Irian Jaya Tourist Information
West Papua Province
Irian Jaya is Indonesia's western portion of the huge island of New Guinea, north of Australia, and is home to Raja Ampat, the world's most biodiverse marine region with more recorded fish, coral and mollusc species than anywhere else on Earth. But the renamed West Papua Province is so much more than just this.
New Guinea offers unparalleled opportunity to witness peoples only recently emerging from the Stone Age with traditions of cannibalism, which some suspect may even still be practised in the remotest areas today. Besides the obvious attraction of being eaten alive, Irian Jaya has plenty of interesting things to do and see for those that manage to survive the headhunters' cooking pots.
Wildlife enthusiasts will marvel at Irian Jaya's magnificent natural diversity. There are some 1,500 bird species including the flightless and intimidating cassowary, and David Attenborough's original source of fascination, the beautiful birds of paradise. There are mangrove swamps and alpine heaths, and jungles and wooded highlands harbouring orchids, ferns and carnivorous pitcher plants.
The island of New Guinea is the world's second largest, and Irian Jaya makes up a staggering 22% of Indonesia's total land area. Nowhere else on Earth are so many radically different ecological zones packed into such a delimited space (except South Africa of course, but then I'm biased) - mossy montane and submontane forests give way to alpine grasslands, impenetrable foothill jungles give rise to towering, jagged peaks capped with glaciers and snow fields, eucalyptus savannah, peat swamps and brackish mangroves compete for dominance of the lowlands.
• View map of Irian Jaya
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How to Get There
Irian Jaya is the western portion of the island of New Guinea, to the east of the Moluccas and Halmahera, and to the north of Australia. If you are diving in Raja Ampat then Sorong is the main gateway to the rest of Indonesia and the world, but Jayapura is the provincial capital.
Sorong Airport has a regular flight service to / from Manado, Bali and Jakarta. When you book your diving holiday with Dive The World, we will show you the way to organise your domestic flights with the dive operator or, if you prefer, this too can be done directly with us for a small administration fee. Alternatively if you wish to organise your own flights, these can be booked through our travel agent - PT Vaya Tour - E-mail: Ticketing@VayaTour.com, Tel. +62 (0)361 281145 or Fax +62 (0)361 281144. Your domestic tickets can be forwarded to your hotel, collected by you in person, or passed over to you upon your arrival at either airport. However they cannot accept credit card payments.
Visit our tourist information sections for details on how to get to Manado and how to get to Bali.
Irian Jaya's Climate
Mean lowland temperature is around 27°C all year round. As a general rule expect hot and muggy climates on the coasts and cool to cold weather in the mountain highlands.
In the Sorong and Raja Ampat region the most rain falls from May to September, but this is unpredictable and seldom falls for more than a few days at a time in any case.
During the northwest monsoon from November to April, heavy rains fall on the north coast, with the highlands experiencing downpours from December to March.
The southwest monsoon from May to October dumps rain on the mountains and leaves the coast relatively dry.
Sightseeing and Things to do
Possessing such a wide range of ecological zones, it comes as no surprise that Irian Jaya has such strange and diverse flora and fauna, and this is one of its main attractions. The largest animal here is the saltwater crocodile, thought to be equally likely as the cannibal headhunters to have been the killers of Michael Rockefeller in 1961. The largest land animal is not a mammal but a bird - the ostrich-like cassowary. Most of the indigenous mammals are marsupials (having pouches for rearing young), with the curious hedgehog-like echidna that actually lays eggs! The province also has one of the three richest concentrations of plant life on Earth.
If all that were not enough then add in the main attraction here of the relatively unspoiled Raja Ampat National Park - the most diverse underwater region in the world. Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings are the main islands of Waigeo in the north, Salawati just to west of Sorong, Batanta just to north of Salawati, and Misool in the south. Dotted around these main islands are hundreds of beautiful smaller islands and islets, with untouched beaches and limestone cliffs, very reminiscent of Krabi Province in Thailand. Not only do these visually stunning islands harbour the greatest number of fish and coral species in the world, but they are reportedly the best place to see the outrageously beautiful birds of paradise in their natural habitat.
The northern and western coasts of Irian Jaya are the easiest parts of the province to visit with well developed infrastructure. The oil town of Sorong at the western tip of Irian is the main airport for the Raja Ampat Islands to the west. Biak Island also has its own airport and has a number of attractions including war relics, coral-filled waters, and fine sand beaches. Jayapura is the provincial capital, and nearby is Yotefa Bay with its spectacle of half sunken WWII ships, beached tanks and landing craft.
Coursing down the centre of Irian Jaya's cordillera of sharp mountain peaks is the Baliem Valley, home to the Dani, the gentle warrior tribes of the highlands. To discover this beautiful area and its tribal life, there are some good treks around Wamena, the administrational hub of the region, and a four day hike from Karubaga.
The southern coastal region is home to the Asmat tribe is one of the least accessible areas of Irian Jaya.
History
Prior to the 16th century and the arrival of the Portuguese, very little was known in the west about this region, but trade with the Moluccan Islands, Timor and perhaps Java existed long before this.
