TOTAL PRICE: Complete the form to calculate price
Features
- Can pay by credit card
- Sorong transfers available
- English speaking
- Reef dropoff
- Hiking available
- Good phone signal
- Birds of Paradise
- Good house reef
- Has family bungalows
- Wayag trips
- Has raised beds
- Western style toilet
- Near village
- IDR 400,000 to 500,000
Details
Mandarin Homestay offers three private bungalows and one large family bungalow. All are over water at high tide and have covered verandahs with a table, chairs and a hammock.
The bungalow bedrooms have real beds and can sleep 2 people. Pillows, bolsters, sheets and mosquito nets are supplied.
Meals are served in Mandarin Homestay’s over-water dining room. Free drinking water, tea and coffee are provided there for guests.
Mandarin Homestay bathroom facilities are housed in a single building. Showers and western style toilets are provided.
Electricity is provided by generator and is available from sunset to about midnight. There’s a decent phone signal at Mandarin and data connections are possible.
Sawinggrai is a short walk away along a concrete path and basic supplies are available there, but please do take all your inorganic trash away with you when you leave. Especially plastic and dead batteries.
English is spoken at Mandarin Homestay.
Please note: Coconut crabs are a protected species. Please don’t buy them. Mandarin Homestay will refuse to cook any you might bring and will instead ask that you release them.
Transport / Getting there
Transfers between Mandarin Homestay and Waisai take about 50 minutes.
One way transfer cost (shared by passengers) is IDR 800,000 for 1 or 2 people, and IDR 1,000,000 for three passengers.
For 4 or more passengers, a Waisai transfer will cost IDR 300,000 per person
May 2026: Sorong transfers are available at a cost of IDR 8,000,000. The covered speedboat has a maximum capacity of 10 passengers. Cost is shared by passengers.
See Mandarin’s July 2025 transfer prices for other destinations here. (PDF 119KB)
Read more about Raja Ampat boat transport prices here.
Activities
There’s a lot you can do at Mandarin Homestay apart from snorkeling and soaking up the tropical bliss.
Explore the villages of Sawinggrai and Kapisawar, which are connected to Mandarin Homestay by a concrete path. Long walks are possible and cultural performances are often staged in a performance venue on the Sawinggrai jetty.
Red Birds of Paradise display at dawn and dusk in the jungle behind Sawinggrai, and kuskus are regular visitors to Mandarin.
Raja Ampat snorkelling at its best
Mandarin Homestay and has a fantastic house reef with a wealth of colourful marine life. Mandarin fish and the many nudibranches to be found in the mangroves by the homestay are just a couple of examples.
The homestay provides easy access to other great spots like Arborek, Gam Bay and the mantas. Trips to Wayag, Piaynemo and the Batanta waterfalls are also available.
See Mandarin’s July 2025 transfer and trip price list here. (PDF 119KB)
Here’s a sweet video overview by Mandarin Homestay guest Dylan de Haas. Thanks Dylan :)
Pulau Gam
See our Gam Island page for an overview of Gam and its attractions.
