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Indonesia – Wallacea Travel Advice (Schools)

Indonesia

Please read each of the sections below carefully. They provide important information about your Operation Wallacea expedition in Indonesia. Should you require further assistance please do not hesitate to contact your nearest Operation Wallacea office.

Travelling to and from the expedition

Non-packaged groups – Before confirming your flights please email flights@opwall.com to ensure your flights are correct. Also, please ensure when booking your international flights that the cost of your ticket includes 20kgs of hold luggage.

You can choose from one of two large international airports to fly into and out of Indonesia. Choose from either Jakarta (CGK) or Bali (DPS). Be aware that there is a lot of travel within Indonesia to get from the airport that you arrive into, to the expedition start point, and then back again at the end.

Arrival

The Terrestrial & Marine expeditions start in Ereke (North Buton) on a Sunday at 1300hrs. You need to book your international flight to arrive into Jakarta (CGK) on Saturday before 0945hrs, it is however advisable to arrive into Jakarta sometime on the Friday afternoon to allow time to overnight in a hotel here, to rest before commencing with the internal travel.  Alternatively groups can arrive into Bali Airport (DPS) on the Friday before 1630hrs.

The Coral Triangle Marine only expeditions start in Wanci on a Sunday at 1300hrs. You need to book your international flight to arrive into Jakarta (CGK) anytime on the Friday before your expedition.  Alternatively groups can arrive into Bali Airport (DPS) on the Friday before 1630hrs.

Departure

The all schools expeditions finish in Wanci on a Saturday at 0700hrs. You need to book your homeward international flight to depart from either Jakarta (CGK) anytime on Sunday (ie after midnight on the Saturday night). If you are able to add an extra night in Jakarta on the Saturday night to rest before the long-haul flight home this is highly recommended. Alternatively you can depart from Bali (DPS) on the Sunday after 1200hrs.

Internal Travel

The internal travel package will fly you from Jakarta to the provincial capital of Kendari (Saturday afternoon) where you will overnight, prior to travelling by car and boat to your expedition start point on the Sunday. On the Saturday after your expedition ends you will travel back to Jakarta (From Baubau Airport, via Makassar) for your homeward flight.

When flights have been booked, you will be issued a Booking Form which will provide specific details relevant to your internal travel package.

Additional Nights

As part of the internal travel package it is possible to arrange additional nights in Makassar or Bali before and after your expedition, and the relevant airport transfers. Your internal travel package includes all flights, hotels and transfers as indicated by your Booking Form. Please note however it does not include meals apart from breakfast where there is an overnight stay included.

Booking International Flights

School Groups

Packaged

School groups that have chosen a fully inclusive expedition package do not need to book international flights or internal travel. Operation Wallacea will be in contact with the group leader directly and will provide you with a fully inclusive quote for your international flights, internal travel and expedition costs.

Non-Packaged

Schools also have the option of having Opwall search for the best flight deal for the group and once the school group leader has approved the purchase, the tickets are then bought by Opwall at cost on behalf of the school.  A flight booking fee per person is charged for this approach.  Details of the flights for the group will be entered onto the portal by the Opwall staff booking the flights.

Alternatively, if the school has reliable travel partners then they can book the flights themselves and just pay Opwall for the expedition and internal travel costs. Under this scenario, before confirming your flights please email flights@opwall.com to ensure your flights are correct. the group leader needs to enter the flight details through the Opwall portal and email a copy of the itinerary or E-ticket to flights@opwall.com.

Passport

Please be aware that your passport must have at least 6 months validity (period before expiry) prior to arrival in Indonesia. Failure to have at least 6 months validity on your passport will ensure denial of entry into Indonesia.

Visas

Most nationalities must purchase a Visa to enter Indonesia for a 30 day period. The cost is IDR 500,000 (Approx.£25 or $32). We would advise applying for this visa in advance online (eVOA) at https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/#e-voa, and detailed instructions on how to apply online will be included with your pre-expedition training materials.

Alternatively you can purchase a VOA on arrival in Indonesia at the airport. If purchasing the visa at the airport please make sure to have enough cash in notes, as exchange rates fluctuate and coins are not accepted. Most major currencies are accepted, but change will be given in Indonesian Rupiah.

Anyone staying more than 30 days in Indonesia must apply for a Tourism single-entry visitor visa which is valid for 60 Days. The cost is IDR1,500,000 (approximately £78 / $98). Most nationalities can apply online at: https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/

Please email indonesia@opwall.com if you have any questions regarding your Visa.

You are responsible for checking the visa requirements that apply to you based on your nationality, and for arranging your visa.

COVID-19

For all COVID-19 information please visit this page.

Carbon Offsetting

By joining an Operation Wallacea expedition you are contributing directly towards the study and protection of threatened biodiversity, bringing significant financial benefits to small local communities, and working towards protecting valuable carbon stocks from deforestation. We are extremely proud of the impact we and our volunteers have had over the past two decades, creating a significant benefit to the environment.

However, we want to do more. Specifically, we want to make Operation Wallacea completely carbon neutral. As an organisation we will now be offsetting our own emissions from staff travel (both road and air) and from running our offices. But we also want to encourage all our participants to offset, at the very least, the carbon emissions from their own international flights – and ideally more. To do this we will be supporting the Wallacea Reforestation Initiative in partnership with our sister charity the Wallacea Trust (UK Charity 1078362), and you can read more about this exciting project here that takes a new approach to tropical reforestation that benefits not only climate, but biodiversity and livelihoods too.

How to Calculate Your Donation Amount

The first step in calculating your donation amount is to work out the total estimated amount of carbon your flights will emit into the atmosphere. To do this you need to take the exact flight routes you are booked on to for your summer expedition, and run these through the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) carbon calculator. This calculator can be found here.

This gives you the Total passengers’ CO2/journey (KG), which you will then need to convert into tonnes. 1 KG is equal to 0.001 ton, so you then need to divide your figure in KG by 1000. We usually assigned a value of $12 USD (or £10 GBP) per ton of carbon, therefore to work out this donation amount, you would need to multiply your ton value by either 12 or 10 depending on your currency.

For some of your flight legs, you may not be able to find your destination airport on the calculator, in this circumstance, we would recommend using the nearest airport (ie. for Croatia using Zagreb airport).

If you’re happy with an estimate rather than calculating the costs yourself, a £15 donation will cover the carbon produced by the flights in more than 95% of cases.

To donate, please visit the Wallacea Trust page and click ‘donate now’ at the top.

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