Junior Homestay

A comfortable room with a view that is no less beautiful makes me want to stay there for a long time.... 🫶

Junior Homestay was such an incredible experience! When we arrived at Waisai, Rubin picked us up from the ferry terminal and took us on a private motor boat (approximately 45 minutes) to Raja Ampat. He dealt with our heavy luggage, and kept it safe and dry underneath a tarp during the ride.The rooms are on stilts right above the water, with a mosquito net above the bed and a fan to keep cool at night. There is a separate building containing western style toilets and showers. While the facilities are basic, they serve their purpose. There is a porch outside of the room with seats and a table, and a hammock to relax. You can see many fish right from your room as well as reef sharks and harlequin snake eels in the shallow waters. During high tide, you can get into the water from the cabins and take a 10 minute swim/snorkel across the sandflat and seagrass to the reef. If you are a diver, Soul Scuba Divers is located just a 5-10 minute walk down the beach. Snorkeling from the dock at the Soul Scuba Divers location is spectacular. Check the tides before snorkeling, as many small jellyfish are pushed onto the reef when the tides change.Rubin and the rest of the staff were extremely helpful and kind to us, and are available to take you around the islands and to different reefs. They served hot and delicious meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and provided instant coffee, tea, and snacks (fruit & sandwiches) all day in the restaurant. There is WiFi and electricity while the generator is being run (typically in the early evenings through the early hours of the morning, but turned on if we requested) - and we also had 5G cell service from our room.The location was so remote and so peaceful. If we are lucky enough to get to come back to Raja Ampat we will definitely stay with them again!

recommended place for vacayy

Such a great place to stay for our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Raja Ampat!The bungalows are on stilts over the sea and every evening we saw baby sharks, rays, and other marine life swimming beneath the jetty. And it's a fantastic spot to watch sunset too!The rooms are basic but - based on what I heard from other travellers on the island - are the cleanest and nicest you'll find. The food was good too and we always had vegetarian options to choose from.

Beautiful spot, clean, well maintained, kind hosts, very good freshly prepared food, only 5 minute walk to Soul Scuba, and excellent reef to snorkel right infront of the home stay! Is it basic? Yes, but this is Raja Ampat! …

Junior Homestay was a great choice for our family of 4. Don't hesitate to book here! We booked 2 rooms for a week in March 2024. Halfred (though we didn't end up meeting him in person as he was away) was very helpful the whole time, and his family worked hard to keep the place clean and well-equipped for guests. You can also arrange for them to take you around the island or local snorkeling spots for a reasonable fee.There are 6 basic bungalows situated over water in the most lovely little stretch of the island. Don't expect a western style service and the language barrier is strong, but the owners clearly genuinely want it to be a great stay for guests and they do all they can to ensure that. Beds are basic but comfortable with nets, and the power stays on from about 6pm-4am with a fan in the room (which is better than most homestays). Every room has a deck hammock which was appreciated. The evening sunsets were spectacular, and the nightly coming in and out of the tides with the baby sharks swimming around was really lovely. You can climb down a ladder and bathe in the sandy bottomed area right off the dock, and the snorkeling just a short swim out on the house reef is AMAZING.The food was basic but delicious (if you aren't into sweet breakfasts, bring something of your own) and always served hot and on time. Always had vegetarian options and lots of vegetables. Usually some chicken, and tofu as well as lots of rice. Portions were almost always generous. Coffee, truly hot water and tea provided, beer and sodas available for a fee. Meals spaced fairly far apart, so bring snacks if you want to be able to snack between meals, but make sure they are in a sealed hard plastic container (we bought one on Bali with click lock sides and filled it with snacks before coming) to avoid rodents (see last paragraph). The social setting dining family style and sharing stores of the day with travelers from all over the world was an unexpected bonus that really enriched our time. BRING MORE CASH than you think! And don't worry about theft...it's not a thing there. We brought 4M and wished that we had double that, which is what most people brought (we were told most had between 8-10M). Cash is king and if you want to have boats take you places, have a few beers and not worry about running short on cash, just bring more than you expect- nothing is cheap in Raja as getting supplies is not cheap for them. You can always change back what you don't use! No way to get cash once you are on the island.Only caution is that as with all of the local islands and homestays (even the fancy ones), rats are a thing. It's better here than most other stays as the bungalows aren't on land and they are kept clean, but they are there. So- don't leave ANY food, sweets, etc in your bag or they will find it and be in your room. We didn't see any, but other bungalows did, and when we packed, we realized that we had left some food in a bag and droppings indicated that they had been in our room too. Our fault and easy to avoid. Be vigilant with food in the room, and you won't see any.

Our stay at Junior's had its ups and downs. The homestay's location on a stunning island felt like paradise, and the bungalows, while lacking some amenities like chairs and cupboards in the room itself, were clean and pleasant. There was a fan fortunately, which was working during electricity times (6pm until 2-3am). However, the mattresses weren't very comfortable and had quite some impressions. The mosquito nets had some little holes which we could fix with a tape. We were relieved not to encounter any rats, thanks perhaps to the presence of cats. The boat fee of 800,000 seemed excessive, especially since it's also used for the owner's grocery trips without offering discounts or allowing sharing, at least there was no one trying to help us to share a boat to split the costs with other people. The food left something to be desired, with only one fish dish over three nights and limited variety for breakfast (there was deep fried banana-dough-something, fruits would have been appreciated but wasn’t there). Communication was challenging, but the owner was responsive through Google Maps chat.Despite these shortcomings, we enjoyed the company of other guests, particularly during meal times and snorkeling trips. Nearby dive resorts like "Soul Scuba Dive" were popular, but reservations were essential as they are fully booked weeks ahead, my boyfriend could at least do an afternoon dive which wasn’t that great though. Overall we still had a pleasant stay thanks to the company of the other guests and the breathtaking nature and made the most of our time on the island.

Top for going diving at Soul Scuba Divers. The family is discreet but efficient, it is very clean and we eat very well.

We had a wonderful stay of 10 nights at Junior Homestay. It has a beautiful location on kri overlooking the emerald waters! Just looking out of our cottage over the water we saw lots of baby black tip reef sharks, sting rays, and lots of fish!We were very pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t a single rat in our cottages since we were hearing horror stories of rats from other nearby Homestays.The food was delicious with a lot of options of rice, meat, fish, veg, fruit at each meal. And there was incredible variety so we hardly ever repeated a dish in the 11 days we were there.The place is great value for money and really beautifully and conveniently located. The shared bathrooms were kept clean and well stocked with hand wash and toilet paper.However, if you are expecting a luxury stay, this is not the place for you. It is basic, has lovely views, is clean, and very convenient for divers and snorkelers - but is not luxurious.The rooms themselves are quite adequate and have a bed with a mosquito net, two windows, a table and a floor fan. We did not find the bed very comfortable as there was a depression in the mattress, but Halfred tried to fix it for us. Each cottage/room has a private porch with a table, two chairs, a clothes drying line and a hammock - our favourite place to relax!Halfred and his family speak limited English, but can translate easily if you WhatsApp them instead of having a conversation and are very helpful!

Good homestay serving good food and kind owner. Location easy access to other dive center around. Literally is good for everything.