Dispatch: Raja Ampat

Perrin James is an underwater filmmaker and friend of Free Fly, based on the Big Island of Hawaii. From the art of spearfishing to chasing down once-in-a-lifetime hurricane swells, Perrin specializes in freediving cinema and telling stories that inspire action. We caught up with him after a 3-week trip to Raja Ampat—a remote Indonesian archipelago, made up of hundreds of islands with vivid blue waters and untouched reefs teeming with marine life.

...

Et and I had been talking about a truly feral mission for some time now. I was working on some random farm project here on the Big Island in early February when I got the text, “Can you be in West Papua in three days?”

Getting to West Papua or Raja takes almost exactly three days—so I immediately booked a flight that evening and made my way to Sorong, the drop off point for West Papua. The plan was to visit some of the northernmost atolls and document signs of coral bleaching, spearfish a bit, and just explore the reef around these islands—where the water is too shallow for expedition boats, and too rough for most local boats, leaving this place almost untouched.

We loaded our boat with a mountain of gear, fuel, and beer and took advantage of a very small weather window. The morning we took off, we were met with a sea of glass. The calmest ocean imaginable. We were accompanied by a few West Papuans on our journey, Pakuro, the local school teacher, and Yanche, our local captain.

Along the way, we stopped at some deep water FADs that had been put out by some fishing boats and shot some beautiful rainbow runners. The current wasn't too strong and we spotted some moderately sized sharks.

As we continued our 200 mile journey to Ayau, thunder clouds appeared on the horizon and the swell started to pick up. From one moment a perfect blue sky calm day to a full white out of true Indonesian rainy season. As lightning decided to come down around us, David, Et's partner, cracked a bintang and muttered out “iyafa wa.” Loosely translated, “not again.”

Our local guides asked if we could move the boat closer to shore as they feared we would capsize and drown, but we stayed course and kept a tight line on the oncoming swells.

Et readies her camera to document the local marine life and coral bleaching.

Ayau & the Sand Beds

Drenched and happy to see our little land camp—we had made it to our basecamp for the next few days, made up of two huts that were nestled in between the palm trees on this dreamy shallow bay. We quickly turned in for the night, and got our underwater cameras and gear prepped for the morning.

I woke up around sunrise and wandered over to the kitchen to see the rudimentary setups of this offgrid island life—when I realized about 10 people in different sand beds were watching me. The local people choose to sleep in the sand and even when they leave the island they will take sand with them and create sand mattresses in their home. You’d be surprised at how comfortable these beds are, in fact the island of Ayau is coveted for having the best, and softest sand for beds.

Et, probably searching for her favorite fish to eat for dinner.

West Papua’s Furthest Atolls

After days of travel, it was finally time to explore West Papua’s furthest atoll reefs. We loaded the boat back up and before we could leave the shallow bay, smoke came pouring through the front console. We cut off the power to our panga and found the culprit—a shotty voltmeter that decided to unalive itself. We ended up just pulling it out of the center console and went on without one for the rest of the trip.

We continued onwards, and after a few hours at sea, we reached the holy grail of diving—a castaway-looking island, only a few hundred yards around. I jumped in immediately and was shocked by the color of the water. It was Tahitian-style blue with the iconic soft corals of Raja, and a mix of huge, hard coral bombies as well. We came across a drifted sand bank drop off and huge shoals of fish… realizing it’s likely that only a handful of people have ever dived here before us.

We started making some drifts and photographing the insane biodiversity—in absolute awe of this full working reef. It had everything, from predatory fish to the smallest nudibranchs and cleaner fish. It reminded me of the Nat Geo documentaries I used to watch as a kid.

Et and David preparing for an open-fire feast

Campfire Fish

Et and David have to be some of my favorite wild camp chefs. These two are always down to spearfish, cook something on an open flame, and sink a few cold ones. Every day, aside from our side quest of birding or looking for waves, we made an effort to catch at least one fish to eat. I gotta say—coral trout is still one of my favorites and when you add some garlic chili crisps to open-fire fish… something truly magical happens that's really hard to explain.

All of us on the trip share that love. Not just for the fish we caught and ate—but for protecting these special places and sharing our experiences through film and storytelling… hoping to inspire action that we hope will keep these places wild.

Until next time, signing off.
Perrin