Excited to know when MahaRaja will reopen and when you can enjoy the magic experience of our paradise?

We have great news for you! We are preparing for a reopening in January 2021 and are open to bookings as of now. You can read more details at the end of the post. But first, let us describe you the current situation and what we are doing to prepare for your arrival 😊

Also, if you don’t already follow us on social media and would like to get a glimpse into our daily life during lock down check our stories on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We hope you enjoy the unique photos and entertaining stories of the island life.

CURRENT SITUATION AT MAHARAJA ECO DIVE LODGE

On March 17th, right after the first Covid-19 case was recorded in Sorong, MahaRaja decided to close the lodge and to self-quarantine our private island.

Few days after our closure, Raja Ampat closed all the tourist’s activities and resorts. One week after, Sorong went into lock down and closed its airport which is the entry point to Raja Ampat.

During this time, we have been working optimistically for a future opening, with a strong focus on the safety of the guests, the MahaRaja family, the Papuan community and the environment. We are also exploring new sustainable projects.

What we have been doing during the period:

1-Staying connected, being supported and supporting the local Papuan community

• Providing Covid-19 news, information and training to the Papuan community

When the first cases of covid appeared in Sorong, we recognized the need to define safety procedures, training our staff and sharing the news . We were the first resort to start quarantine and start training our staff. We shared WHO and CDC guidelines and hygiene requirements with the staff. In addition provided daily news about covid in Indonesia and the world. We also went through safety procedures on a weekly basis with the staff. We asked the staff to communicate with their family about hygiene. We also communicated with people of Arefi and Kampung Baru, and all the locals that visit us regularly providing them weekly news. Papuan community puts a lot of value on family and friends and they always participate in group activities. We made sure that they are aware of social distancing rules. We provide.the community with masks and train them on the proper usage.

• Continuing to provide the Papuan MahaRaja family with salary, work insurance, health insurance and retirement benefits

As our staff decided to join their family during the time of lockdown, we continued supporting their families by providing social security, and reassuring them about their job security.

• Supporting the local Papuans community with food donation, micro credit and tools.

Since the lockdown started, many of the Papuans working in the local tourism lost their jobs. The villages also went to lockdown and stopped going to Sorong.Throughout this time we provided monthly packages to our staff containing staple food to support them and their family. We also offered the village of Arefi to organize for their shopping from Sorong which is their main way of obtaining groceries.

At this time many of the locals started building Kebun (small gardens) to grow food for their family and spending lots of time in their garden. For many kebun is a boat ride away from homes and that means providing fuel for the boat. So many of the people started building shelters in their Kebun to stay overnight. To help build the structures, MahaRaja provided equipment such as lamps and solar charging stations and woodworking hardware. Also some of our staff used the microcredit system to buy the equipment for gardening and for building.

• Sharing the new MahaRaja projects and process with the local community, being supported by them and creating revenue (Provisioning of food and local natural resources such as wood, leaves for our projects,...)

2- Implementing hygiene procedures to ensure the maximum hygiene and safety for our guests.

• Equipping our lodge for the new sustainable safety procedures that will be implemented at the reopening.

• Regularly briefing staff about new and upcoming procedures

• Adding additional features to the common room, bungalows, kitchen and behind the scene

3-Creating, testing and deploying new sustainable solutions

• Making 100% organic natural cleaning products and accessories.

• Starting our sustainable organic garden using our new rainwater collection system.

• Creating new delicious organic vegan recipes based on the local fresh ingredients

• Improving our solar powered system

4-Improving and maintaining the lodge

MAHARAJA-WHAT’S NEXT

Good news everyone! We are preparing for a reopening in Jan 2021, depending on the decisions of the Indonesian government. (see our blog post ”Insider View of the tourism in Indonesia and Raja Ampat- August 2020” for more details)

Another great news is that we are open to booking again. You can start booking your dream stay with us right now, for a stay in 2021. We strongly recommend a very advance booking for your favorite date, as we have 5 exclusive bungalows only.

You may also want to consider privatizing the whole island for your group of friends and family of minimum 10 people, as MahaRaja private island is the perfect setup for a safe group gathering.

Booking

We have reviewed our booking terms and conditions to adapt to our guest’s situation:

• We have extended the validity of the bookings from 1 year to 2 years

• We continue to propose a free of charge change of date or transfer of the booking, up to 1 months prior to the date of arrival.

• We will take into the consideration the changes due to the travel restrictions or the virus symptoms and sickness.

• Our 2021 rate will be the same as 2020. We will absorb the cost of the new safe sustainable operations, without any price increase for our guests.

Safety

We believe MahaRaja is a naturally safe place to stay during this time, thanks to its:

Location

• Located on a private remote island, in the pristine area of Batanta, out of the regular touristic path

• Protected island reef, with extremely rich and spectacular marine life spread in 4 different sites, accessible directly from the island, for scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming or marine life watching directly from the jetty.

Setup

• Small exclusive setup of 5 spacious private bungalows distant from each other

• Large outdoor common areas with large dining tables, allowing distancing between the guests

• Built and operated in an eco and sustainable way, limiting the dependence and the interactions with the city of Sorong and Waisai.

Operations

• Solar power, rainwater collection, ocean water desalination, use of natural hygiene and care products, organic gardening, strong collaboration with the local village and many other initiatives made MahaRaja mostly self-sustainable, in Batanta.

• Fresh local organic same-day handpicked vegetables and fruits are provided by the local Papuan women of the nearby village of Arefi and cooked by our Papuan chefs.

• Local dive operations only in the pristine and rich dive sites of Batanta, with more than 20 dive sites from a short boat distance from the island

• Diving and snorkeling on demand with no planning for the day. The guests request for diving or snorkeling whenever they wish, usually in private groups or in couple and there is always a dive/snorkel guide available for you.

Capitalizing on MahaRaja assets, we are creating and testing new ”Sustainable Safety” procedures to ensure the maximum hygiene and safety for our guests, including:

• Equipping our lodge for the new procedures that will be implemented at the reopening.

• Adding additional features to the common room, bungalows, kitchen, activities area and behind the scene

• Training the MahaRaja family

We are also adding new activities and some surprises that you will discover soon!

We are delighted to welcome you in our paradise soon and to create magic memories together.

YES, 2021 WILL BE A MAGICAL YEAR !

MahaRaja Eco Dive Lodge Reopening- Jan 2021