Yenkarom Homestay

Extraordinary Small Business. Come on, come and visit.

I stayed here with my family in December 2016 for a full month and it was truly amazing. The snorkelling was incredible and the family was lovely despite their lack of English. The food selection was nice with plenty all the time, even snacks. We took day trips to see mantas and mandarin fish, both successfully, as well as doing some night snorkelling with their torches. The reef was of high quality and visibility was excellent except when it was stormy. One of the highlights was surely the dugongs. Just off the beach, they would feed on the seagrass and be pretty calm as long as you approached them slowly.Overall, it was a truly magical experience that opened our eyes to night and muck snorkelling. By the time we left it truly felt like we had become part of the family.

I am surprised by the positive reviews for this homestay, because this was a very stressful experience for us.First of all we did NOT book this homestay, we actually called and arranged with Marsel to go to the Boryomggung Homestay from the stayrajaambat website. When we arrived I realised that the bungalows looked different from what I remembered from the online pictures. They looked nicer and the people were friendly - so I assumed that this was an extension of the homestay and did not bother asking if this was actually Boryomggung - a name which I am still struggling to pronounce. This was a mistake of mine. It turned out that the family running Yenkarom is controlled by a 'boatmaster' (the 'brother in Sorong') and they cannot offer you anything without calling him first on the phone for a quote.We did not manage to agree on a price to go and see the manta rays (supposedly there is a spot nearby to see mantas with the morning current). What's worse though is that we had trouble leaving. I tried to call Marsel (who brought us there) to arrange a pick up but the reception was very poor, then it seems that his phone was out of reach. So we asked the family to help us with the transport, but "the brother in Sorong" asked for more money than Marsel's original price. Needless to say that his boat is smaller and does not need to come all the way from Gam to pick you up - like Marsel's. So the inflated price was totally unjustifiable.Anyway, here is a summary:The pros:- amazing house reef- possibility to see dugongsThe cons:- feeling trapped and vulerable, not having clarity over transport/ tour prices- much more expensive transport- the food was pretty bad (e.g. a bowl of deep fried bananas for breakfast was better than the inedible fried rice, but still...). If you can't eat it - you go hungry, there is no alternative anywhere- you need to be very careful with your freshwater consumption because it is brought by boat, probably from the village half an hour awayI would definitely recommend visiting Batanta, but do yourself a favor and stay in another homestay!

I stayed in this homestay at the end of november with some friends. the place is beautiful, the jungle is just behind the cotteges and in front a beautiful sandy beach.the cottages are clean,spaceful, and the inbathroom is very useful. …

Very beautiful place, snorkeling is amazing. Nice family, they speak very little english and there are cultural differences but they try hard , they are very nice people and the food is tasty and very nicely cooked

It was a very nice and pleasant stay at Yenkarom Homestay: Nofri, Jhon and their families are VERY friendly and helpful. Snorkeling is really great (I’ve never seen reefs like these before) and the beach is fantastic. …