Cenderawasih Bay Marine National Park is a stunning marine park that occupies the southwest corner of Cenderawasih Bay in the northern part of West Papua. It is mainly celebrated for its huge variety of corals.
Cenderawasih Bay Marine National Park’s positioning can easily be discerned from a map. It occupies the northern coastal area of West Papua’s neck - Papua takes on the image of a large bird from above. The marine park encompasses 80 square kilometers of this bay making it the largest in Southeast Asia.
There is a huge range of marine life in Cenderawasih Bay Marine National Park, including sharks and whales, while five types of reef can be found here. They include fringing reef, barrier reef, atoll, patch reef, and shallow water reef mound. Fringing reef is the most abundant and offers some of the best scuba diving in the world.
In addition to the marine life in Cenderawasih Bay Marine National Park is the excellent trekking in the nearby Wandamen and Kwatisore peninsulas to the south.
Getting There & Away
The best way to Cenderawasih Bay Marine National Park is via Manokwari Airport, which is 100kms to the north. It receives limited flights from Jakarta (3 hours). Manokwari is 3 hours by bus from the park.