Leaving Pulau Kri for Waisai
After breakfast, I went back to Yenkoranu to pay for yesterday’s trip on credit card. I had tried yesterday but the data connection on the island is very intermittent and often best in the wee hours of the night and first thing in the morning. So, the connection worked fine now but my Mastercard got declined (often NZ banks say they never received the request for an approval) but my Visa was accepted instantly.
I had time for a swim and a lie down in the hammock before lunch and going to Waisai.
I had enjoyed my time on Pulau Kri, diving with other travellers and speaking English again! In fact, I extended my stay by a day to do yesterday’s Fam Island trip instead of bird-watching in Waisai.
The boat back to Waisai had two engines and took only 35 minutes this time. I was pleased to be back at Toko Surya. It’s funny how nice and comfy it looks now after the hut on Pulau Kri.
I treated myself to two ice-creams through the day and some junk food. I was no longer limited to fish, veges and rice!
About Pulau Kri’s Homestays
Homestays in Pulau Kri are relatively new to the tourism landscape. Until recently, Raja Ampat was rather expensive (still is by my standards). There is a website called stayrajaampat.com which has information on homestays on Kri and other islands.
Here are my comments based on my own experience:
- The Koranu Fyak homestay is back-to-basics with its huts and one shared bathroom (with scoop/bucket). It does have a western toilet with scoop/bucket as flush.
- The Yenkoranu next door has slightly better facilities in its ensuite rooms but from the pictures I’ve seen, their non-ensuite ones may not be as good.
- I had chosen the Koranu Fyak because they answered my SMS while the Yenkoranu didn’t. I could have phoned them both but I didn’t bother with the latter as a mistake in their webpage had overpriced their boat transfer.
- The homestay owners may not be very organised or very consistent with pricing information. What you get quoted may not be what you pay if you’re dealing with a different person. I just let them prepare the bill and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a little less than expected, but had my phone and the original correspondence handy just in case.
- They may not be entirely reliable with anything. Eg. at the Yenkoranu, they left their incoming guests to find their own way to the homestay because their boat was busy chartered by us for an outing. At our place, our boatride back to Waisai was late on the last day, which meant that the connection to the Sorong ferry might have been a little tight. I had built in extra time for hiccups but fortunately I wasn’t subjected to any (which meant that I had lots of time to chill). This extra time also allowed me to try team up with others for the costly transfer between Waisai and Kri.