Raja Ampat trip report by Kristy Dinh and Jordan Bell

by Kristy Dinh and Jordan Bell

Raja Ampat will blow your mind. I've heard that over and over again. I had high expectations for Raja and it certainly did not disappoint. Raja Ampat, which means "Four Kings" in Indonesian is made up of 4 main islands off the west end of West Papua in Indonesia. The four islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo contain an amazing amount of marine biodiversity and are famed to be the highest recorded on Earth.

I had some reservations regarding going to Raja Ampat since it is such a long flight from Los Angeles but let me say this, it was well worth it. We had the option of either spending a week topside in Singapore or spend a week diving in Manado before heading over to Raja. As our trip coincided with Chinese New Year, we decided to spend it in Singapore and experience the food and culture.

   

There are two ways to dive Raja Ampat, either from a land based resort or from a liveaboard, such as the Majik Liveaboard, a luxurious phinisi offering an intimate, private-charter experience. I have heard mixed opinions regarding which one was better, but we ultimately chose a land based resort because it was not only more affordable, but when we saw pictures of Papua Paradise Eco Resort's luxurious accommodations, we were sold!

Papua Paradise Eco Resort offers full concierge service, which makes a world of difference for ease of travel. Papua Paradise offers daily airport transportation from the airport where they meet you and bring you to a luxury resort to rest before the scheduled 1.5 hour boat ride to the island. I can't say enough about the concierge service. When I wanted to change my flight on the way home, Papua Paradise helped me through the entire process; they literally took me to the airline's booking office in Sorong and spoke to the ticketing agent at the airport to ensure that my bags were properly tagged to my final destination.  

The resort itself is meticulously maintained, the staff is more than amazing and accommodating. The cabanas are all over water and offer a spacious outdoor balcony that faces west to watch the sunset. The cabanas are fairly large and offer numerous power outlets and a desk, perfect for photographers. I used the desk to put together my camera even though there was an air conditioned dedicated camera room. Hot showers are available and fresh drinking water is provided in the each of the room. The staff offers turn down service during dinner, where they will put out mosquito coils and prepare the bedroom with mosquito netting. Free laundry service is also available. The food is also very good here. Don’t miss barbeque night on Sunday. The perfectly grilled prawns and calamari were my favorite. Justin and Cheryl run a great resort.

The dive shop is meticulously run. They offer 4 dives daily of which the last dive alternates between a sunset dive and night dive. Raja Ampat has numerous dive sites within a short boat ride from the resort. On the more "popular" dive sites, you might run into other divers from other resorts and liveaboards. However, the dive sites in the immediate area of the resort were just as spectacular and more than likely you will not see other divers even if they were on the same boat from the resort.

   

One of the most memorable dives was at Sawandarek, a new dive site that Papua Paradise just discovered less than a year ago. We dove Sawandarek immediately after Aborek Jetty; although both beautiful dives, Sawandarek wins hands down. The maximum guide to diver ratio is 4 to 1, but Jordan and I never had to share our guide even though there were other divers at the resort. The boats at Papua Paradise are also well kept and they keep the number of divers and crew low, so it's never overcrowded.

Raja has so many dive sites that there is sure to be a dive for everyone, whether you like critters of pelagics, whether you are a budding underwater photographer or want to just enjoy the beauty underwater. My favorite dive site, Blue Magic in the Kri area is not to be missed with sharks, large schooling fish, and a huge manta even graced us on this dive. Manta season is incredible, there are two accessible cleaning stations within 30 minutes from the resort, the famous Manta Sandy and the local Manta Wai. We were even able to snorkel with about 10 mantas on our service interval.

   

For the critterheads, the guides are macro experts. You can expect to see pygmy seahorses, candy crab, different kinds of ghost pipefish, mating mandarinfish, nudibranchs, shrimp, and cuttlefish. Surface intervals are done at the most amazing places like local jetties, where you can meet some of the local children or at an amazing beach where you can go snorkeling and swimming.

    

From the specular dive sites and impeccable service, Raja Ampat is not to be missed. My only recommendation is to stay at least 10 nights.

                                                                               

Bluewater Travel can book you to Papua Paradise Eco Resort or any other resort of liveaboard in Raja Ampat for the same cost or less than booking any other way. We know the cabins, and when to go better than anyone else!

Email us at info@bluewaterdivetravel.com and tell us that you read this article to get a special price for your next dive trip.