My primary plan to go to Papua I skip when I have been one week in the Kei Islands. The beaches are great, the people overwhelming… and I stay 4 weeks.
There are only few white tourists in the entire archipelago. And you don’t meet them. Not, when you cruise around Kei Kecil (the smaller of the Kei Islands) by Ojek (motorbike) and not, when you go to the bigger and mountainous island Kei Besar. The locals only tell you, that there are other whites, but really, you hardly see them. That’s what I enjoy.
My favorite after four weeks of visiting the main islands is still Pasir Panjang on Kei Kecil, which means Long Beach. Long beaches are a lot in the world, but this one is special. Three kilometer of blending white sand, fine like flour, framed by coconut palms and a sea in shades of green and turquoise. Perfect and picturesque, waiting for your camera. Except on weekends (when the locals come for picnic) you have the whole beach for your own.
After one very quiet week at Pasir Panjang I need a change. The beach is nice, but I’m feeling slightly bored. I finish two books in this week, and there’s nobody really to talk. There are two white couples staying further away at the beach, who I meet sometimes, but they want obviously to be for their own. And my Indonesian is not good enough yet to have long chats with the locals. The food in the place is good, but not very varied. Fried bananas every morning seven days long… enough is enough.
Thus I go to Tual, the capital of Kei, to the Homestay of Esther Rahajaan, not sure if I should stay or leave the next day. I have bought my ticket back to Ambon when I decide to stay. Esther offers me the possibility to stay there with there family in Kei Besar. Without further ado I sell my ticket. Next day I am off to Kei Besar.
Pasir Panjang in magic lights every evening
Kei Islands
My new friend at Pasir Panjang (Homestay Evalin)
Pasir Panjang – the raining saison starts now
…
Kei Besar! The people here! I will never regret that I stayed longer.
There are no hotels in Kei Besar, I stay in several villages (Weduar, Ohoiwait, Elat) in the houses of cousins, aunts and friends of Esther Rahajaan’s family, and they host me like somebody of their own family and that’s exactly how I am feeling.
But as a single woman traveling in Indonesia you always get the undivided attention of everybody. Especially of male and children. I feel several times like the ‘Rat Catcher of Hameln’ (‘Der Rattenfaenger von Hameln’) when I walk through a village being followed by at least 20 children. And, of course, as a white single woman you are always surrounded by marriage-motivated male… It’s almost a bit annoying sometimes, you have to realize: In Indonesia you are never alone, never… except in your room.
Anja and a lot of ‘rats’ – children and…
…male with palmwine (Tuac, Sopi)in Ohoiwait
Kei Besar -East coast
Kei Besar – West coast
Ohoiwait Village
Ohoiwait Village
The island Kei Besar is so different to her smaller sisters. Very mountainous. In main parts it is not possible to drive around by car or motorbike since there are no roads. You travel by boat if you have to go in another village. The few roads which exist are steep and dangerous, leading through the mountains and through dschungel. At my arrival I am witness of a small accident: a man falls from the bike when its front wheel rears up at a steep hill like a wild horse.
What else? Dancing with Raja Hans the traditional Menari in Ohoiwait; enjoying the local palm wine and flirts of the young men; laying on the beach at night and watching the stars; walking hours and hours along beautiful beaches? Watching the most beautiful cloud constellations of the beginning raining saison, swimming, snorkeling, laying in the sun…? So many memories..
.
Raja (King) Hans
Menari in Kei Besar, Ohoiwait Village
Beauties
This is Ampi Notanubun, age of 22 or 36? – whatever is good to flirt with a white lady 
…
What I have to say about snorkeling in Kei Islands:
A bit sad it is to see the corals while snorkeling. I snorkeled at different beaches of the main islands and there are so many dead corals, destroyed by bombing of fisherman and in the troubles years ago. In parts it looks like after a nuclear bomb, everything razed to the ground. But what I have to say: The corals that survived or recovered are very beautiful and they show all colors you can imagine! Doubtlessly there are better spots in the Kei Islands for snorkeling in the hundreds of pinpoint islands around than I saw.
…
Visit the Kei Islands!
I warmly recommend the places and people I stayed with:
- Homestay Esther Rahajaan in Tual-Un, Jln. Dr. Leimana (at the left side of the BNI Bank), tel. 0916-21913, mobil. 08134 3406007 – she will give you the contacts of her family in Kei Besar and help you.
