Three kilometres of white sand, forest and reef: walk the island end to end at low tide, slip into the trees to hear hornbills and cockatoos, then snorkel back over one of the richest house reefs on earth and watch the sun drop behind Gam.
Kri, a small island off Mansuar in the Dampier Strait, is where Raja Ampat's diving history began, and where a record number of fish species were once counted on a single dive at Cape Kri.
The island is about 3 km long, with a path along its northern beach linking the homestays. Side trails lead into the forest, where hornbills whoosh overhead, sulphur-crested cockatoos call from the canopy and monitor lizards cross the track. A short climb near the middle gives a view over the strait to Gam and Mansuar.
The best plan is to walk end to end at low tide, snorkel back along the house reef with its schools of fusiliers, turtles and reef sharks, and finish at the western point as the sun sets behind Gam. Reef shoes for the walk, and watch the tide tables: the beach vanishes at high water.
A lazy afternoon: walk out on the sand, swim back over the reef.
Start about an hour before low tide from the homestays near the eastern end, by the jetties.
Take a side trail inland to listen for hornbills and cockatoos, and climb to the island's small viewpoint.
Back on the beach, white sand and leaning palms run west past the last homestays.
Reach the point as the light goes gold over Gam and the strait.
If there's light and energy left, swim back along the reef edge with a buddy, or save it for the next morning.
Ferry from Sorong to Waisai, about two hours, then a homestay boat to Kri, around 45 minutes.
Simple wooden homestays with full board line the beach; a few dive resorts sit at the eastern end.
Don't stand on coral or touch anything on the reef; enter and exit over sand.
Raja Ampat practical notes →Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
