Features
- English speaking
- Seagrass
- Quiet hideaway
- Good phone signal
- Coral
- Child discount
- Good house reef
- Calm beach
- Sandy Beach
- Western style toilet
- IDR 400,000 to 500,000
Details
January 2025: Black Swiss Homestay currently has some bungalow maintenance issues and is unavailable for booking. Hopefully these problems will be resolved soon.
Black Swiss Homestay occupies a beachfront location on the north coast of Birie Island, a small island which lies off the north coast of Batanta.
A great couples hideaway, Black Swiss offers a single private bungalow nestled in the shade of beachside trees. Bedding includes the usual mosquito net, pillows, sheets, bolsters. Meals are served on the bungalow verandah which has views across the Dampier Strait to the northern islands. Drinking water, tea and coffee making supplies are supplied free of charge..
A separate 2 room bathroom building provides bucket bathing in one room and a western style toilet in the other.
Electricity is provided at night by generator for lighting and charging devices.
English is spoken at Black Swiss Homestay, and a good 4G phone signal is usually available from the nearby tower at Arefi village.
Basic supplies are available at the village of Arefi which is about a fifteen minute boat ride away. Be sure to bring anything you absolutely can’t do without with you though. Please also be sure to take away any inorganic rubbish you create because, as with the rest of Raja Ampat, there’s no safe waste disposal available on Birie and inorganic waste left there will inevitably result in pollution.
Transport / Getting there
Transport from Waisai to Black Swiss Homestay costs IDR 1,000,000 each way. A longboat capable of carrying up to 6 people is used and the cost is shared by passengers.
Transport between Black Swiss Homestay and Yensawai (where the cargo boat docks) costs IDR 300,000 each way. A longboat capable of carrying 5 passengers is used.
Read more about Raja Ampat boat transport prices here.
Public Boat to Batanta
If you have plenty of time, you don't mind a bit of discomfort, and you want spend as little as possible on transport costs, then there are cargo boats that you can use to get to Batanta. (Obviously, if you are going to arrive on the cargo boat, then you don't need to request a Waisai pickup when submitting the booking form above.)
Here's what you need to know about getting the cargo boat to Batanta.
Activities
The lush forests of Pulau Birie are a birdwatcher's paradise and the island's north shore are has rich reefs and seagrass meadows where dugongs can often be seen. The nearby village of Arefi is also extremely picturesque and well worth visiting.
Batanta is one of only two places in the world where you can see Wilson's Bird of Paradise: Black Swiss Homestay can take you to see this amazing bird and can also arrange tours to any other local areas of interest.
The table below lists some of the available options. Tours are by longboat capable of carrying up to 6 people and the trip cost is shared by passengers. Be sure to bring your snorkelling gear! Black Swiss Homestay Tours
| TRIP | PRICE |
|---|---|
| Snorkelling: Pulau Urun | 550,000 |
| Snorkelling: Pulau Wai | 600,000 |
| Snorkelling: Pulau Dua Kri | 600,000 |
| Snorkelling: Pulau You | 400,000 |
| Snorkelling: West Arefi | 300,000 |
| Snorkelling: Pulau Ayof | 300,000 |
| Wilson's Bird of Paradise tour | 700,000 |
| Batanta Waterfall tour | 500,000 |
Batanta
See our Batanta page for an overview of Batanta, its neighbouring islands, and their attractions.
Black Swiss Homestay Location Map
Black Swiss Homestay Reviews
The reviews we publish are written by verified guests of Black Swiss Homestay. Please do add yours!
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22 Reviews
I had an amazing time in Black Swiss Homestay. The place is located on an isolated beach, not very far from Arefi, and fringed with a nice and fishy coral reef. Yoris and Marsel really have been the best hosts, providing a quality of service you would only expect from expensive resorts. They took so much care in every details of my stay that I trully felt like a special guest. The bungallow and other amenities were cleaned several time a day, bedding was very good, and the food was one of the best I had in Raja Ampat. I could only but recommend staying there and getting to know Yoris and Marsel ! It seemed to me that the previous difficulties with booking is a thing from a very distant past.