- Ibu Rina Ur, Elat (Kei Besar), Jln. Depur
- Poly and Juni Rahajaan, Weduar (Kei Besar)
- Mama Fanny, Ohoiwait (Kei Besar)
Hallo meine Liebe,
großartig, was Du hier machst.
Ich denke an Dich.
Habe Dir einen Eintrag in meinem Blog gewidmet. Ich hoffe, das geht so in Ordnung.
Grüße und weiterreisen!
Pola II.
hey great work and beautiful pictures
I’m from the kai islands too, many people of the kai islands live in holland, in a community, places like zwolle, zevenaar, helmond, cuyk nistelrode echt and rijssen
when you had been there, this year i go there, i came from the village of pasir panjang (ngilngof) and wanna starts something there
for tourists..
now in kai they are build a new airport for bigger airplanes
Hi Anja,
habe mit großem interesse deine reise durch indonesien verfolgt, du bist ja wirklich rumgekommen und hast viel erlebt, toll, dass du hierfür so viel zeit zur verfügung hast.
leider haben mein freund und ich im juni nur drei wochen, aber im wesentlichen haben wir vor, wie du auch sulawesi (makassar und tana toraja), die kei islands via ambon, ggf. auch banda und lease islands, je nachdem, wieviel zeit noch bleibt, zu bereisen. es ist jedoch nicht einfach, flugdaten und -infos ab sulawesi zu bekommen. deshalb meine bitte, ob du uns ein paar infos geben könntest: ist es problemlos möglich, flüge vor ort zu buchen, und wenn ja, was kostet das ungefähr?
flüge frankfurt-singapur-frankfurt haben wir gebucht.
Ggf. können wir flüge von singapur nach makassar und/oder manado von deutschland aus buchen, diese sind jedoch relativ teuer.
ab makassar oder manado dann über ambon nach talu (?) auf die kei islands, von dort zurück nach sulawesi (makassar), via ambon, ggf. nach einem abstecher auf die bandas dann nach denpasar (bali) und von dort wieder zurück nach singapur.
gibt es ggf. kombitickets für diese strecken?
wäre echt klasse, wenn du uns ein paar infos geben könntest…
wünsche dir auf jeden fall noch viele tolle erlebnisse auf deiner reise und viel spass beim trainieren in bangkok
viele grüße,
Melanie
Hallo Melanie,
I hope, you don’t mind when I answer to you in English, some more people can share the information this way.
I try to answer your questions, but my memory might not been 100 percent right anymore and things in Indonesia can have changed. It has been a while that I was in Maluku and Sulawesi.
1. Where to go in three weeks?
First I have to say, what you need most of all in Indonesia is time. Buses and ships are slow and there is almost always a delay, whatever transport you choose. Sometimes you have to wait for hours before a bus or ferry leaves, and also flight schedules are not reliable at all in this country.
So, if you stay only for three weeks don’t try to visit to many places, you might end up only moving from one place to another without time to relax…
I would say three weeks are good for Sulawesi or Maluku, or only some parts of both. You will probably see when you are there and change all your plans you made before
That’s traveling though…
2. Going from Sulawesi to Maluku
You can only fly directly from Makassar (Sulawesi) to Ambon (Maluku), that means if you want to fly from another city in Sulawesi you have to fly to Makassar first, what doubles the price. From Makassar to Ambon it was about 400-500.000 Rupiah one way.
You can also go by ferry from Manado (northern Sulawesi) to Ternate (northern Maluku), and then continue to Ambon by plane – Merpati flies once a week, I think on Mondays, but it’s expensive, about 800.000 Rph (one way) and perhaps not very reliable, flights are often canceled.
To travel by ferry from Ternate to Ambon it’s a long way and you will need a lot of time for that trip. As far as I know, you have to change the ferries quite often between the islands of Maluku, there’s no direct connection. But I might be wrong.
There are also ferry connections from southwestern Sulawesi (Bau Bau) to Maluku (Ambon?).
3. Going around in Maluku
From the capital of Maluku, Ambon, to the Lease Islands you can only go by ferry, I think. Calculate about 3 days for that.
But there are usually flights to Banda Islands (Bandaneira) and Kei Islands (Tual).
