Sorong - General Info
Description:
Located on the northern tip of West Papua, Sorong is the gateway to the Raja Ampat Islands which is becoming more and more popular with cruisers.
There is good provisioning here and more ‘western’ foods can be found.
For reports by cruisers who have visited Sorong – go to Related Reports.
Cruiser Highlights:
Comfortable harbor for visiting yachts and liveaboards, haulout facilities, fresh supplies available at the local market, water and fuel, large swimming pool available for a small fee. Unfortunately gaining a reputation for boardings and attempted robberies.
Entrance Notes and Cautions:
There have been some recent near-misses with positions being taken from the paper charts for the Sorong area. Paper charts and GPS can vary up to 500m. Please take care when using paper charts for primary navigation.
Entering the ‘lagoon’ should only be done during daylight and requires keeping a good lookout for reefs.
Sudden tropical storms (that at times can be severe) can cause problems in the main Sorong harbor area, with boats dragging and anchors becoming entangled.
Security:
Security in the Sorong area is a concern. Thieves target predominantly unattended boats, however cruisers have reported being boarded and robbed while on board in 2023. Some boats have been raided twice during their stay here. Thieves target outboard motors, jerry cans of fuel, computers and mobile phones.
Security grills on hatches are helpful and assist with ventilation. It is best to leave at least one crew member on board and make sure that target items are carefully and securely stowed. Keep the decks well lit at night. A popular tactic is for groups of young people to paddle out to yachts to “say hello” and sometimes request photos with owners, but in fact are “casing” the boat for easily stolen items. It is advisable to come up with a good excuse for not inviting people on board.
Warwick Alliston of Helena Marina can organise boat caretaking.
See Docking for the most secure anchoring location in the harbor.
Position:
0°53’28″S, 131°15’51″E
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Related to following destinations: Eastern Indonesia - Papua, Indonesia, Sorong
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Due to the pandemic Azure II, an 86 foot power catamaran, has spent about 5 months anchored off Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia. We want to express our appreciation to Warwick Alliston, the owner of PT EON ENGINEERING. Wick and his staff have provided exemplary support in provisioning, extending visas, fueling, servicing an anchor chain, regular maintenance, etc. Wick also provides shipyard facilities with both wet and dry storage options for visiting yachts. We highly recommend Wick and his team:
Email: Warwick (Wick) Alliston
wick.eon@gmail.com
Tel/WApp: +62811485371
Ayu Saraswati
Email: ayusaraswatikoreludji@gmail.com
Tel: +6282399383203
We arrived in Sorong on Soko, our Moody 46, in June 2019, but with some trepidation having read the reports of boat theft, difficult CIQ etc.. After anchoring off Doom, we completed CIQ under the new regulations in a few hours, and were highly impressed by the efficiency, professionalism and friendliness of all departments. No question of any restrictions or kickbacks. One of the easiest to date. We are now street legal for 3 years of cruising this fascinating archipelago.
We then headed 40 minutes upstream, following Captain Dahlan, to Helena Marina. Owner Wick Allison met us and immediately took care of our every need. This included haul out, antifouling, changing cutlass bearing, canvas and teak repairs. Most importantly one of his staff is an expert on ships systems and electronics. We upgraded from Raytheon Seatalk to STNG, replaced all the batteries to Lead Carbon, fitted Solar Panels, sorted the spaghetti of long redundant wiring etc.etc..
We then spent several weeks exploring the wonders of Raja Ampat.
I cannot speak more highly of the cruising paradise, the people we have met and Helena Marina in particular.
Helena Marina and all staff amazing. Ayu who runs the office was amazing. Happy to help us with everything. Wick was very welcoming, constantly in touch with us and we left our boat here for 6 weeks. Fantastic service
Report received from SY Geoff of New Caledonia:
We arrived at Sorong at the end of May 2017 and left our sailing yacht at Helena Marina until mid-September while we were in France. The boat was securely tied up along a pontoon and looked after by the friendly staff of the marina.
Going to Sorong from Helena Marina can take an hour when it’s been raining and the 4X4 car rental costs Rp 500 000.
In September when we left, there were 8 sailing yachts tied up. The haul out ramp is under construction and will be soon completed.