I had an amazing time in Black Swiss Homestay. The place is located on an isolated beach, not very far from Arefi, and fringed with a nice and fishy coral reef. Yoris and Marsel really have been the best hosts, providing a quality of service you would only expect from expensive resorts. They took so much care in every details of my stay that I trully felt like a special guest. The bungallow and other amenities were cleaned several time a day, bedding was very good, and the food was one of the best I had in Raja Ampat. I could only but recommend staying there and getting to know Yoris and Marsel ! It seemed to me that the previous difficulties with booking is a thing from a very distant past.
We planned to stay at Black swiss 4 nights, but we liked it so much so we extended with another 2 nights😊
The owner Yorris is delivering the food from his home 3 times a day. The food was varied, very good and for sure enough .
The housereef is amazing and we spent many hours there.
Yorris can also take you to many other interesting snorkel spots close by. Manfield reef and Manta point are about 30 minutes away, close to Pulau Wai… but it’s a must to do😍
If you bring your own gear, it’s also possible to go diving with yorris… he is a very good guide and has many years of experience 😃
If you are lucky, you can get a small internet signal in the evening until the next morning at the small hut at the West end of the beach🙃
We planned to stay at Black swiss 4 nights, but we liked it so much so we extended with another 2 nights😊
The owner Yorris is delivering the food from his home 3 times a day. The food was varied, very good and for sure enough .
The housereef is amazing and we spent many hours there.
Yorris can also take you to many other interesting snorkel spots close by. Manfield reef and Manta point are about 30 minutes away, close to Pulau Wai… but it’s a must to do😍
If you bring your own gear, it’s also possible to go diving with yorris… he is a very good guide and has many years of experience 😃
If you are lucky, you can get a small internet signal in the evening until the next morning at the small hut at the West end of the beach🙃
We stayed for 5 days in Feb. Pick up in Waisai was on time. Yorris and his brother Koni were very friendly respectful and professional. Only at Black Swiss do you get your own Private beach with stunning coral reef just 10 steps away. We loved the privacy, remoteness and beautiful sunset views. The guys took us to the amazing Batanta waterfall and snorkelling where we saw a manta ray and turtles. The food was great too – Fresh fish, rice, eggs & fresh bread his sister cooked at the local village that gets delivered each meal. The generator goes on for a few hours each night allowing you to charge up. This place is a gem! Yorris is also a divemaster and can take you diving if you bring your own gear.
We stayed for 5 days in Feb. Pick up in Waisai was on time. Yorris and his brother Koni were very friendly respectful and professional. Only at Black Swiss do you get your own Private beach with stunning coral reef just 10 steps away. We loved the privacy, remoteness and beautiful sunset views. The guys took us to the amazing Batanta waterfall and snorkelling where we saw a manta ray and turtles. The food was great too – Fresh fish, rice, eggs & fresh bread his sister cooked at the local village that gets delivered each meal. The generator goes on for a few hours each night allowing you to charge up. This place is a gem! Yorris is also a divemaster and can take you diving if you bring your own gear.
Mixed feelings about Black Swiss. We stayed a week from 19 to 26 January. No problem with pick-up in Waisai. But the bungalow was occupied for 1 night, so we had to stay in an old one end of the beach which was alright for a night. The bungalow itself is spaceous with a four-poster-bed more than king size which was nice. Big veranda, but without a hammock. We had one, so no problem. From an older comment I learnt that diving could be arranged, which actually was the reason why we chose this homestay. But mind – only for really experienced divers who bring their own equipment. So, my husband was happy diving with Yorris and I was happy snorkelling the housereef which sported a huge variety of fish. Unfortunately, the visibility was quite bad, we had much rain and storm. For the Robinson feeling – you’re very much alone there, you have to switch out the generator at night which is really noisy. Yorris usually goes back to his home for the night. The first 2 days food was ok, but then it turnt to rice, noodles, cabbage every day sometimes with tinned fish in tomato sauce thrown in. Yorris’ wife had to leave for Sorong and his mother took over the cooking!
There is no internet at the homestay. You have to walk several 100 m to a place in the jungle to get the signal passing by old homestays that are in ruins.
And a lot of trash is washed onto the shore which is rotting between the trees and mangroves. So even if you take care not to leave anything behind, the outer world gets to you easily. We appreciated the isolation, but I’m not sure to come back to this place in January or February. Maybe April is a better option.
