West Papua has numerous entry ports

Traditionally most people arrive via Jakarta-Denpassar-Timika-Jayapura with Garuda Indonesia. Garuda also flies into Nabire and Jayapura via Biak and return.

The other variation is to arrive at West Papua via Wutung on the Papua New Guinea border.To get to Wutung via PNG requires a flight which comes from the Capital of Papua New Guinea Port Moresby-Madang-Vanimo.
At Vanimo you can buy a seat on a PMV which will take several hours to get to the PNG immigration post. Make sure your PMV gets you to the border well before its closing time of 5pm. To the right of immigration is a lighthouse and you get nice views from here, take the time to look as you may never pass this way again. On the PNG side they will stamp your visa and you then pass through no mans land for around 500 metres before arriving at the Indonesian immigration post. You will note the transition from PNG easy going military to the Indonesian TNI manning machine gun posts. Can appear confronting and I am not sure what they are expecting at this very remote place. It is possible to hire a taxi at this point but be sure to negotiate and settle on your fare before setting off. Its best to leave here early in the afternoon unless you are a seasoned traveller and are comfortable arriving in Jayapura in the dark! There are numerous Hotels in Jayapura and I personally like the Hotel Jasmin. There is also a very swank Swiss Hotel located on the Harbour for those with loads of money.
Jayapura is around an hour or so depending upon the traffic from Sentani where the flights to Wamena depart from. Hire a taxi for this trip and settle on a fare. At the airport you will find the Trigana Air booking window where you can negotiate which flight you will be on. They do not offer return flights. To return from Wamena you buy a ticket there.

Key entry points
Puncak Jaya-Timika-Sugapa or Illaga or Beoga. Nabire-Enaratoli-Sugapa, Illaga or Beoga
Puncak Trikora-Wamena
Puncak Mandela-Wamena-Mulia (MAF, AMA or Helimission charter) All are located at Wamena airport to your right as you leave Wamena domestic terminal.

Getting Around West Papua

There are numerous airlines that fly to various destinations

Wamena
Trigana Air-Jayapura to Wamena return. Its best to catch the early flights both ways if possible as Wamena is in a valley and quite often fog will descend early in the afternoon and the flights will be stopped. Was around 600K Rupiah each way.
Merpati flies to many other regions from Timika and Jayapura. They fly into Jayapura to Merauke which is the southernmost town in West Papua.
Military Hercules C130 aircraft fly all over West Papua but you need to know someone to get onto these flights. The best way to get into Wamena is via Timika as they fly direct each week and bypass the need to go to Jayapura.

Enaratoli
Merpati air
Charter with Aviastar

Nabire
If you want to fly to Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) one helicopter charter company is
PT. Cheysea Aurelia
JL. Pemuda No. 14 Nabire Telephone/Fax 0984 26018-23618

Sugapa(Bilogai), Illaga, Beoga. Pogapa
Trigana air flies to Beoga each Monday morning at 6am and returns directly after a quick turnaround in Beoga.
Charter with Aviastar which is situated at Timika airport though the office is difficult to find unless you know Bahasa and can ask around. Remember when asking around at the airport that it is most manned by employees of Freeport.

Agats/Asmat
Three ways to get there
1. Private air charter-40 Minutes from Timika with Aviastar
2. Private hire fast motor boat-6 hours
3. Pelni Cruises-6 ++ hours, infrequent service
Options 2, 3 Depart from Pomako which is the main wharf for Timika around 26ks from Timika on a now bitumen road (narrow, windy and potholed). Pomako is where all of Timika's sea freight arrives and passengers from outlying regions.

Mission Aviation Fellowship flies to a multitude of remote villages but it is highly unlikely you will get a seat with them, even if you try to charter a flight. This is especially so out of Timika as they often fly charter for employees of Freeport and it seems they dont like to carry around pesky tourists. In Wamena MAF is more flexible and approachable though you need to catch up with the expat pilots and discuss options, no point trying to negotiate a flight with the MAF office staff.

Red Tape/Travel Permit/SKJ

West Papua is unusual in that you must have a Surat Jalan (travel permit) to go to all places except for Sentani/Jayapura.

All other destinations in West Papua require a SKJ. Interestingly all tour operators will tell you just how hard it is to get a permit to travel in West Papua though it’s a load of nonsense aimed at dramatically inflating the prices of any expeditions or tours.
Having said that there are “special” places that do require much more effort to obtain a SKJ. The vast majority of people reading this submission will be those who are purely interested in travelling to Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) which is one of those special places. Permits have always been historically hard to get, purely as a result of the influence some tour operators have in Indonesia. They deal with “contacts” who provide the SKJ as required and “special” read bribes are paid to expedite these SKJ. However it is possible to get a SKJ to Puncak Jaya though the difficulty should not be underestimated. Please see my page on Puncak Jaya for more in-depth information on the SKJ process specific to Puncak Jaya.

