Alyui Bay 2023 Trip Report

Alyui Bay is a large body of water, semi-enclosed by the western arms of Waigeo Island, Raja Ampat, Indonesia. It harbors more marine biodiversity than most people can imagine. Incoming and outgoing tides provide planktonic food to the myriad of filter-feeding organisms that encrust the islands and channels here. Alyui Bay is also home to an extensive pearl farm. The bay provides an almost perfect environment for most Indo-Pacific marine species, from the simplest of invertebrates to larger, vertebrate predators that prey on specialized reef life. It would take many lifetimes to enumerate all the species found here and each snorkel brought new ones to light. Pewter angelfish, tasseled wobbegong, estuary seahorses, longspine waspfish, broadclub cuttlefish, and dozens of nudibranchs to name just a few.

After exploring the variety of different shallow water marine habitats in Alyui Bay, clear water mangroves, seagrass beds, coral gardens, jetties, vertical walls and limestone undercuts, it was time to head south towards the aesthetic limestone islands of Pef. Here, among the beams of sunlight filtering through mangrove trees, we found an unidentified species of flasher wrasse, variable jawfish, Signal gobies, and even mandarinfish. Moving further south our voyage brought us to the island of Penemu and finally Batanta. Hawksbill sea turtles, blacktip sharks, crocodilefish, and schools of massive bumphead parrotfish were witnessed amid the healthy reefs in these areas. Please check out our Alyui Bay 2023 gallery below.