Mixed feelings about Black Swiss. We stayed a week from 19 to 26 January. No problem with pick-up in Waisai. But the bungalow was occupied for 1 night, so we had to stay in an old one end of the beach which was alright for a night. The bungalow itself is spaceous with a four-poster-bed more than king size which was nice. Big veranda, but without a hammock. We had one, so no problem. From an older comment I learnt that diving could be arranged, which actually was the reason why we chose this homestay. But mind – only for really experienced divers who bring their own equipment. So, my husband was happy diving with Yorris and I was happy snorkelling the housereef which sported a huge variety of fish. Unfortunately, the visibility was quite bad, we had much rain and storm. For the Robinson feeling – you’re very much alone there, you have to switch out the generator at night which is really noisy. Yorris usually goes back to his home for the night. The first 2 days food was ok, but then it turnt to rice, noodles, cabbage every day sometimes with tinned fish in tomato sauce thrown in. Yorris’ wife had to leave for Sorong and his mother took over the cooking!
There is no internet at the homestay. You have to walk several 100 m to a place in the jungle to get the signal passing by old homestays that are in ruins.
And a lot of trash is washed onto the shore which is rotting between the trees and mangroves. So even if you take care not to leave anything behind, the outer world gets to you easily. We appreciated the isolation, but I’m not sure to come back to this place in January or February. Maybe April is a better option.
We had a very bad experience with black swiss homestay as they where overbooked.
Expecting some days with a Robinson feeling but instead they took us to another place close to a noisy village…
So sorry to hear of this Anke, and thank you for taking the time to report it. Stay Raja Ampat guarantees all bookings, and provides local support in the case of any issue making promised accommodation unavailable. We do wish you had contacted us on the day you discovered it, as we could have arranged accommodation at and transport to a more fitting homestay for you.
We won’t be providing booking services for Black Swiss until we can be sure that they will honour all the bookings they accept.
We had a very bad experience with black swiss homestay as they where overbooked.
Expecting some days with a Robinson feeling but instead they took us to another place close to a noisy village…
So sorry to hear of this Anke, and thank you for taking the time to report it. Stay Raja Ampat guarantees all bookings, and provides local support in the case of any issue making promised accommodation unavailable. We do wish you had contacted us on the day you discovered it, as we could have arranged accommodation at and transport to a more fitting homestay for you.
We won’t be providing booking services for Black Swiss until we can be sure that they will honour all the bookings they accept.
Our start was not entirely lucky as there was no one there when we arrived. No cell phone signal, no other accommodation or people around – our drivers were a bit nervous about leaving us there and promised to come back at 5!
We were still in good spirits and started to check the surroundings: lonely beaches, wild/wavy water, lush green jungle and in between a small, clean hut decorated with many shells, a veranda, raised bed with white mosquito net – fantastic. After 2 hours Yoris came too and everything became even nicer.
We were only there for 1 night till December 4th, 2022 and would have liked to have stayed longer: in the morning, the sea is now as smooth as glass, we keep seeing fins looking out of the water, sometimes a lot .. actually we were supposed to leave, but once more into the water: wow. Visibility is great and a large group of Humphead Parrotfish is feeding in the shallow water. very beautiful!
We really recommend the Black Swiss Homestay! (And yes: we also had a Robinson Crusoe feeling there 😉
Our start was not entirely lucky as there was no one there when we arrived. No cell phone signal, no other accommodation or people around – our drivers were a bit nervous about leaving us there and promised to come back at 5!
We were still in good spirits and started to check the surroundings: lonely beaches, wild/wavy water, lush green jungle and in between a small, clean hut decorated with many shells, a veranda, raised bed with white mosquito net – fantastic. After 2 hours Yoris came too and everything became even nicer.
We were only there for 1 night till December 4th, 2022 and would have liked to have stayed longer: in the morning, the sea is now as smooth as glass, we keep seeing fins looking out of the water, sometimes a lot .. actually we were supposed to leave, but once more into the water: wow. Visibility is great and a large group of Humphead Parrotfish is feeding in the shallow water. very beautiful!
We really recommend the Black Swiss Homestay! (And yes: we also had a Robinson Crusoe feeling there 😉
October 2022
We had a great stay at Black Swiss Homestay in October 2022. If you are looking for a Robinson-Crusoe-like-experience – it´s the perfect place. You will definitely have the beach for yourself! The clean and spacious bungalow is in a little clearing, surrounded by jungle. Yorris and his family made sure we had everything we needed. The food was simple but good (rice, eggs, vegetables), delicious fried bananas and cookies in the afternoon.
