Kendall Raine
Contributor
Papua Explorers trip review.
My wife and I stayed at Papua Explorers (“PapEx”) for nine nights late March/early April 2024. This was part one of a two part dive trip to Raja, the second part of which was aboard Coralia (separate report).
PapEx is located on the island of Gam at the northern border of the Dampier Strait facing the islands of Kri and Mansuar-a 90 minute boat ride from Sorong.
The layout of the resort is 16 spacious and nicely appointed overwater rooms “Pondoks.” The Pondoks are not air conditioned but this was not a problem given that there are two fans in each Pondok and bugs were a non-issue. They all have a private deck with stairs to the water (accessible at high tide) and are south facing across the Dampier Strait. All dining is done in the central dining room at the base of a pier at the end of which resides the dive shop. The dining room has pretty decent WiFi and I was able to send and receive documents. WiFi speed is insufficient for uploading large files like photos/videos.
Raja diving is incomparable and PapEx’s location is ideal for diving all the favorite spots in the Dampier Strait: Mioskon, Blue Magic, Sawanderek, Mike’s Point, Lau Lau, Cape Kri, Mayhem, Otima, Lumba Lumba, Yerbuda, Kuburan, Ransiwar, Chicken Reef, and Sardines. These sites are all within 15 minute boat ride from the PapEx dock and are included in the optional diver package, along with a daily night dive at the house reef. Day trips (extra) can be set up to visit Fam (Melissa’s Garden, Batu Rufus) and Batanta (Batanta Wai and the P-47 wreck). More distant all-day extra fee excursions can be arranged to Kawe and Wayag. PapEx also has a small but lovely house reef where many interesting critters can be seen on the night dives (juvenile batfish, octopus, Mandarin fish, squid, pipefish and ghost fish). The house reef is an example of the effectiveness of reef reconstruction after apparent dynamite fishing prior to construction of PapEx.
My favorite dives were the very fishy sites of Mike’s Point and Lau Lau since when they were buzzing with vigorous hunting activity as predators (dog tooth tuna, mackerel, trevally) constantly made runs through clouds of fusiliers, scad and sardines.
The dive operation assigns up to four guests per guide with a maximum of seven guests to a tender. The tenders are covered and more than adequate for even extended trips to Fam and Batanta. Two morning dives were scheduled (with a coffee break at a local village or island) followed by lunch at PapEx and an afternoon dive. A choice of dusk dive or night dive was on offer most evenings allowing guests to space out on the small house reef. This only became a problem when a large group arrived and everyone wanted to do the night dives. PapEx tried to accommodate, but the reef is too small to prevent the night dive from turning into a Pink Floyd laser light show when there were fifteen divers on the reef at the same time. I tire quickly of being kicked in the head and after that group arrived I quit doing night dives.
Currents were pretty tame during these dives. No vertical currents (down or up) were experienced and we only used reef hooks once in seven dives days. Viz ranged from 40-80 feet and temps were consistently 83-84 F.
For most of our dives Marten was our guide. Marten came from the adjacent village and started work at PapEx many years ago as part of the local construction crew. Showing an interest and aptitude for diving, PapEx trained him as a guide and he was extraordinary at finding tiny critters on every dive site. Most of the guides at PapEx are Papuan and intimately know the Dampier Strait reefs. What they lack in English language skills (partly out of shyness?) is more than made up for in their uncanny critter spotting ability.
The owners of PapEx have invested considerable effort towards conservation, research and education of the surrounding waters by establishing the Raja Ampat SEA Centre. The SEA Centre also seeks to enhance the economic prospects of the local village by training interested villagers to dive and pursue careers as dive guides (not necessarily at PapEx). These efforts also involve the cruise directors from LOB Coralia, PapEx’s sister dive operation. Guests at PapEx are asked to tally sightings of various animals seen at the day’s sites as well as general dive conditions.
This commitment to conservation is an example of the “from the heart” approach that the owners, and the long term property manager Apo, has towards Raja and the employees of PapEx. It is not just a business for them but an expression of commitment to the extended family that PapEx represents.
The staff were all very pleasant and eager to please. We met Apo near the end of our visit (he divides his time between PapEx and Bali) and found him to be very enthusiastic, service oriented and delightful to talk to. When the only XXS BC was rented to another guest, PapEx ended up procuring another one for my wife.
For all the really good things, something that could be better is the food, particularly the Indonesian food. On our second night I ate what tasted like bad beef and spent all night in the bathroom/missed all the dives the next day. Otherwise, we found dinners generally overcooked, repetitive and uninteresting. An example was the overcooked vegetable mush which they called Gado Gado. My wife and I lived in Indonesia many years ago and have visited numerous times since. We love Indonesian food and it’s an important part of the trip for us. It’s not that the Gado Gado was bad, it wasn’t Gado Gado at all. Strange. Breakfasts were good and lunches were sometimes very tasty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at PapEx (great location/diving, delightful staff, beautiful property).
