The Auri Islands lie within Cenderawasih Bay (Indonesian for “Bird of Paradise Bay”), a large bay on the northern coast of Indonesian Papua. Dotted with hundreds of small islands and atolls, this bay shelters some of Indonesia’s most beautiful coral reefs with a very rich concentration of fish endemic to the Pacific Ocean: 995 species of fish and over 500 types of coral have been identified here. The western part of Cenderawasih Bay was declared a marine national park in 2002; it is the largest in Southeast Asia.