Mr Wick Alliston and the staff of P.T. EON Engineering company have been very helpful. Wick always found quick and efficient solutions to resolve all the problems we encountered such as mechanical and electrical breaks down as well as administrative issues with the immigration office and the visa renewal procedure for example.
We would surely recommend Helena Marina, Mr Wick Alliston and P.T. EON Engineering to the sailors looking for a safe place to leave their yacht.
Jacques & Anne GEOFFROY on S.Y. GEOFF
This is a recommendation for Wick Alliston, who is mentioned in the comments on this page. He has been very helpful to us. His engineering firm hydro tests Scuba tanks (we had ours done very thoroughly and at a reasonable cost), provides a safe place to leave your boat and is working on a trailer-based haul-out facility that is planned to be completed within a few months. He has a wealth of information on sourcing workers and parts for yachts and Sorong in general.
Posted on the Indonesia main page:
Doom Island, Sorong, Papua.
A heads up on buying fuel from locals on Doom Island, insist up front that they purchase fuel from the Pertamina Dock just across the water in Sorong, recent deliveries to yachts have come from ships in the harbour, the fuel from these vessels can only be described as crude oil at best, a sample jar I saw yesterday was black sludge.
The current subsidised price at the Pertamina (08/09/17)is 5100rps a litre, expect a 60% mark up for delivery.
Gas bottles are obtainable but you will need a DIY decanting mechanism to transfer if you have US-style valves.
Seathan
svRehua
Posted on behalf of Norm van’t Hoff:
I’ve been living aboard our 38′ cat in Raja Ampat for the last 18 months. I’m doing reef conservation projects, the first of which included installing a public yacht mooring at Soof Island near Sorong. My hope is that yachts will choose to use the mooring instead of anchoring, which is destroying the reefs, and provide a bit of income for the local family. It’s far more likely the reef conservation project will succeed if they can make some money.
FYI The authorities seem to be discouraging anchoring inside Sorong harbour and there’s a massive reclamation project going on in the outer bay so I don’t know where, apart from Doom Island, boats will be anchoring in the upcoming season.
We’ve been on the Soof mooring during enough dodgy weather to feel it’s safe. I installed it myself and honestly, apart from the security of being on a mooring, it’s so much more relaxing than anchoring over near the city. I reckon the mooring’s a great alternative for those who don’t mind the 2 mile trip into town.
Also, so’s you know… The yacht marina in Waisai has been taken over by Meridian Investments (they’ve built a new hotel at the marina plus their 6 new, 60′ luxury cats!). It will be open for business, ie. for berths, very soon. Price to be advised.
Norm van’t Hoff
We left our Bahia 46 at the Helena marina for 10 days in November 2016. The marina is fully secured and well protected. This is a very quiet place in the countryside. There is no internet connection, mobile coverage is ok and the access to Sorong is not easy from the marina.
But, Wick and his team look after us and the boat so well. They organise everything for you.
They even organise a skipper to come on board to help you find the marina from Sorong. Wick knows also the right people and the marine business here, so he can facilitate and help you.
Everything went smoothly and we were very happy to leave the boat here. If we need to leave the boat in this Area again we will not hesitate to leave it in Helena marina.
Louis from S/V Zephyr
We left our Hylas 46 at Helena Base about 4.5 NM up the Wamon river for a month. Very secure, they have CCTV monitoring and a few helpful guys who live at the site. We bought 2 scuba tanks from Wick’s company, Eon Engineering, and he was very helpful recommending people to fix our Panda generator, a Honda generator and for places to buy numerous parts for the boat. Wick is a great contact in Sorong.
My name is Warwick ( Wick) Alliston and I have lived in Sorong, Papua Barat for 25 years. We operate the small live-a-board vessel Helena and several marine related businesses. We have a private jetty and haul out area on the Wamon river which we can make available to yachts with the draft less than 3 m.
I would be happy to be contacted by phone ( +62811485371) OR EMAIL:wick.eon@gmail.com
at any time if we can be of assistance to passing yachts. I am also the Australian Citizens Warden for Papua and Papua Barat. As part of our community assistance, I operate the Emergency Response Fund Sorong ( ERFS) .. which is a volunteer rescue and assistance service for yachts and live-a-board dive vessels.
I am happy to be contacted at any time. Wick