Breathtaking Triton Bay

 

Triton Bay, Kaimana, West Papua

I can never believe while I’m writing this, just to share with you what I had experienced and seen. It was so beautiful that I really wanted to stay there as long as I could and it would’ve been very long. 

Well, go to the points.

Where is Triton Bay and How to Get There?

Triton Bay is in Kaimana, West Papua. It’s in the “neck of the bird” of the New Guinea Island, popularly called the island of Papua. Triton Bay is facing the Arafura Sea and Iris Strait, and it’s a part of conservation area in Kaimana. This area is abundant of sea lives from tiny creatures to gigantic mammals such as whales, dolphins and a little bit far from it, the whalesharks. It’s reachable by boats, 90 minutes away from Kaimana. The best time to visit is by avoiding June-August as the weather gets shtty during those three months.

There lies some villages like Lobo and Kamaka. But we’ll skip the villages as we’re going to lagoon area called Ermun.

So let’s go!

Ermun is in the inner part of the bay. It’s a lagoon area with islets and rocks standing. It’s also the starting point if we want to hike to see the view from the peak. It has white sand beach with calm waves for us to laze around and forget about all the bills and mortgage for a moment. 

There are hundreds of steps to go up through before reaching the peak. There are estimated around 780 steps up (my friend counted it that made me like "really?"). I went there before they made the steps so ya, it’s more adventurous and wild. But anyway, it’s in the island where less human can be found so still, it’s wild. 

On the way there we can see many things, from plants like nutmeg trees to animals (big ants, butterflies and birds). Once you get up there, you’ll see the panoramic view down there, the lagoon with rock and islets stuck, the gradation of the sea water. Breathtaking. We can later on have like a short tour around the lagoon. Marble rays swimming in shallow water, and birds flying above are what we see. It's just peaceful.

Is that all?

Actually, this place is also good to see the birds of paradise. But there is no comprehensive information about how and when to do it, and the guides to hire and how much it costs. Too bad. Anyway, Triton Bay is another signature landscape with richness in sea lives and pretty much pristine environment. If you’re tired with Raja Ampat (which is very hard to be so), you can drop by here and escape the bustle.  

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The Most Beautiful Village I've Ever Been, It's In West Papua!

The "Broken Jetty" with mountain background is just dramatic to see. Source: ranggainthezone

It's Lobo, located in Triton Bay area, Kaimana, West Papua. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, not without reasons why I said so. 

This village lies in the inner side of Triton Bay, that brings the calmer waves and waters, although in some months of the year, the weather can be irresistibly rough. It takes around 90 minutes by boat from Kaimana, and that's the only best way to get there so far. 

Triton Bay is one of the conservation areas in Kaimana, and it's rich of what sea can offer. On the way there we can drop by seeing the whaleshark at the bagan, see the rays, the dolphins and if you're lucky, Brydes whales breaching as if they're saying "Hi". What lies beneath the surface at the bay gives the people resources for their lives. 

Approaching the shore, we can see the rocky mountain standing at the back of the village, with mist covering the top and the green colour falls down to the valley. The village has total population of ±700 people, predominantly Christians with few muslims that are actually medics from outside Papua. Most of them rely on fishing although some start farming to support their families. 

We can go around the village within an hour, as every place is in walking distance. There are four churches, an elementary school and a medical center. Other than it, we can go to the jetty or go up to the mountain.

The island of New Guinea is home for birds of paradise. We can actually do birds watching by hiring local guides, but too bad there's no pricing that's set for the activity thus visitors are reluctant to have it. Not to mention, lack of information of how and when we can do the birds watching is just another thing to settle. 

Folklore about Garuda in Lobo

There is a monument of Garuda (mythological bird that's similar to eagle) the symbol of Indonesia, located across the village. People believe that the symbol of Indonesia comes from the Garuda from this area. 

So there were two eggs that hatched a black and a white eagle. The white eagle was gone undetected apparently, but the black one endured and lived in Mount Warimau. 