The house reef is very nice, but Yorris also spares no effort to take you to the best snorkeling spots around Birie Island. As he also works as dive guide, he surely knows where to go and where to look for special encounters (mantas, nudibranchs, soft corals, etc.). Yorris will always jump in the water with you and apparently enjoys snorkeling himself very much, which makes the experience even nicer.
On our request Yorris and his wife took us on a jungle-trip to see Wilson´s BoP. Although we did not see the bird (though we could hear it ;), we nevertheless had a great experience cruising the “fjords” of Batanta at sunrise, arriving in the mangroves and hiking through truly pristine jungle.
Thank you very much Yorris & family, we had a wonderful time at your homestay!
October 2022
We had a great stay at Black Swiss Homestay in October 2022. If you are looking for a Robinson-Crusoe-like-experience – it´s the perfect place. You will definitely have the beach for yourself! The clean and spacious bungalow is in a little clearing, surrounded by jungle. Yorris and his family made sure we had everything we needed. The food was simple but good (rice, eggs, vegetables), delicious fried bananas and cookies in the afternoon.
The house reef is very nice, but Yorris also spares no effort to take you to the best snorkeling spots around Birie Island. As he also works as dive guide, he surely knows where to go and where to look for special encounters (mantas, nudibranchs, soft corals, etc.). Yorris will always jump in the water with you and apparently enjoys snorkeling himself very much, which makes the experience even nicer.
On our request Yorris and his wife took us on a jungle-trip to see Wilson´s BoP. Although we did not see the bird (though we could hear it ;), we nevertheless had a great experience cruising the “fjords” of Batanta at sunrise, arriving in the mangroves and hiking through truly pristine jungle.
Thank you very much Yorris & family, we had a wonderful time at your homestay!
I liked my stay at Black Swiss, especially diving with the homestay owner, Yoris, at dive sites new for me, near Batanta. Yoris worked earlier at a few Raja Ampat resorts and now sometimes guides on liveaboards. He knows many dive sites in Batanta area, which creatures to look for there, the conditions depending on tides and current direction. It is not a dive center – Yoris only has 5 tanks and a compressor, but can rent more from someone else. I don’t know, how many equipment sets does he have or can rent – but at least 2, including 1 for himself. I also don’t know, which diving certification he has – but he can definitely guide quite well. We were diving from a shaky wooden longboat, which is quite uncomfortable when preparing and putting on the equipment – but not impossible.
I made 5 dives, 4 of which were on underwater pinnacles and reefs with strong current sometimes, in Kri Batanta area (Pulau Dua Batanta): Fish Heaven, Bibie Reef (twice) and Pulau Dua Express. To dive on these sites it is necessary to have a reef hook or at least a stick for safety stop on the top of the reef, where there are often strong currents. I would not recommend diving there for the beginners (but there are calm muck dive sites, and probably reefs with calmer conditions too). The above dive sites are beautiful, healthy soft and hard corals, sometimes big schools of barracuda, jacks, fusiliers, plenty of sweetlips, sometimes wobbegong sharks and mantas. They are comparable to Cape Kri, Chicken and Sardine reefs and Blue Magic. Pulau Dua Express is a long drift dive. I also made a muck dive at Yellow Coco, near the back of Papua Paradise resort, which was interesting too.
The hut was clean, equipped with a real double bed, moskito net without holes, a few tables, chairs. Hot and cold water, tea, coffee, sugar, even cookies were provided on the terrace. Yoris brought lemons from the village on my request. Sometimes meals were vegetarian, or just with eggs, I asked Yoris to buy fish for me, which he did once.
I didn’t go snorkeling on the house reef this time, but remember from staying at the neighboring Yenkarom homestay in 2018 that it was a healthy, interesting reef, a few times cuttlefish seen when snorkeling, once a walking shark and a dugong. This time I have seen a palm cockatoo feeding in a tree next to Black Swiss.
