128 Travel | Kaimana
Snorkelling with whale sharks in Kaimana ’ s Triton Bay at sunrise is absolutely unforgettable .
The enormous silhouette of a whale shark glides by , blocking out the sparkling beams of the morning sun . Below , a pod of dolphins are spiralling playfully in and out of my camera ’ s viewfinder .
Suddenly , the shape of a second whale shark appears out of the blue – swimming near enough for me to glimpse a cluster of tiny golden trevally hiding within the safety of its gigantic pectoral fins . The experience of being in the water with such beautiful creatures is pure magic – beyond any diver ’ s wildest dreams .
We ’ re exploring Triton Bay in Kaimana Regency on board Sequoia , a beautiful ironwood and teak yacht built by Kevin Corcoran and Yessi Maya Sari using state-of-the-art technology and in accordance with strict United States Coast Guard specifications .
Waking up every day to a new panorama of remote Papua ’ s stunning natural and cultural beauty , the benefits of travelling on a ‘ floating hotel ’ like Sequoia are obvious . “ We wanted to give our guests all the comforts and safety of home , while travelling to some of the most difficult-toreach places on the planet ,” observes Yessi .
She ’ s not exaggerating : four days into a five-day cruise , we ’ ve seen only local fishermen in search of their daily catch – not another liveaboard boat in sight . We ’ ve kayaked to deserted beaches framed by dramatic karst limestone cliffs – reminiscent of the better known Raja Ampat archipelago to the northwest , but without the crowds . Below the surface , we ’ ve explored a dive site known as ‘ Little Komodo ’, named for its resemblance to the coral reefs of the eponymous national park .
But it ’ s the chance to see the world ’ s largest fish that has everyone on Sequoia buzzing with excitement .
Whale sharks , which can reach a mindboggling 18m in length , have been observed by fishermen in Papua for centuries , but it wasn ’ t until the early 2000s that their tourism potential was realised .
During a series of exploratory expeditions conducted by Conservation International ( CI ) and World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) Indonesia , interviews were conducted with lift net fishermen in Kaimana ( known locally as bagan ). The scientists discovered that the fishermen were having almost daily interactions with whale sharks as they fed on the small baitfish or anchovies that the men were targeting .