Travel help

Papua Expeditions is based in the bustling regency town of Sorong, located on the northwestern tip of New Guinea's Bird's Head Peninsula and gateway to the fabled Raja Ampat archipelago. Sorong is very conveniently bridged by direct air links with Indonesia's main entry points and many of our trips start out here.

Getting to Sorong

Both Merpati Nusantara Airlines and Express Air operate daily flights to Sorong from Jakarta via Makassar. Batavia Air now also flies three times per week to Sorong from Jakarta via Makassar. In addition, Lion/Wings Air flies daily to Sorong from Jakarta and Makassar via either Ambon or Manado. Finally, Express Air also operates three direct flights a week to Sorong from Manado.

Booking domestic flights in Indonesia

While most Indonesian carriers now provide an automated on-line booking system, bookings will normally only be accepted if payment is concluded through a bank card issued in Indonesia. The only notable exception at this point in time is Batavia Air. As part of our tour organization and guiding services, we are therefore happy to assist you with the procurement of domestic air tickets should you be unable to arrange this directly from your home country.

Indonesian time zones

Straddling the Equator for more than 5,000 km, Indonesia is the world's fourth largest geopolitical unit, and this vast country is being subdivided into three time zones: Western Indonesia Time corresponds to GMT+7 and comprises the Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Bali and Indonesian Borneo or Kalimantan), Central Indonesia Time corresponds to GMT+8 and contains the Sulawesi region, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands, and finally Eastern Indonesia Time corresponds to GMT+9 and encompasses Papua. Thus at GMT+9 Sorong in Papua is two hours ahead of Jakarta on Java, and one hour ahead of Makassar and Manado on Sulawesi.

Travel permit

A travel permit, known as Surat Keterangan Jalan in Indonesian, remains compulsory to visit Papua away from the regency town centers. We acquire this on your behalf when providing us upon arrival with 6 passport photos, 6 photocopies of the photo page of your passport, the page bearing your Indonesian visa, and the page bearing the immigration entry stamp.