Posted on behalf of Catamaran JAVA:
A few new experiences in Indonesia I’d like to pass on:

1) Visa Extensions/Renewals
Kupang Immigration, not good for Visa renewals. They are OK for checking into the country, but if you just want to do your monthly Social Visa renewal, this is not the place since they require you to use a LOCAL Agent. We had used Ruth in Bali (info@islemarine.com) to get our Social Visa while in Davao, Philippines. She’s a very reasonably-priced, popular Agent. Kupang would not accept her, so we asked around and found Isak who was supposedly the most honest local Agent. He charged us 1 million Rp each and took care of it, but this is 10 times what Ruth charges.

Also could not get a receipt from Immigration, I think because Isak gave some money to the “Boss” behind closed doors. I never saw him give any money over the Immigration counter. This duplicity is reported to be a problem in Lombok also.
In Labuan Bajo, it only took 5 days for Visa Extensions with no “funny business”.
Denpasar (Bali) takes 10 days for the same process and you have to make three trips to their office, which will cost you in Taxi fares the same amount as two Visa Extensions.

2) Visiting the orangutans from Kumai, Kalimantan.
This was a great experience, but we didn’t want to take a two-decker Klotok up the river in the Park for 2-3 days, even though it’s touted to be like an “African Queen” experience. This is far from the truth since the jungle is not that dense and there are probably 40-50 Klotoks on the river at any time.

So we opted to do a one day trip up and back in a speedboat which worked out for the best as the river was blocked to the last destination, Leakey Camp, by a “floating island” of vegetation (which happens quite often) and we had to turn around. The 30+ Klotoks we passed just kept on chugging upriver to the blockage, thus making their own blockade!

We rented our boat with driver from Adi (0822 4222 1430) who will most likely visit your vessel offering his services. Very nice guy was a good guide, good English and we just had to provide our own lunch.

Hope this helps some of my fellow Indonesian cruisers.
Evan del Faro, Catamaran JAVA – August 2017

The Indonesian Online Yacht Electronic Registration System is still not working properly. It has taken me half a day to finally submit our Yacht application via Mozilla Firefox. On both Microsoft Edge and Chrome, it just sat there after the Register button was clicked, but never registered.

It seems that when the form is in one long page it does not work. When there is an arrow to the next page at the bottom of the page and it actually moves to the next page it seems to work. Going back in the form to enter data on a previous page could also possibly throw it off.

Good luck! Hopefully, they get around to fixing this.

Reply from Rachel Robertson.
Interesting to see the post by Amulet, I was only there last week. I was asked to show the Sponsor letter, which I always have, and the form does say red background.

Guess though, she was lucky on the day, as we all know, the rules in Indo can change daily, and depending on who you deal with.
Always an adventure! Love it. ?

Rachel Robertson
Seaspray Marine Services
Langkawi

Feedback from Rachel Robertson:

Indonesia really has done away with the Cruising Permits!
We have been there in 2016 and cleared in and out of Sabang, Pulau We. An easy process, all the officials in a small area, and easy walking distance. They are so welcoming of the yachts and even will throw the captain on the back of a motorbike and ride them around to help with the clearances.

This year we plan to check in at Sibolga, I will let you know if it is as painless.

A sponsor letter will still need to be attained if you want to get a Social Visa (a visa that gives you 60 days on arrival and is renewable every month). This visa must be attained before you arrive in Indonesia. In Malaysia, we use PENANG consulate, it takes 24 hours.

You need to take your sponsor letter, Sponsor KTP card image, Passport photos (with a RED background) and travel details to the consulate. The fee at the moment is around $50USD per person at the consulate. Sponsor letters can be attained from an agent, or Rally organizer, or any Indonesian Citizen willing to take responsibility for you while you are there.

There is still also the option of a VOA (visa on arrival) which is for 1 month, but it is extendable only once, so a total of 2 months. Then you must leave Indonesia.

Posted on behalf of EMcE on 29th October 2016

Here I would like to publish my experience in Indonesia. We obtained our 60-day visas in Davao (Philippines )) and planned a cruise south to Australia. When our little boy suffered seasickness we decided to check in at Bitung.

The Immigration officials we dealt with were the most obliging, friendly, welcoming officials I have ever experienced throughout the parts of the world I have been to. Full marks Indonesia. You have a beautiful country, largely unspoiled and friendly welcoming people. My sadness is my need to leave before seeing more.

In Tanjung Pandan on Belitung, you can have US-style LPG tanks filled.

Contact Harun at +62 8117178895 or harun.cahyadi@gmail.com. Harun is a very interesting and nice man and will be happy to help you with sourcing parts or any other assistance.

