Kakatua Hostel, Raja Ampat Papua: Perfect for Budget Travelers

Raja Ampat are well known as a place of paradise, dream destinations for world travelers and scuba divers. Why? Because of the marine biodiversity, since it’s located in the center of coral triangle and composed by the exquisite remote islands. Promising you will have an unforgettable journey through paradise!

Raja Ampat are located in the eastest side of Indonesia and it makes everything seems so expensive for travelers on budget. To tell you the truth, Raja Ampat is not a cheap destinations but more like luxurious destination. The transportation cost alone are very expensive. But if you're staying at a hostel or a homestay, of course you can reduce the cost and save a lot of money considering how remote and isolated Raja Ampat is. Some resort can cost you around $100 USD (1.300.000 IDR) per night and that’s why staying at a hostel can be a perfect choice to enjoy your stay at paradise in affordable price. One of the hostel that I would recommend for the best affordable hostel in Raja Ampat is Kakatua Hostel.

Kakatua Hostel is the perfect place for traveler on that are on the budget, backpacker and solo traveler are looking for. The owner was inspired by minimalist Japanese style with black and white design hostel that give you a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere and they also have a friendly social vibe around the hostel. Started out with a clear concept of creating a home for travellers in simple yet stylish environment. And they have an amazingly friendly and helpful staffs available to answer your questions or help you with transportations and recommend things or activities to do while you're here.

Kakatua Hostel is located in the capital city of Raja Ampat, Waisai. And FYI, the location of this hostel is perfect! It’s pretty close from the city ports, city centers and a walking distance away if you’re searching for a local restaurant or warung (family-run cafes and stores).

How to get there

The good things in life doesn't comes easy, but it’s totally worth it! You have to keep that in mind because getting to Raja Ampat will take a lot of effort and requires patience, a lot of it.

First, you have to fly to Sorong, the largest city in West Papua (Domine Eduard Osok Airport - SOQ). You can take flights from several domestic destinations like Jakarta or Bali. A direct flight from Jakarta with Batik Air will cost you around $106 USD (1.400.000 IDR) depends on your booking conditions. I take this as comfortable way because you don’t have to transit in Makassar and only take about 4 hours flight.

Once you arrive at Sorong there’s 2 options to make your way to Waisai:

The cheap but slower option: from the airport, catch a taxi to Sorong Ferry Harbour it will take around 10-20 minutes and cost 8$ USD (100,000 IDR). After you reach the harbour, take the fastest option with the express ferry, Bahari Express to Waisai Harbour. The ferry leaves at 09.00 AM and 14.00 PM. The ticket will cost you 10$ USD (130.000 IDR) for economy and 19$USD (250.000 IDR) for VIP. The trip would takes around 2 hours. (I highly recommend you this option if you’re not having a tight schedule)
The Faster but more expensive option: Now since early 2017 you can take connecting flights from Sorong to Waisai’s Marinda Airport (RJM) with smaller airplane. There’s only 1 flight schedule in a day with Wings Air that usually depart at 13.45 PM that will cost you around 27$ USD (350,000 IDR, depending on the day of departure) and it takes only 25 minutes flight. For me, I prefer to choose this option because it’s the fastest rather than with ferry (save a lot more time too!).

After you arrive in Waisai, Kakatua Hostel offers you a Hotel Transfer from the airport cost 15$ USD (200.000 IDR) and from the harbor cost 8$ USD (100.000 IDR)

Side Note:

There are no International flights to Sorong
There are no direct flights from Bali to Sorong
I personally use Traveloka.com, Skyscanner and tiket.com to check the cheapest flight

The Rooms

The Hostel have 6 rooms with 4 bunk beds in each room. Every single bed is equipped with comfy mattress and pillow, blanket, light, and a curtain (they provide you for some privacy as well) psst.. And don’t you worry! the towel are included too! for each person will cost you 28$ USD (375,000 IDR).

The room also comes with an air conditioner, individual locker for every guest and a window opening to the courtyard. But the most important thing is that the room is super clean!

The Washrooms

They have two separate male and female washrooms, comes with large mirrors and two wooden sinks with minimal design. There are 2 toilet stalls and 2 shower stalls. The shower stalls have a nice hot water, small chair to put your toiletries, hooks to hung up your clothes and they already provide you with shower gel and shampoo inside. The washroom is extremely super clean since they always clean up everyday which give them additional personal points from me :)

Amenities

Free and fast wifi access, because in Raja Ampat there is limited phone receptions and sometimes there is no receptions at all. That’s why having free wifi here is very important, and super fast too!
Offers tour package, yes they have some tour packages to give you new experience in Raja Ampat. You can check the packages here http://www.kakatuahostel.com/trips/
Towels and linen included, they already put it in every beds.
Security Lockers, There are security lockers right in front of your bed, individual for every guest who stay.
Restaurant/bar, here you can enjoy your meal, coffee time. A place to get people chatting, meet others travelers and enjoy your time while you're here.
Others, They provides you with air conditioner, hot showers, cable tv, aux speakers, hair dryers, washing machine, ironing board, etc.

Common Areas

There’s a large areas in the middle of the hostel where guest can enjoy and stay relaxed. With an open area that are perfect place for everybody to chill while enjoying the wifi, chatting, enjoying the drinks or meals from the restaurant and meeting with other travelers.

And for the Restaurant/bar itself, they offer you with a unique design, surrounded by wooden chairs and tables. Don’t worry, here you can order some varieties of menu including pastas, fresh seafood even there’s some drinks to enjoy. But the important thing is they provide you with some power outlets which you can charge your phone and electronics while enjoying the meals. Super convenient!

In the morning, they served you basic breakfast like bread toast, fried banana, fried rice, omelette, hot tea and brewed coffee.

Review and Overall

I give 8,5/10 for Kakatua Hostel. Totally love the comfortable room, open space lounge and super clean washing room. Really had a wonderful night to stay!

This hostel is perfect for those who seeks for a clean, comfortable with affordable price while staying in the most exquisite island of Indonesia. The combination of the minimalist design concept, relaxing and peaceful atmosphere which makes Kakatua a unique hostel! And would definitely recommend everyone who's planning a trip to Raja Ampat!

Cons:

The hostel does not located near the shoreline
The restaurant/bar do not open for 24 hours
The wifi signal are not strong enough to reach the hostel rooms
Only accept cash in Indonesia Rupiah (not accept any cards including credit card)
The reception is not available 24 hours

The Tips

Travelling to a remote Island like Raja Ampat comes with a lot of difficulty so it’s important to be prepared before you go.

Since Raja Ampat is located in tropical destinations area, you can visit throughout the year (the temperature between 27-32 celcius). But it can rain anytime in short duration.
Prepare your most important essentials especially for medicine. Because there’s just a small local market and warungs in Waisai.
Make sure you are using Telkomsel provider. Other than Telkomsel, there’s no phone reception at all because it's very limited. At least, Telkomsel have some certain areas that you can still access the internet.
Just in case for malaria issues in Raja Ampat, I recommend you to take anti-malaria medications (Doxycyline), best you drink it 2 days before you go.
I prefer you to bring cash, eventhough there’s some ATM in the center of Waisai but sometimes it went offline.