A one way flight to Bandaneira cost 600-800.000 Rph, there is one weekly flight from and to Bandaneira but it’s often (almost every week) canceled! The flights Amboon-Tual (Kei) are more reliable but also expensive (600-900.000 Rph, one way) and there are more than one flight a week. I heart they are building a bigger airport right now. So actually, the only reliable possibility to go to Banda is by ferry. But it takes time…
There are different Pelni Ferries leaving from Ambon stopping in Banda an their way to Kei Islands, Lease Islands and Papua. When you arrive in Ambon you can get a monthly ferry schedule in the travel agencies around the harbor or in the Pelni office.
There’s no ferry every day – it’s only every 5 to 14 days!
It’s about 7 hours by ferry from Ambon to Bandaneira, calculate one day all in all. In Bandaneira you can wait for the next ferry to Kei Islands, it takes about one day and one night, on way. You whether stay in Banda for a couple of days only, or 10-14 days. Make sure you know the ferry schedule before you start planning your staying time on the islands to avoid being disappointed.
Please feel free to contact me if there are more questions.
Cheers
Anja
HI,
dear friend, my name is Andrea Greco, and I am from Rome, Italy. I am planning to visit the Kei Island next July together with a french friend of mine, Thierry Rochette, from Paris.
I hope you can kindly answer the following question : How is the weather in the Keis in July and in August ? Does it rain very much ? It is very difficult to find out the correct information, this is why I am asking you. Thank you very much for your attention,
Andrea Greco and Thierry Rochette
Hi Andrea,
I am not sure about the weather in July and August there, but it should be alright. I was there in November and the raining season was just starting. There was never rain all day but in December heavy winds start and it’s dangerous to go from one island to another. Also I could imagine that a ferry trip is not a pleasure that time. The people there told me the wind is the strongest from end of November till spring.
If you want to be 100% sure, why don’t you call Esther Rahajaan? She was born in Holland and speaks a very good English. She will be happy to help you and also to host you in Tual if you want!
Also the Lonely Planet should actually give some information?
Homestay Esther Rahajaan
Tual-Un,
Jln. Dr. Leimana (at the left side of the BNI Bank),
Tel. Indonesia-0916-21913,
Mobil 08134-3024856
I’m interested what you’ll find out, please write it to me.
Sheers
Anja
Hello andrea
I’m from holland too.
but origin from the kai islands,,
In july i also on vacation at the kai islands, when you go there?? maybe
i can meet you with yout friend there, and we can together make a boat trip to many small islands at the kai islands
In july there is no much rain, it,s the dry season and warm
Wow,,, i’m so glad to see my hometown,,, Ohiwait !!!!
there’s a beauty village!!!!
I miss to be there,, coz almost 15 years I never go there !!!!!
Hello,
I come from Holland and lives in Zwolle my father comes from Kai-Besar kampong Ohoiel. I never been there but i hear all the stories about Kai Islands. One of my wishes is to visit Kai to see and feel how my ansisters lives their thats my roots.
I saw that you where invite by Esther Rahajaan, she has also lives in Zwolle she was my neighbour and is parts family of mine.
it is nice to read some about Kai-Islands because there is not much on the internet about Kai.
Hormat dan Selamat untuk Micky Rahareng
Hi Anja,
Where are you now?
I have a new mob nmbr 081343406007!
Selamat
Dear Anja……
U would like to thank for your kind to put this site to tell to your people about Kei,cause many other guide book just written about kei is a remote area, I suggest you to tell to your people to put kei island for relax island after explore papua like after trip to asmat or Baliem valley, tourist can have a charter flight after do any interior to nice clean beach for swimming and relax, and you also make a trip for hiking to Dab-Hill in kei besar and treeking down to Holat water fall and watlar the village of Rat Rahail, it will be a nice paradise explorer.
I thanhk too to Ester Rahajaan to share the idea with Anja to introduce kei island to other European and please try do introduction for Darwin north Australia tour operator,cause Kei island just 800 Km north of Darwin and peoples from Darwin may visit this island.
If you like to visit sulawesi,please do any contact to me.my mobile:+06281342152769, it will be a good prospect for you to organize a trip to Indonesia to combine Sulawesi-Papua and island kei.
kind regard,
stanis
Dear Anja (aka polamundo)
May I use just one of your outstanding photos of the Kai Islands in an article I’m writing for Tempo magazine in Jakarta? Naturally, I will give you full credit to the photo.
