The Pelabuhan Sorong is the working heart of the town and the place every Raja Ampat-bound traveller passes through. Pelni passenger ships call here on the long route between Jakarta and Jayapura, and the smaller wooden ferries to Waisai (the entry point for Raja Ampat) leave from the same complex.
It is worth a wander even if you are not catching a boat. Fishermen unload their catch in the early morning, traders sell sago and dried fish along the wharf, and the buzz of an Eastern Indonesian port — Buginese sailors, Papuan dockworkers, traders from Sulawesi — gives a sense of how the islands stay connected. Bring small change for parking and porters.