Within a few years of the conquest of Malacca in 1511 by Portugal, New Guinea began to appear in western literature. In 1526, the first Portuguese governor of the Moluccas landed on Waigeo Island in Raja Ampat, and duly baptised the island 'Ilhas Dos Papuas', or Islands of the Frizzy Haired.
After a few years of unsuccessful attempts to discover this fabled island of gold, Ynigo Ortiz de Retes finally landed in 1545, naming New Guinea and claiming it for the King of Spain. Several failed gold explorations followed, but it was only in 1714 that Spain was forced to relinquish 'control' to Holland and England.
The Dutch and English had long been interested in Irian Jaya's trade commodities of nutmeg, massio bark, trepang (dried sea cucumbers), tortoise shells, pearls, birds of paradise skins and slaves. The British finally proclaimed a Protectorate at Port Moresby in eastern New Guinea in 1884, the same year as Germany raised its flag on the northeast coast, with the Dutch establishing two permanent posts in the west at Fakfak and Manokwari in 1899. The boundaries were settled in 1895 and 1910.
If Irian Jaya, or Netherlands New Guinea, as it was known then, was ignored by the Dutch, it wasn't by others. Sir Alfred Russel Wallace spent eight years in the archipelago between 1854-1862. He postulated the bio-geographical boundary dividing Asian and Australasian species, now called the Wallace Line, and was responsible with developing a theory of evolution at the same time as Charles Darwin.
Serious exploration of New Guinea's interior was only begun at the start of the 20th century, when contact with many of the island's tribes was first made. However, it was World War II that finally put New Guinea on the map in western history, when it became a fierce battleground between the Japanese and Allied forces. The final push came at the Bird's Head Peninsula, and this area is now home to some fantastic WWII wreck diving opportunities.
With the end of Word War II came the Dutch hand over of territories to Indonesia. However, conspicuously absent from this list was Dutch New Guinea, which was only ceded in 1969 and renamed Irian Jaya in March 1973. Since then the OPM, or 'Free Papua Movement' has campaigned for independence, and the Indonesian government is still reluctant to open certain areas of Irian to tourism.
The People of Irian Jaya
Black-skinned, hirsute and frizzy-haired, the Irian people are very distinct from the other Indonesian peoples. Just when these 'Papuans' (relatives of Australia's aboriginals) arrived here is a matter of conjecture. Also unknown is where they came from. One theory has it that they migrated from Africa, and others believe they evolved in situ.
The most widely accepted dates for earliest man in New Guinea is around 35-40,000 years ago, and they have remained isolated from their Australian cousins for at least 10,000 years.
Even within New Guinea itself, various Papuan groups evolved in relative isolation from one another. This was due to the mountainous terrain but also the states of perpetual warfare that many groups had with neighbours, resulting in New Guinea occupying only 0.01% of the world land area, but contributing 15% of its languages! In Irian Jaya alone there are 80 different languages spoken by its one million people.
Austronesians (Malayo-Polynesians) first appeared in the Indonesian islands around 5,000 years ago, and gradually displaced the Papuan populations over the next two millennia. However, they never penetrated into central Irian, but intermixed with Papuans along the coasts and islands, imposing their languages.
Irian Jaya's malarial lowland swamps have sago and an abundance of fish, inhabited by swamp dwelling tribes. The best known of these are the Marind-Anim and the Asmat, infamous for their former headhunting and ritual cannibalism.
In the inland foothills and valleys various tribes practice gardening, pig husbandry, hunting and gathering. In some of the jungle areas, cannibalism is still frequently reported and some groups reject Western influence.
The highlands are home to the various and famous Dani tribes. These are the penis-sheath wearers that farm pigs, and sweet potatoes.
In the isolated Silimo Valley live the Jale tribe. Once again, penis gourds and eating visitors play an important role in their culture, and cowrie shells were an accepted form of daily wage as late as the 1960s (oh, for those days at Dive The World).
Further to the west are regions occupied by pygmy tribes and the Ekari - Irian Jaya's very own polygamist and capitalist pig-farmers.
Entertainment, Shopping & Nightlife
Irian Jaya is not a 'shop-'til-you-drop' kind of place, with big shopping malls crammed full of dining options. Most of the larger conurbations such as Sorong, Biak and Jayapura do have a decent selection of restaurants dotted around the town at very reasonable prices. Shopping options are quite minimal and restricted to souvenir penis gourds, bows and arrows and stone axes, though you may have difficulty getting these through in your hand luggage. Nightlife is similarly restrictive unless you enjoy the company of 'hostesses' from Manado.
Local Transport
Most places in Irian Jaya do not have road access so the only option are the regular internal flight services. In the towns there are minibus taxis, which you can join or hire as a private charter.
Interested?
If you're keen to explore the world's most diverse waters in the Raja Ampat Islands, then click below to check your options now for:
Be sure to book up in plenty of time to avoid limited choice! The best Irian Jaya scuba diving vacations are booked by repeat customers who book well in advance to ensure their reservation!
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