My wife and I stayed at Papua Explorers (“PapEx”) for nine nights late March/early April 2024. This was part one of a two part dive trip to Raja, the second part of which was aboard Coralia (separate report).
PapEx is located on the island of Gam at the northern border of the Dampier Strait facing the islands of Kri and Mansuar-a 90 minute boat ride from Sorong.
The layout of the resort is 16 spacious and nicely appointed overwater rooms “Pondoks.” The Pondoks are not air conditioned but this was not a problem given that there are two fans in each Pondok and bugs were a non-issue. They all have a private deck with stairs to the water (accessible at high tide) and are south facing across the Dampier Strait. All dining is done in the central dining room at the base of a pier at the end of which resides the dive shop. The dining room has pretty decent WiFi and I was able to send and receive documents. WiFi speed is insufficient for uploading large files like photos/videos.
Raja diving is incomparable and PapEx’s location is ideal for diving all the favorite spots in the Dampier Strait: Mioskon, Blue Magic, Sawanderek, Mike’s Point, Lau Lau, Cape Kri, Mayhem, Otima, Lumba Lumba, Yerbuda, Kuburan, Ransiwar, Chicken Reef, and Sardines. These sites are all within 15 minute boat ride from the PapEx dock and are included in the optional diver package, along with a daily night dive at the house reef. Day trips (extra) can be set up to visit Fam (Melissa’s Garden, Batu Rufus) and Batanta (Batanta Wai and the P-47 wreck). More distant all-day extra fee excursions can be arranged to Kawe and Wayag. PapEx also has a small but lovely house reef where many interesting critters can be seen on the night dives (juvenile batfish, octopus, Mandarin fish, squid, pipefish and ghost fish). The house reef is an example of the effectiveness of reef reconstruction after apparent dynamite fishing prior to construction of PapEx.
My favorite dives were the very fishy sites of Mike’s Point and Lau Lau since when they were buzzing with vigorous hunting activity as predators (dog tooth tuna, mackerel, trevally) constantly made runs through clouds of fusiliers, scad and sardines.
The dive operation assigns up to four guests per guide with a maximum of seven guests to a tender. The tenders are covered and more than adequate for even extended trips to Fam and Batanta. Two morning dives were scheduled (with a coffee break at a local village or island) followed by lunch at PapEx and an afternoon dive. A choice of dusk dive or night dive was on offer most evenings allowing guests to space out on the small house reef. This only became a problem when a large group arrived and everyone wanted to do the night dives. PapEx tried to accommodate, but the reef is too small to prevent the night dive from turning into a Pink Floyd laser light show when there were fifteen divers on the reef at the same time. I tire quickly of being kicked in the head and after that group arrived I quit doing night dives.
Currents were pretty tame during these dives. No vertical currents (down or up) were experienced and we only used reef hooks once in seven dives days. Viz ranged from 40-80 feet and temps were consistently 83-84 F.
For most of our dives Marten was our guide. Marten came from the adjacent village and started work at PapEx many years ago as part of the local construction crew. Showing an interest and aptitude for diving, PapEx trained him as a guide and he was extraordinary at finding tiny critters on every dive site. Most of the guides at PapEx are Papuan and intimately know the Dampier Strait reefs. What they lack in English language skills (partly out of shyness?) is more than made up for in their uncanny critter spotting ability.
The owners of PapEx have invested considerable effort towards conservation, research and education of the surrounding waters by establishing the Raja Ampat SEA Centre. The SEA Centre also seeks to enhance the economic prospects of the local village by training interested villagers to dive and pursue careers as dive guides (not necessarily at PapEx). These efforts also involve the cruise directors from LOB Coralia, PapEx’s sister dive operation. Guests at PapEx are asked to tally sightings of various animals seen at the day’s sites as well as general dive conditions.
This commitment to conservation is an example of the “from the heart” approach that the owners, and the long term property manager Apo, has towards Raja and the employees of PapEx. It is not just a business for them but an expression of commitment to the extended family that PapEx represents.
The staff were all very pleasant and eager to please. We met Apo near the end of our visit (he divides his time between PapEx and Bali) and found him to be very enthusiastic, service oriented and delightful to talk to. When the only XXS BC was rented to another guest, PapEx ended up procuring another one for my wife.
For all the really good things, something that could be better is the food, particularly the Indonesian food. On our second night I ate what tasted like bad beef and spent all night in the bathroom/missed all the dives the next day. Otherwise, we found dinners generally overcooked, repetitive and uninteresting. An example was the overcooked vegetable mush which they called Gado Gado. My wife and I lived in Indonesia many years ago and have visited numerous times since. We love Indonesian food and it’s an important part of the trip for us. It’s not that the Gado Gado was bad, it wasn’t Gado Gado at all. Strange. Breakfasts were good and lunches were sometimes very tasty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at PapEx (great location/diving, delightful staff, beautiful property).