How to get an SKJ for general travel.
You will need an Indonesia Tourist Visa granted for most on arrival. In addition you will need 2 passport photos on a red background. Armed with these you can proceed to the Police Station to receive your SKJ to most destinations in West Papua. Some expedition operators are able to bypass some stages of this process. In most cases an SKJ can be issued while you wait. The police generally will not issue an SKJ for Puncak Jaya for Solo travel. It seems that the Indonesian expedition operators have had a word in their ears and the police will say for Puncak Jaya you need a group of around 5. In turn you would call it an International Expedition. When you get your SKJ make sure you take quite a few copies depending upon how many villages you intend to travel via on your way to any mountains. For each of the West Papua mountains listed I will give instructions on their pages for obtaining an SKJ.

For all remote destinations in West Papua you will be required to show your SKJ, quite often upon arrival and in nearly all towns it is the Law that Hotels keep a record of your SKJ and must report your arrival to the Police within 24 hours. In remote villages when hiking you will pass via both Police and Military post. It is highly likely that at each of these you will be asked for your permit. In most cases a friendly outgoing nature will go a long way, though in some areas you may be required to pay a "fee" to proceed. This is commonplace and will generally only be a small amount. Remember these guys are paid next to nothing so this will supplement their income. Indonesia survives on bribes and this is commonplace. Once you know a region, say Wamena you soon learn where these posts are and how to avoid/circumnavigate them. I have travelled in all directions from Wamena and have only ever had to show my SKJ once. There are posts everywhere and sometimes your guide will feel obliged/scared/co-conspirator for you to stop and make a visit/payment

Where to stay

Wamena
Hotel Pilamo
Jl. Trikora No. 114
Wamena Papua
Telephone: (0969) 31043-32359
Fax: (0969) 31798
You will need to book well in advance as this is a very popular Hotel, probably rated at 2-3 stars. Book the Deluxe room and make sure you have confirmation. Its really important not to book the cheap rooms at the front of the Hotel facing the road as they are very very noisy at night and are mostly filled with large groups of Papuans and Indonesians. There is also the traffic noise to be considered.
There is also the Hotel Nayak directly opposite the airport and they have rooms of varying degrees of comfort.
See the Map on the Wamena Mountains page

Timika
It is very important to note that the Timika Sheraton, located 1km and adjoining the airport is not a real Sheraton Hotel. It is owned, run and staffed by Pt Freeport Indonesia. Its email system is fmi.com and it is directly linked to PTFI security system. The majority of visitors here are expats who come down from Tembagapura for some R&R most weekends.

Intsia Timika Hotel (1km from central market place-best pick)
Jln Yos Sudarso No:101
Ph: (0901) 321007 Fax: (0901) 321008
5 classes of rooms, Intsia Suite, executive, deluxe double & single and superior. Range 220,000-600,000 Rp

Grand Tembaga Hotel (centre of town near main markets)
JL. Yos Sudarso No.133 Timika-Papua
Ph: (0901) 321284 Fax: (0901) 322629
Email: hotel@grand-tembaga.com
Website: www.grand-tembaga.com
5 classes of rooms, executive, suite, deluxe double, deluxe single and superior. Range 250,000-500,000 Rp

Hotel Kamoro Tame (1km from central markets, have bungalows and a swimming pool)
Jl. Cendrawasih SP.II

Jayapura
Many options though these two rate hightly
Hotel Jasmin-situated in the centre of town overlooking KFC,
Jalan Percetakan Negara No. 8 Jayapura
Telephone: (0967) 533222
Fax: (0967) 536027

Swiss Belhotel, expensive though superb quality on the shores of the bay in Jayapura

Merauke
The Hotel Megaria in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia situated Jl. Raya Mandala No. 22 can be contacted by phone +62971 21932

Prominent Mountains in West Papua

Puncak Jaya and Ngala Pulu-inland from Timika, Sugapa, Illaga, Beoga, Pogapa
Puncak Trikora-Wamena beyond Lake Habema
Puncak Mandela-Mulia (expedition)
Besides these mountains there are unlimited opportunities for those who are true explorers at heart.
Generally all mountains inland from Timika require a dedicated expedition as access to all mountains is via impenetrable jungle. Puncak Jaya sadly is within easy reach of the vast Freeport mines access road but travel via this road is impossible. Most would feel socially, ethically and morally against such access though many stories from the past talk of access, legal or illegal via this road.