There are two separate Raja Ampat fees, not one. The marine park conservation card costs IDR 700,000 for foreigners and IDR 425,000 for Indonesians, valid twelve months. The regency visitor entry ticket is a different charge entirely: IDR 1,000,000 per foreign visitor per visit since 1 January 2026, paid through SIPARI.
What are the two Raja Ampat fees, exactly?
| Charge | Collected by | Foreign visitor | Indonesian visitor | Validity | Paid where |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine park conservation card (the “PIN card”) | Raja Ampat Marine Park Authority | IDR 700,000 | IDR 425,000 | 12 months from purchase; children under 12 exempt | Marine park counters at Waisai and Sorong, or arranged by your operator |
| Regency visitor entry ticket | Raja Ampat Regency government | IDR 1,000,000 | IDR 300,000 | Per visit; in force since 1 January 2026 | The SIPARI platform, in advance |
That is the whole answer, and it takes one table. The reason it fills whole forum threads is that the two charges arrived years apart, are collected by different institutions, and use similar language about “entry” and “tourism”. Plenty of otherwise good travel sites still publish a single figure that is either the old conservation fee alone or an invented blend of the two.
Why does almost every website get this wrong?
Three reasons. First, the conservation fee has been revised more than once over the last decade, so old figures survive in cached articles and are copied forward. Second, the regency visitor entry ticket only took effect on 1 January 2026, which means anything written before late 2025 simply does not mention it. Third — and this is the uncomfortable one — a lot of operator content quietly avoids the subject, because IDR 1,700,000 of unavoidable government charges on top of the fare is not a selling point.
We would rather you saw the number now than at the marine park counter. The same principle runs through our inclusions and booking page, which lists every charge that sits outside the fare rather than burying them in a terms-and-conditions block.
What is the legal basis for the conservation fee?
The conservation card is an environmental services maintenance fee levied within the Raja Ampat Marine Park Authority area under West Papua Governor’s Regulation No. 4 of 2019. That is the instrument worth knowing, because it is the one that is consistently and publicly documented.
For the regency visitor entry ticket, we deliberately do not cite a regulation number. The charge, the amounts and the SIPARI payment route are well established; the specific local regulation behind it is not something we have been able to verify from a primary source, and quoting a number we cannot stand behind would be exactly the kind of confident misinformation this article exists to correct.
Where does the conservation money actually go?
Into the running of one of the largest marine protected area networks in the Coral Triangle. Raja Ampat’s MPA network covers roughly one million hectares — about 10,000 square kilometres — inside the wider Bird’s Head Seascape of approximately 22.5 million hectares. The region holds more than 570 hard coral species, around three quarters of all known coral species on earth, and over 1,700 species of reef fish.
Concretely, conservation fee revenue supports patrol operations, mooring buoy installation and maintenance, marine park office staffing and community programmes. The clearest worked example of what protection buys is in southern Raja Ampat, where a no-take reserve is co-managed with local communities and patrolled by community rangers — we go through the numbers in where your Raja Ampat fees actually go. Raja Ampat Regency also declared a shark and ray sanctuary in 2013 covering roughly 4.6 million hectares, and Indonesia declared its entire exclusive economic zone a manta ray sanctuary in February 2014.
How are the fees handled when you travel by liveaboard?
Almost always by the crew, on your behalf. The normal sequence looks like this:
- Before departure. The operator collects passport details for every guest, usually four to six weeks out.
- Visitor entry ticket. Arranged in advance through SIPARI, either by you or by the operator on your behalf. Ask which, in writing.
- Conservation card. Issued at the start of the trip, either at the marine park office in Waisai or by a representative meeting the boat. It is a physical card and it is checked.
- Payment. Added to your onboard bill and settled at the end of the cruise, in rupiah or by card depending on the vessel.
Boats embarking from Sorong typically collect guests from city hotels around 12:30; Waisai-based departures meet guests at the marine park office at the harbour around 11:00 to 11:30, which is convenient precisely because that is where the cards are issued. Full transfer logistics are on the central Dampier Strait route page.
What about children, repeat visits and lost cards?
Children under twelve are exempt from the conservation fee. For the visitor entry ticket, the treatment of minors has been applied unevenly since introduction — get your operator to confirm in writing for your specific dates rather than relying on a blog post, including this one.
The conservation card’s twelve-month validity is genuinely useful if you are combining a liveaboard with a homestay or resort week, or returning within the year: you buy it once. Keep the card physically on you. It is inspected at the marine park office, by patrols, and on arrival at some jetties.
How do the fees fit into the whole trip budget?
At roughly IDR 1,700,000 per foreign visitor, the fees are real but they are not the big number. The boat is around two thirds of a Raja Ampat budget, at USD 250–350 per person per night for value vessels, 350–500 mid-range and 500–800+ premium. Flights, a pre-departure hotel night in Sorong, nitrox and crew tips fill in the rest. We break the entire landed cost down, with three worked examples, in what a Raja Ampat liveaboard really costs in 2027.
Figures here are indicative market bands for the 2026–2027 season, quoted per person in USD on a shared twin basis unless stated. They move with vessel, cabin, season and group size, and they change — ask us for the live rate on your dates before you build a budget around them.
Want the current fee position confirmed for your exact dates? Message Komodo Luxury on WhatsApp at +62 811 3823 875 or email [email protected] with your travel window, certification level and party size. We reply with the vessels available on those dates, the cabin-by-cabin rate and a plain list of what is not in the price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to enter Raja Ampat in total?
For a foreign visitor the two government charges add up to IDR 1,700,000 – IDR 700,000 for the marine park conservation card and IDR 1,000,000 for the regency visitor entry ticket. For an Indonesian visitor the total is IDR 725,000. These are separate charges collected by separate bodies, and neither is normally included in a liveaboard fare.
Is the conservation card the same as the entry ticket?
No, and this is the single most common error in Raja Ampat travel content. The conservation card is an environmental services fee for the marine park, valid twelve months. The visitor entry ticket is a regency tourism levy charged per visit and paid through the SIPARI platform. Paying one does not cover the other.
How long is the marine park conservation card valid?
Twelve months from the date of purchase. If you return to Raja Ampat within that year – a second liveaboard, or a resort stay after your cruise – the same card is still valid and you do not pay again. Keep it; it is physically checked.
Do children have to pay the Raja Ampat fees?
Children under twelve are exempt from the marine park conservation fee. Treatment of children under the regency visitor entry ticket has been applied inconsistently since it came in on 1 January 2026, so ask your operator to confirm the current position for your family before you travel.
Who arranges the fees if I am on a liveaboard?
In practice the crew does. Most Raja Ampat liveaboards collect passport details before departure, arrange the conservation card at the start of the trip and add it to your onboard bill. You should still budget for both charges as a separate line item, because they are not in the fare.
What happens if I lose the card during the trip?
Report it to the cruise director immediately. The card is tied to your passport and your purchase record, so a replacement or a verified re-issue is usually possible through the marine park office, but it is far easier to resolve while you are still in the area than after you have flown home.
This guide is published by the team behind this Raja Ampat eco liveaboard site — Komodo Luxury, part of Juara Holding Group, running dive and cruise operations in eastern Indonesia since 2015. Questions on a specific date or vessel: WhatsApp +62 811 3823 875, email [email protected].