I liked my stay at Black Swiss, especially diving with the homestay owner, Yoris, at dive sites new for me, near Batanta. Yoris worked earlier at a few Raja Ampat resorts and now sometimes guides on liveaboards. He knows many dive sites in Batanta area, which creatures to look for there, the conditions depending on tides and current direction. It is not a dive center – Yoris only has 5 tanks and a compressor, but can rent more from someone else. I don’t know, how many equipment sets does he have or can rent – but at least 2, including 1 for himself. I also don’t know, which diving certification he has – but he can definitely guide quite well. We were diving from a shaky wooden longboat, which is quite uncomfortable when preparing and putting on the equipment – but not impossible.
I made 5 dives, 4 of which were on underwater pinnacles and reefs with strong current sometimes, in Kri Batanta area (Pulau Dua Batanta): Fish Heaven, Bibie Reef (twice) and Pulau Dua Express. To dive on these sites it is necessary to have a reef hook or at least a stick for safety stop on the top of the reef, where there are often strong currents. I would not recommend diving there for the beginners (but there are calm muck dive sites, and probably reefs with calmer conditions too). The above dive sites are beautiful, healthy soft and hard corals, sometimes big schools of barracuda, jacks, fusiliers, plenty of sweetlips, sometimes wobbegong sharks and mantas. They are comparable to Cape Kri, Chicken and Sardine reefs and Blue Magic. Pulau Dua Express is a long drift dive. I also made a muck dive at Yellow Coco, near the back of Papua Paradise resort, which was interesting too.
The hut was clean, equipped with a real double bed, moskito net without holes, a few tables, chairs. Hot and cold water, tea, coffee, sugar, even cookies were provided on the terrace. Yoris brought lemons from the village on my request. Sometimes meals were vegetarian, or just with eggs, I asked Yoris to buy fish for me, which he did once.
I didn’t go snorkeling on the house reef this time, but remember from staying at the neighboring Yenkarom homestay in 2018 that it was a healthy, interesting reef, a few times cuttlefish seen when snorkeling, once a walking shark and a dugong. This time I have seen a palm cockatoo feeding in a tree next to Black Swiss.
I stayed nine nights at Black Swiss homestay and really enjoyed my stay. Yori is running his homestay very well and he is a very friendly and caring host. Black Swiss has an amazing house reef and snorkeling was fantastic. Very healthy and rich corals. Communication was easy in English. 4G phone signal was only occasionally available. Food was good but quite basic (same as most of the homestays): rice, noodles, fish, fried eggs, vegetables (eggplants and beans), pancakes and biscuits. Nothing to complain.
I stayed nine nights at Black Swiss homestay and really enjoyed my stay. Yori is running his homestay very well and he is a very friendly and caring host. Black Swiss has an amazing house reef and snorkeling was fantastic. Very healthy and rich corals. Communication was easy in English. 4G phone signal was only occasionally available. Food was good but quite basic (same as most of the homestays): rice, noodles, fish, fried eggs, vegetables (eggplants and beans), pancakes and biscuits. Nothing to complain.
I didn’t stay at Black Swiss Homestay but I did go diving with Yoris and had a great time. Yoris has been working as a dive guide in a nearby resort and is just starting to offer his own diving tours (as of mid October). His knowledge about the dive spots in the area is impressive as he has done thousands of dives there and it was a lot of fun diving with him. Don’t expect a dive operation as in of the expensive resorts nearby though.
He has a compressor and currently owns four cylinders. Bring your own gear if you can even though Yoris has one or two sets of gear if need be.
Communication via text message was really easy with Yoris and the pick-up at the homestay I was staying at worked out great. I even rented some cylinders from him to go dive the house reef out in front.
I’m wishing Yoris all the best for his new business and hope I can come back soon to dive the pristine reefs around Batanta again!
I didn’t stay at Black Swiss Homestay but I did go diving with Yoris and had a great time. Yoris has been working as a dive guide in a nearby resort and is just starting to offer his own diving tours (as of mid October). His knowledge about the dive spots in the area is impressive as he has done thousands of dives there and it was a lot of fun diving with him. Don’t expect a dive operation as in of the expensive resorts nearby though.
He has a compressor and currently owns four cylinders. Bring your own gear if you can even though Yoris has one or two sets of gear if need be.
Communication via text message was really easy with Yoris and the pick-up at the homestay I was staying at worked out great. I even rented some cylinders from him to go dive the house reef out in front.
I’m wishing Yoris all the best for his new business and hope I can come back soon to dive the pristine reefs around Batanta again!