Raja Ampat Dive Lodge
We thought that Raja Ampat Dive Lodge was an excellent land based dive trip.
It was quite arduous to get there from (and back to) the UK, 36-39 hours of travelling), but when we got there the diving was spectacular, probably the best variety of coral and fish life I have ever dived.
We unfortunately didn't manage to see any Manta Rays, but it was just the start of their season visiting the area.
The food was "OK" at the resort, not spectacular and buffet style for most of our 2 week stay, but it was plentiful and sustaining, and the staff were all delightful.
The free WiFi was very slow and only available in the reception / dining area, and the mobile phone signal was very intermittent, but these limitations were mentioned in other reviews before we booked, but it would probably not be a significant investment for the resort to improve the WiFi speed and coverage in the whole resort, which would be much appreciated these days!
The dive operation was efficient and safe, and the dive guide was attentive and knowledgeable.
The rental equipment was new/good quality and the fills of Nitrox were consistently over 30% pp O2 and most of the fills were over 200bar - so all dives were over 45 minutes heading for 1 hour.
Boat transport to all the dive sites was normally 30-40 minutes, all the surface intervals were carried out on dry(ish!) land and coffee and snacks were provided.
Accommodation at the resort was comfortable, clean and well looked after, and serviced on request. The air conditioning in the room worked to keep the temperature comfortable, although it was running flat out all the time to manage this!
Other than diving, there was not very much else to do in the resort, Kayaks were available and one could snorkel on and around the house reef. Massage was available at reasonable rates (£35 GBP for an hour), but got heavily booked up once the resort filled up.
Overall an excellent holiday, and I would certainly consider returning to the Raja Ampat Dive Lodge again in the future.