If you are anchored at Kelayang on the NW corner of the island, Efan who runs a restaurant and yacht services on the beach at the foot of the pier (Phone +62 81278344854 or +62 81977781455) can arrange transport for your LPG tanks to Tanjung Pandan which is about a 35-minute drive. Efan also rents cars and motorbikes and can get a diesel.

I believe the tank fittings for US tanks are the same as Australian. But I haven’t filled my tanks in Australia so I can’t say for sure. I know I could fill my US tanks in NZ.
Bruce
s/v Migration

Opportunity to help in Komodo.

Komodo is a beautiful island to visit — uncrowded, fine snorkelling, and of course the awesome Komodo dragons in the national park. There is also a village near the park, and the delightful people there could use your help if you have some electrical expertise.

They have a small solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination system that was built for them a few years ago, so they wouldn’t have to walk 7 kilometres to get fresh water.

But the system no longer works, and the folks who built it are nowhere to be found. When the system is turned on, its circuit breakers immediately trip off. If you are bound for this area and think you can help, contact me for more details — zholland43@gmail.com.

Hi Daniel, Jimmy does talk about routes to and from Indonesia in chapter 18 of WCR. His “World Cruising Destinations” goes into more detail about the cruising season there. In a nutshell; yachts usually cruise the islands from east to west and if this is planned to coincide with the SE monsoon (May to September) this will benefit from favourable winds.

Yachts arriving from the north should encounter more favourable winds during the NW monsoon (December to April), but this is not necessarily the ideal time as the weather is rainy and squally (plus is the cyclone season in the Timor and Arafura Seas). Jimmy recommends planning a voyage for the transitional period – head south during the spring (March to April) and north in the autumn (September to October).

Suggest you also read the cruiser reports adjacent as this will give you a good idea of timings.

You might also want to post your question on the weather and routing forum – link to it from top left of noonsite below the Pantaenius logo.
Finally – try taking a look at various cruiser blogs – there are heaps listed on the cruisers websites page (under the general tab above) – go to the SE Asia section and check them out.

Posted on behalf of SY Yindee Plus:

We arranged our CAIT for Indonesia with Lytha in Jakarta (“PT. Kartasa Jaya”: email cait@indo.net.id). It was superbly efficient and we received the documents by email within the 30 days she stated. The original CAIT was posted to us by courier and should have arrived ‘next day’ but took two, so pretty good.

Posted on behalf of SV Villa G:
I would like to report on a very fine area for cruising in eastern Indonesia. It is Triton Bay and the surrounding areas south of Kaimana Western Papua, Indonesia. Very few yachts have been noted in this area, but it has beautiful waters for diving, friendly people and virtually no tourism at this time. A few liveaboard dive boats come through, but little else.

This is a great place for people travelling between Raja Ampat and Australia. We spent 3 months in the Raja Ampat area and two months in the Triton Bay area. Both to be recommended.

For immigration and customs in the Triton Bay area, the closest port is Tual. Both agencies are very helpful. The nearest town to Triton Bay is Kaimana. It has the basics including food and fuel and flights to other areas of Indonesia.

We have prepared a section on our website. The relevant page can be found here: http://www.villa-g.com/22-crusing-notes/322-triton-bay-kaimana-tual.

We have to build a small Marina for motor boats and catamarans in Jepara near Semarang. Long term storage in Marina or on the day is available. 24-hour security, very good short and long term rental rates. For information please email to info@ crestridermarine.com

Hi!

I am wondering about the seasons in Indonesia! Is it possible to sail in Indonesia during the cyclone season in South Pacific? Possible to sail directly from Fiji to Indonesia and continue up north towards Thailand during the cyclone season?

Don’t bother attempting to get anything freighted to Jayapura from overseas. Waste of money & time. I ordered a new anchor winch motor from Defender US and paid for priority international FEDEX to be delivered to the main post office here. Cost $170 then when it had not arrived found that FedEx agent in Jakarta had not informed me of the Customs charges. I paid these ($140) and sent a copy of receipt by email.

It took 3 days and numerous phone calls to so called customer service to get them to acknowledge receipt of payment. They promised package would be in JP the following day but no. The package is now in Sulawesi office but this morning told that it would take maybe one week to get here in JP. Now they say I have to pay MORE money to get it here and not sure when!!! Customer service refuses to put me through to management and manager does not answer multiple emails. The manager is “sick, at lunch, not here yet” and will call back but never does.

I have called Defender in the US but they say it is FedEx problem. I have emailed Fedex but no reply. DO NOT USE FEDEX FOR PACKAGES TO WEST PAPUA. Jayapura would rank as one of the worst places to be stuck in Indo – heavy traffic, smog and overpowering police & military presence.