Best,
Bill Dalton
Halo, my name is Glenn, I am Indonesian … since last June I am obsessed to photograph all the best beach of my country… so far I already found 5 most beautiful beaches : Lampuuk (Aceh), Klayar (Pacitan), Tanjung Tinggi (Belitung), Mawun dan Aan (Lombok).
Yesterday I observe Indonesia islands on Wikimapia and finally I spot a little island which have very vast white beach, located about 40 km west of Kei Kecil island. I search info about this island but I only get the name, Nusreen island, no other info.
Have you been there? How could I go there? Or is it possible to go there?
Thanks before and thanks for sharing the info about Kei island …
Regards,
Glenn
Hello my name Cecilia im Indonesian who lived in Bali for 8 years, and this the first time i read about Kei Island .
Wow its amazing place .. really . Wow …
But there’s something that i would like to know
1. How i can get to this island ( Kei Island’s ? ) is it from Maluku with a small boat ?
or there’s alternative transportation ?
2. How much the cost to get to Kei Island’s ? and if you can help me to give information about the cheap accommodation please.
3. My plan is, to have a trip in Dec, i think middle of December … and what the traditional activities in Kei Island’s that i see or watch on Dec ? i really love to see the difference from every province in Indonesia… if i have a chance.
Thanks before for your time and your kindness information .
wait for your answer friend’s
Have a nice day and take care
-cecilia-
Hi Anja
Interesting blog and extremely rare and valuable information on the islands of Maluku… Thanks for sharing!
I’ve got two questions: (1) How did you manage to stay such a long time in Indonesia without a visa-run to a neighbooring country? Normally they only give you a month on arrival. (2) Can you travel around in this remote region with only a minor prior knowledge about Bahasa Indonesia?
Thanks in advance. Please answer me on my mail if possible.
The best, and happy travels
Jakob Madsen Pedersen
Denmark
Nice Pics
Sungguh-sungguh ini suatu kerja yang bagus…
Saya suka halaman ini…
Ngurbloat Ngilngof memang tak terlupakan…
Sungguh Ngurbloat adalah tempat yang mempesonakan…
Thanks…
Salam Kenal….
thanks for visiting my motherland.
i like this blog.
God Bless u
hello
I enjoy seeing your web site. It make me eager to go and visit my family in Kai Besar.
I’ve never been there but hear a lot of stories from my Sister Silvia and my oldest nephew Gert-Jan and the rest of the family in Zwolle.
Hi Anja,
I came across your website while looking up information on Kai Besar.
In 1985 I was sent to Kampong Watdjidat on the western side to operate a radiolocation station for 2 months for the oil search in the Arafura Sea. For a 19-year-old it was the most amazing experience of my life. I was made so welcome by people who had never before seen a white man in the flesh.
The Kampong was Muslim but their friendship with people from the Christian villages was just like family. I actually trekked across the island to visit one of the Christian villages which I believe was Ohoiwat – with my Muslim friends. I was deeply sad to leave that absolutely gorgeous place and still have some photos from my time there.
After almost 25 years I would dearly love to re-visit the area before it is spoiled by commercial tourism. I have great memories of Tual also. Thanks for creating this site about such a beautiful place.
Kind Regards,
Shaun
Perth Australia
Yo soy mikel Faut, vengo de Tual y ahora estoy estudiando la Filsafat en Meksiko. Para mí Tual es mi lugar de la vida y aunque no me nací allá, pero es mi amor y mi fortaleza. Los lugares en Tual muchos son interesantes y bonitas por ejemplo: pasir panjang y Bukit mesbait. Salam kenal dengan sy di Meksiko.
saya senang melihat isi web ini, teringat akan evav kususnya kampung Duroa (dullalut) fangnan ! semoga satu saat saya bisa ke dullalaut lagi. Etnis Kei TETAP MAJU.
Hello
Im visiting indonesia at august, after a lot of research on web i finally discovered the Kei Kecil and Pasir Pajang, now im trying to find out a way to go there.
Im leaving jakarta at 7 of august, is there a way to find out if i can go to Kei at this time?
thank you very much for your time and thank you for all the info you have here
Thanos
The weather in November in the island Kai?