and I was anchored up by late afternoon just off the main harbour.  First impressions is its very busy, noisy with a lot of trash in the water, making for an altogether unattractive destination but I was determined to give it a go. There was one other yacht also anchored up and I went across to get some local information from them. 

Sorong is the principal town in Western Papua with a population of over 250,000.  Apart from being the jump off point for the Raja Ampat tourist scene it is also an administrative centre for the region and logistics hub for the oil and gas industries operating in the vicinity.  As with most of these places there is a major road running parallel with the coast which most shops and businesses are located on.  The waterfront area has businesses all the way along it from major logistics operations such as a container terminal, fuel receiving terminal, a general freight wharf and a ferry wharf. In between these are a myriad of smaller waterfront service businesses.  All day long and into the night vessels are moving around either arriving/departing the port/anchorage or servicing vessels at anchor or zipping between Sorong and the settlements on the nearby islands.

There is a mooring area further out in deeper water and that is used by all the “live aboards” – a term for the Raja Ampat tourist charter vessels which are mainly decked out Phinisi’s (traditional local vessels) with a couple of modern small diving charter vessels.  There must be around thirty of them at anchor so am assuming this is the off season.

Phinisi "live aboard" vessels anchored off Sorong

I stayed onboard for the first night and then headed out mid-morning the next day.  My objective was to get some food and to get some laundry done.  First stop was directly opposite the anchorage where there were a few wooden shacks and a landing area.  Here I found a laundry service run by a lovely lady by the name of Elka who promised to have the washing done by Saturday.  After that I pressed on into town and had a look around.  The town is typical Indonesian i.e. infrastructure crumbling away, lots of Gojeks and minibuses whizzing around, stray dogs and cats wandering about, churches and mosques dotted here and there and litter everywhere.  Given the size of the place I believe you could get most of what you need here.  There is a big supermarket called Saga which stocks all food items – there are ATM’s (limit of Rph 1,000,000 or AUD90!) and a number of hardware / marine stores.  There are a couple of malls and all the other normal shops you would expect in a decent sized city.

One thing that I have found wherever I have gone ashore is how friendly the locals are – always smiling at you and eager to help.

I loaded up on some fresh food and a six pack of beer and then headed back to the boat.  That night I took the dingy into a boat landing near the commercial jetty where there was a restaurant and had the first dinner I have not had to cook for about six weeks.

Remu River in Sorong

The next few days I took care of a number of issues.  I had to get park passes for the vessel and for Nik and I.  Whilst it was pretty straight forward there are always some issues which means it invariably takes longer than expected.  After visiting the park office I eventually completed the application and payment online but had to re-visit the office to get our passes.  I also went out and hunted down 150m of rope plus chafe protection which we will need to moor the boat in some of the more deeper anchorages in the islands.  I made arrangements to fuel up which is a bit of an exercise here - primarily they supply whats called bio diesel which is diesel containing 30% palm oil.  It can be used but there are issues with moisture.  For proper diesel you need to visit a filling station - more on this later.  The biggest highlight was the pick up of my laundry.  Its amazing that at home the washing machine runs two or three times a week whereas here I get laundry done once every few weeks - admittedly due to the weather the amount of clothing you wear is pretty minimal.

The anchorage location was wearing a bit thin by the end of the weekend.  The constant stream of traffic around the boat which has no concept of a “no wake” zone makes it a rather lumpy experience plus the amount of garbage flowing past the boat was really disgusting.  There is a very basic marina about 3NM to the north, and I have decided I will put Sea Otter in there for a few days around the time Nik arrives.  This will be quieter, cleaner and should be quite efficient to fuel up the boat and carry out the last shop before heading to the islands.

I made a final run into town on Tuesday during which time the outboard propellor was fouled by a used disposable nappy – which just reinforced my decision to leave Sorong.  So Tuesday mid-morning I retrieved the anchor and moved three miles up the coast to a spot which seems very pleasant even if I am anchored off a small shipyard.  There is very little traffic, almost no garbage and only a gentle swell rocking the boat.  I will look to go into the marina on Thursday 16^th April and then Nik arrives Sunday 19th. 

Fingers crossed the next post will be from Raja Ampat.