Agusta Eco Resort

Agusta Eco Resort occupies the whole of Agusta, a small private island in Raja Ampat — the archipelago off the western tip of New Guinea, in the heart of the Coral Triangle. White sand, palms and turquoise water all around, and no village or other hotel next door. The resort sits away from the busiest parts of the archipelago, and that is what its guests value: quiet, a beach of their own and their own pace.

What sets it apart from most places to stay in Raja Ampat is how it is built. Local lodges are usually palm-thatch huts with open walls and no air conditioning. On Agusta the cottages are built of wood and masonry: each has a private bathroom with hot water, air conditioning and mosquito nets, while humidity and insects stay outside. Every cottage faces the sea and is a few steps from the beach, the restaurant, the pool and the dive center.

There are three categories. Raja Cottages are wooden cottages in local style right on the beach, with large windows onto the water; a family version has two bedrooms and two bathrooms for up to six. Superior Cottages are about 45 m², with furniture hand-carved in Bali and Papua, a minibar, a safe and a dedicated desk with a power outlet and LED lighting for camera gear — the resort hosts many underwater photographers every year. Deluxe Cottages are built of wood and masonry, decorated with Papuan and Indonesian art, and have Wi-Fi in the room.

The dive center is on the resort grounds and is an SSI Instructor Training Center. The morning briefing is at 7:30, and sites are chosen each day according to weather and sea conditions. On arrival day divers set up a personal gear basket and have their equipment checked; anything missing can be rented. Diving requires a certification card, dive insurance and your own dive computer, and gloves are not allowed. Courses run from Try Scuba and Open Water to Advanced, Nitrox, Stress & Rescue, Divemaster and instructor training.

Raja Ampat is a place where big animals and macro share the same dive: oceanic mantas, reef sharks, barracuda, trevally, Napoleon wrasse, turtles, wobbegong sharks and pygmy seahorses. About three quarters of the world’s known coral species live here, along with more than 1,500 species of fish. The water is 28–30 °C all year and visibility often reaches 25–30 meters. From the resort, boats head to the sites around Mioskon — Blue Magic, Sardine’s and Lao Lao — and to The Passage between Gam and Waigeo, with The Caves, Nudibranch Rock and Column Cave.

The resort works for non-divers too: snorkeling off the island and half- or full-day snorkel trips, a freshwater pool on the shore, a spa with massage, a gym and a games room. The resort boat goes to the archipelago’s most famous views: Piaynemo lagoon with its limestone islets (about an hour away, with a viewpoint up a wooden staircase), the hidden lagoon of Hidden Bay with Swallow Cave, the emerald lagoon of Rufas Island, the Pasir Timbul sandbanks that surface only at low tide, and a rainforest waterfall on Batanta. At first light you can watch the courtship display of the red bird-of-paradise — about 35 minutes by boat and a short walk through the forest. On Mioskon thousands of fruit bats with a wingspan of about a meter sleep in the trees by day.

The kitchen is Italian, international and Indonesian, with homemade pasta and local produce. Meals are served at the table, not as a buffet, in a restaurant overlooking the sea. Full board and the standard transfer from Sorong are included in the stay.

In 2026 the resort received the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice award. The Octopolis Foundation works on the island, placing shelters for octopuses in the sea and explaining to guests how the reef works.