One day, there's flooding that killed people in Urera River and the flood dragged the dead bodies to the shore area (today's Lobo). The eagle followed them and ate them all. Since then, it moved to reside in Emansiri, the mount behind the village. 

Endulged by "gastronomical desire" of eating humans, and no more dead bodies, the black eagle then started hunting the villagers. They were frightened by the hunting eagle until the Portuguese came and shut it down. From then on, people use the giant eagle as the symbol of the village. Personally, I don't really get what it means, that people took something that once hunted them, as a symbol. I mean, usually we make a symbol out of the philosophy of something as caretakers or guards, not one taking us as preys. Anyway, whatever. A story is a story. 

Dutch arrival

The Dutch first opened the settlement in 1824 and built a fort named Bus. We can see the remnants of the fort here. There's a monument commemorating Dutch soldiers died in the area. It was carved "Ter Herinnering Aan de Overleden Militairen van de Bezetting van Fort du Bus" which means "In memoriam, the soldiers who died at Fort Bus". 

The monument built by Dutch in 19th century. Source: ranggainthezone

The topography, the rich Triton Bay and the folkloric touch have given this small village uniqueness and I take it as the most beautiful village I've ever been. It's really not that bad to drop by and say hello. You will see like when you feel the breeze of Triton Bay. 

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Swimming With Whalesharks In Kaimana, West Papua, Indonesia.

Look how massive the fish are!

Really? But they're gonna eat us alive.

Yes, we can swim with whalesharks, but they won't eat us alive, at least not until the end of the world. 

Talking about whaleshark, many people think that it's beast and human predator. But no. Instead, they're very kind and gentle animals. Fish, to be exact. Big fish. Biggest fish.

Whalesharks (latin: Rhyncodon typus) is the largest kind of shark and the largest fish we have on this planet. The reason why it's called whaleshark is because their massive body size that's like whales, and their diet which is plankton and small tiny fish, again, just like some of the whales.

So, are they shark or whales? Fish or mammals?

They're shark which makes them fish, and the biggest fish thanks to their gigantic size. We can see the differences between fish and mammals from its tails. Fish tails are vertical, and mammal tails are horizontal. And of course, fish use gills while mammals use lungs to breathe. That's why you'll never find a whaleshark with sprouts, of course it just makes no sense.

It lives and hangs around the tropical water. They love warmth. So Indonesia is one of the best places to reside. We can see them in Kaimana, West Papua and around Cenderawasih Bay. Other places we have a chance to see them are in Gorontalo, north coast of East Java, the Philippines, Maldives and other tropical waters. 

Now let's go to Kaimana to watch them.

The Bicary Bay area is where we can find them around. The best time to visit is from October to May. We don't recommend you to visit on June, July, or August as the weather is so hilarious, just bad. And no whaleshark at that time. The Bicary Bay can be reached from Kaimana by using longboat, and it takes around 1 hour. We gotta get up early as it comes up to the surface from 6-7 to and it swims back to depth when they're full.

Wait, we come when they're having breakfast? Let's just say yes.

How it looks like on the bagan

In Bicary Bay, there are bagans (fishing platform floating and guarded by fishermen, and it's like floating hut for fishing), and the whaleshark will come visit the bagans. Usually, they like half-residing near certain bagans where they can get small fish from the fishermen's nets. 

Once we arrive, we need to buy the baitfish the bagan men sell. It costs 250-400 thousand rupiahs per box. The bagan men will slowly throw the baitfish to the water to keep the giant on the surface while the visitors have quality time swimming, snorkeling or even diving. Or we can try to get up to the bagan and feed the fish from above, just be careful it's slippery as hell. If lucky, there are also free rider dolphins, marlins, giant trevally swimming around and grab the free food. It's feeding frenzy!

Note: 

Please brings lots of fresh water as it's long journey and it's hot. Human needs to stay hydrated. 

You can actually arrange your stay and trip by looking at info on www.tritonbaydivers.com

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