Location: Wayag, Raja Ampat
Argo and I were last in Wayag three years ago, during the height of COVID in 2021. We had spent that whole year in as tight a seagoing quarantine bubble as could possibly be. We had stayed masked on shore and avoided crowded places. We had gone to mostly uninhabited islands in the Pacific and entertained ourselves with diving, swimming, and snorkeling. When we heard about Wayag from our explorer friends in Palau, we knew that it was exactly the kind of place that we liked to visit during our high-seas social distancing.
The many islets of Wayag form the shape of a long and toothy mouth, like a dragon laying on its side, and the spot to drop anchor lies past the jaws and just before the back of the throat. After anchoring the night prior, we woke up bright and early the next morning, ready for adventure. The guidebooks spoke of jaw-dropping dive sites in Wayag, not to be missed by any self-respecting expedition boat. The problem, however, was that all of the dive sites were on the opposite side of the island from our anchorage, up to an hour dinghy ride each way at low tide. The diving was epic, and the dinghy ride was quite the adventure.
Wayag is the perfect anchorage to relax, snorkel, and explore the beaches, lagoons, and shallow emerald pools under the forest canopy. In 2021, we didn’t take the time to let ourselves just enjoy existing in such an amazing place. In 2024, we’ve done things differently. We swam and frolicked and snorkeled, explored the lagoons in our dinghies, and finished most of the rescue diver course in ideal conditions. Today, the students hiked to the top of the highest point of Mt. Pindito, scrambling up a sheer cliff in the jungle by hanging on to ropes. The view from the summit is life-changing, and everyone spent over an hour hanging out at the top of the ridge in awe. We had lunch on the beach and swam in the green shade of the trees that hang over from the edges of the water. Taking the time to slow down here is much better than hurrying.