Biryei Homestay, established in 2016 by the Richarson Rumbewas family, is located on Biryei Besar Island, North Batanta, Raja Ampat. It offers accommodation (5 rooms, max 10 guests) and various tourism packages including diving, snorkeling, and tours to sites like Pyainemo, Kri Island (Pasir Timbul), Arborek, and the Waringkabom mangrove forest/waterfall. The homestay is staffed by 5 local employees and served approximately 60 bookings from 2018–2019, attracting guests from countries like Germany, France, America, and the Netherlands.
Rooms
4 x On land – VIP bungalow
A single room bungalow with ensuite bathroom and toilet. Sleeps max. 3 persons / room.
Rates
- Twin share from USD 30.76 per person / night including 3 meals daily
- Single occupancy from USD 49.98 per person / night including 3 meals daily
Features
- Has email contact
- Reef dropoff
- Quiet hideaway
- Good house reef
- Sandy Beach
- Remote/isolated
- Has ensuite bathroom/toilet
- Diving available
- Sorong transfers available
- Seagrass
- Coral
- Calm beach
- Has raised beds
- Western style toilet
- IDR 400,000 to 500,000
- Has private bungalows
Details
Biryei Homestay has four private VIP bungalows that lie between the beach and bird-filled jungle of Batanta’s Birie Island.
The bungalows have raised beds, with sheets, pillows, bolsters and a mosquito nets supplied. Bathtowels are provided and bedside tables with lamps and shelves and hooks. A room light switch and power outlets for charging devices are provided.
The bungalow ensuite bathrooms have western style toilets, a piped water supply and bucket bathing.
Meals are served at Biryei’s beachside dining shelter. Drinking water, tea and coffee are always freely available there.
Electricity is provided by generator and is available from sunset to around midnight. Biryei Homestay receives a phone signal. A weak and variable data connection is sometimes possible.
The nearest village is Arefi, which is about a 20 minute boat journey away, so you’ll need to bring all the supplies you feel are essential with you. Basic supplies can be purchased in Arefi’s small local shops if you run low.
It’s especially important at a remote homestay like Biryei that you take all your inorganic rubbish away with you when you leave. You’ll definitely be contributing to the trashing of paradise if you don’t.
Only a little English is spoken at Biryei Homestay, so we recommend you bring a phrasebook if you don’t speak Bahasa Indonesia.
Activities
Be sure to bring your snorkelling gear, because Pulau Birie and the nearby islands provide excellent snorkelling. In addition to the usual hosts of fish and coral, you’re likely to see turtles, dugongs, mantas and dolphins.
Birdwatchers will be in their element: Birie’s jungles host a huge range of birds and their dawn chorus is a delight.
The villages of Arefi and Yensawai are relatively nearby and well worth exploring, and trips can be made to see waterfalls and Wilson’s Bird of Paradise on Batanta.
Best of all, Biryei Homestay is fabulous place for your own private tropical island retreat. A lovely beach, the music of the jungle and ocean and the lack of phone or online intrusions make it easy to laze the day way on your verandah, waiting for another blazing sunset over paradise.