Raja Ampat Flight Questions

[David McGlamery]

Hello Everyone.

Next January (2020) we are going on our first trip to Raja Ampat. I think I have the flight schedule worked out I am going to use but I do have a few questions that someone might be able to answer for me.

It looks like we will fly Cathay Airlines out of JFK thru Hong Kong to Jakarta. We would arrive in Jakarta around 1:30pm local time. We would then fly Garuda Airlines from Jakarta to Sorong. That flight leaves around 12:30am so we will have a pretty long layover in Jarkarta. I'm assuming we will need to get our bags and clear customs in Jakarta and then check-in with Garuda.

Here is what I need help with. There are a couple of hotels in the airport itself so you don't need to leave the airport at all. Will we have access to the area where those hotels are? I was thinking that they might be past security. If so, unless Garuda allows you to check-in way before your flight, you wouldn't be able to get to them and do one of those 6 hour room rentals.

Also, while I am looking at flight options from JFK because we live on the east coast, I am open to leaving from pretty much anywhere in the US if there are better options.

My plan is to arrive in Sorong on a Saturday morning. We board the boat on Monday morning. That would give me all day Saturday and Sunday to rest up and allow for any flight issues.

Thanks for any help with this.

Ash

I just got back from Raja Ampat and I will share what we did. We arrived in Jakarta about 1:30 PM and stayed over night at FM7 hotel about 10 min from the airport. They were great about picking us up and giving us a ride back to the airport. The hotel was clean safe and the food was great. We took the 5:30 AM flight to Sorong the next morning, this way we got a nights sleep before flying. On the way back we again flew back to Jakarta and stayed at FM7 before flying out the next day. I just e mailed FM7 our arrival and departure times and they were great about picking us up. We flew on Batik Air and had to stop in Makassar both ways. We had to get off the plane , go down stairs and get a new boarding pass, they already had them printed out, you tell them who you are and they just hand you the new boarding pass. This happened both ways even though they say the flight back was non stop. But, I do have to say Batik Air is nicer than any American based airline. You get a meal on both legs. And by the way, good choice on Raja Ampat, best diving I've ever done, you won't be sorry.

 

[BDSC]

I just got back from Raja Ampat and I will share what we did. We arrived in Jakarta about 1:30 PM and stayed over night at FM7 hotel about 10 min from the airport. They were great about picking us up and giving us a ride back to the airport. The hotel was clean safe and the food was great. We took the 5:30 AM flight to Sorong the next morning, this way we got a nights sleep before flying. On the way back we again flew back to Jakarta and stayed at FM7 before flying out the next day. I just e mailed FM7 our arrival and departure times and they were great about picking us up. We flew on Batik Air and had to stop in Makassar both ways. We had to get off the plane , go down stairs and get a new boarding pass, they already had them printed out, you tell them who you are and they just hand you the new boarding pass. This happened both ways even though they say the flight back was non stop. But, I do have to say Batik Air is nicer than any American based airline. You get a meal on both legs. And by the way, good choice on Raja Ampat, best diving I've ever done, you won't be sorry.

I think I’m going to overnight in Jakarta as well at the FM7 hotel. Most of the flights I’m considering will get me into Jakarta about the same time that you arrived. Just haven’t decided about which flight to take from Jakarta to Sorong but I’m leaning towards Garuda. If I go that route, the crew will pick us at that morning and go straight to the boat.

 

[Dave Kay]

I forgot to add for those reading this that Garuda airline in Indonesia allows an extra bag no charge if it is scuba gear. At least at the time I went in 2017. One rep asked to look in my bag.

 

[BDSC]

Thought I would update this thread with what I decided to book. Here is my schedule after many hours of research:

Thursday, January 2nd
China Airline Flight CI7 - Departs LAX @ 10:45pm arriving in TPE @ 5:15am on Saturday, January 4th. (14 hour flight)
( Layover of 4 hours )
CI761 Departs TPE @ 9:05am arriving in CGK @ 1:30pm (5 hour flight)

Spend Saturday night at the FM7 hotel and keep the room for Sunday night as well so we can checkout late on Sunday evening.

Monday, January 6th
Garuda flight GA682 departs CGK @ 0:30am arriving in SOQ @ 6:35am. (Boat picks us up to start the trip)

Return Trip
Friday, January 17th
GA683 Departs SOQ @ 8:25am arriving in CGK @ 10:10am
( Layover a little more than 4 hours)
CI762 Departs CGK @ 2:30pm arriving in TPE @ 8:55pm
( Layover of about 3 hours)
CI8 Departs TPE @ 11:50pm arriving in LAX @ 7:35pm

I really like this schedule as the layovers are long enough without any stress (assuming the flights are reasonably on time) but not so long in the airports I feel I need to get a room for a few hours.

Also, we flew China Airlines when we went to Palau and it was a great experience. Really good service on the plane. I booked Premium Economy for this flight. That is what I flew last time with them. Seats are 2 inches wider than economy and were very comfortable. I also checked and both legs of the flight have PE seats. Sometimes the shorter flights don't offer that but this schedule offers both.

The price for economy on this route was like $910 and the price for Premium Economy was $1370 so basically $460 more and in my opinion that is $460 well spent. The Garuda flight is about $640 or so.

All in all I am completely satisfied what the schedule and the price I paid. It was definitely the best schedule in my opinion and the price for PE on China Airlines was by far the best value for any of the other airlines offering PE.

 

[SeaWarden]

Which dive resort are you going with?

 

[BDSC]

Which dive resort are you going with?

We will be on the Samambaia liveaboard.

 

[Centrals]

Spend Saturday night at the FM7 hotel and keep the room for Sunday night as well so we can checkout late on Sunday evening.

Monday, January 6th
Garuda flight GA682 departs CGK @ 0:30am arriving in SOQ @ 6:35am. (Boat picks us up to start the trip)

I would rather fly to Sorong on Sunday morning(5th) and wait for the Monday morning pick up. Because if that flight is being delayed or even cancelled, Garuda should be able to offer alternative flight eg via Makassa.
However, if there is problem on the Monday morning flight then I would have missed the boat.

 

[BDSC]

Luckily, we can’t miss the boat as I chartered the entire boat and we are all on that Garuda flight but good point. I just had so many folks tell me to overnight in Jakarta and not Sorong.

 

[Dan]

I've done the GA midnite flight CGK-SOQ about 5 out of 5 times without any problem / delay. Twice I flew to Sorong from Denpasar, Bali with overnight in Makasar.

I would do the same CGK-SOQ midnite flight on my 8th trip there in January 2020 trip too.

 

[BDSC]

Dan, I was able to get one of the couples signed up for my trip in January on a trip that just completed on the Samambaia for a crazy low price. They have raved about the boat and Raja Ampat as well. They described the dives as "mind blowing". Now January can't get here soon enough.