The Ayu Islands (Kepulauan Ayu), are a small archipelago south of the
Asia Islands
The Asia Islands ( id, Kepulauan Asia) are a group of three small islands in the open sea north of the Raja Ampat Archipelago of eastern Indonesia. They are located north of the island of Waigeo, around north of the last of the Ayu Islands (bo ...
and north of
Raja Ampat Islands
Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's Southwest Papua province. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding ...
in Indonesia. This group is formed by two coral
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
s. The highest point is 106 m.
[Pub164, 2004 Sailing Directions (Enroute): New Guinea]
In older maps these islands appear as the Ajoe Islands, following the Dutch spelling "Ajoe-eilanden".
The beaches of these islands are a breeding ground for the
leatherback turtle
The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...
''(Dermochelys coriacea)''. The waters off the Ayu Islands are a good snorkeling and scuba diving site.
Administratively the Ayu Islands belong to the Indonesian province of
Southwest Papua
Southwest Papua ( id, Papua Barat Daya) is a province of Indonesia, and is a fraction of Western New Guinea. Despite being named southwest, it is a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The area that belo ...
.
References
Atolls of the Pacific Ocean
Archipelagoes of Indonesia
Islands of Western New Guinea
Landforms of Southwest Papua
Raja Ampat Islands
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