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Features
- Remote/isolated
- Western style toilet
- IDR 400,000 to 500,000
- Has private bungalows
Details
Helda Homestay offers three basic and traditional private bungalows at Yef Kabu, a small sand cay amid West Waigeo’s rich reefs and spectacular scenery.
The bungalows sleep two on a mattress on the floor. An extra mattress can be provided if needed. Bedding includes sheets, pillows, bolsters and mosquito nets. Bungalow verandahs have a table, chairs and ocean views.
Meals are served in Helda’s beachside dining room. Free drinking water, tea and coffee making supplies are provided there for guests
Guests share a 2 room bathroom building. A western style toilet occupies one room. Bucket bathing provided in the other.
Electricity is provided by generator and is available from sunset to about midnight. A variable 4G phone signal is received at Helda Homestay. A data connection may not always be possible.
Mutus village is about a ten minute boat ride away. Basic supplies are available from village kiosks there. (Anything that you absolutely can’t live without would be best brought with you.)
Only a little English is spoken at Helda Homestay. Bringing a translation app or phrasebook will help with communication.
To avoid contributing to the trashing of paradise, all homestays ask that you please take all your inorganic (especially plastic) waste away with you when you leave.
Transport / Getting there
A one way transfer between Helda Homestay and Waisai costs IDR 2,000,000
Helda Homestay also offers Waisai pickups with sightseeing stops included, and transfers to/from other locations. Please see this pricelist for details (PDF 36KB).
Transport is by longboat that can carry four passengers. Trip cost is shared by passengers.
Reaching West Waigeo is not cheap, but the remote region’s unique attractions and wild nature justify the expense. You’ll also see a lot of Raja Ampat on the way, including Kabui Bay and the famed Kabui Passage.
Read more about Raja Ampat boat transport prices here.
Activities
Excellent snorkelling is available off the beach, and Helda Homestay offers a range of snorkelling trips, including excursions to Wayag. See this pricelist for details (PDF 36KB).
Long stayers are offered the following free snorkelling trips:
- Stay one week and receive a free snorkelling trip to Manta Point
- Stay two weeks and receive a free snorkelling trip visiting two sites.
Yef Kabu is a tiny, flat, sand cay smack bang in the middle of the West Waigeo Islands.
One long, white beach encloses two square kilometres of coconut palms, casuarina and ketapang trees that makes a perfect quiet hideaway and base for exploring some of the best reefs in Raja Ampat.
Because of the region’s remoteness, West Waigeo’s reefs are pristine, rich and untrammelled by day tripping boats from Sorong and Waisai. Fabulous snorkelling is available in the area and it’s most likely that you will be the only people in the water. Mantas congregate at Pulau Yefnabi and several other locations in the islands. They can even be found there between June and September, when they are usually absent from the better known Dampier Strait sites of Manta Point and Manta Sandy.
Apart from the excellent snorkelling and mantas, the West Waigeo Islands offer sights like “Pasir Timbul” – a stretch of pristine white sand that emerges from the ocean with every low tide. A visit to Aljui Bay is highly recommended, and provides the opportunity to see ancient rock art galleries, a large commercial pearl farm, secret lagoons, cultural sites and spectacular scenery.
Waigeo Barat
See our West Waigeo page for an overview of West Waigeo, its islands, and their attractions.
