First Timer Liveaboard in Raja Ampat - Help Needed

[Darnold9999]

It can have other stuff in it.. you just have to open it and show them some fins or bcd etc. Then they give you an extra 23kg. We spread our gear around in our bags and they have never not given us the allowance. It can be a pain to have to open the bags so if you can, put your dive gear in the easiest bag to open in the airport check-in line or at least make sure it on top so it is easily seen.

I think you might have gotten some flexible agents. My understanding is that it can only have sports equipment in it. I never have any problem filling a bag with dive gear so have never needed to test that theory Good to know that there is at least the possibility of spreading dive gear around.

 

[Dan]

I am surprised to read about people getting cold in Raja because it is on the Equator. I expected to be able to dive in my bathing suit! will take my full suit or skins for the stingy things.

There are a lot of hydroids in RA. Learn how to recognize them & keep your ankles and hands away from them.

Hydroid (zoology) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

There are cold waters in Equator. For example southern Bali. Komodo, Alor, Galapagos, etc.

 

[Cali_diver]

I think you might have gotten some flexible agents. My understanding is that it can only have sports equipment in it. I never have any problem filling a bag with dive gear so have never needed to test that theory Good to know that there is at least the possibility of spreading dive gear around.

I have done probably 8 flights just this last year with Garuda and they have always been fine.. I don't think the agents even know what most dive gear is. I showed an agent a BP&W set up and she just looked confused so I showed her a mask and snorkel and she was like ohhh ok! I use packing cubes so clothing is not visible but always packed around my dive gear. I usually wrap my bottle of Vodka in my wetsuit as well I suppose technically just about everything we bring is dive gear "sport equipment" since we don't bring a lot of clothing.

 

[Dan]

I think you might have gotten some flexible agents. My understanding is that it can only have sports equipment in it. I never have any problem filling a bag with dive gear so have never needed to test that theory Good to know that there is at least the possibility of spreading dive gear around.

I’ve been to RA 11 times. Have never been asked to open my bags by Garuda agents. Just make sure each of them ~ 20kg.

 

[Cali_diver]

I’ve been to RA 11 times. Have never been asked to open my bags by Garuda agents. Just make sure each of them ~ 20kg.

They have really cracked down on it over that last year. I don't think it happened on every flight but definitely on almost all, even on Biz Class. Jakarta and Denpasar. I had to open my bags up until this last year but there was always that possibility.

 

[Darnold9999]

I’ve been to RA 11 times. Have never been asked to open my bags by Garuda agents. Just make sure each of them ~ 20kg.

Last November leaving Bali for Jakarta the agent had to look in the bag and then go talk to a supervisor and they also looked in the bag. That was not the first time either, just the latest.

 

[Darnold9999]

I have done probably 8 flights just this last year with Garuda and they have always been fine.. I don't think the agents even know what most dive gear is. I showed an agent a BP&W set up and she just looked confused so I showed her a mask and snorkel and she was like ohhh ok! I use packing cubes so clothing is not visible but always packed around my dive gear. I usually wrap my bottle of Vodka in my wetsuit as well I suppose technically just about everything we bring is dive gear "sport equipment" since we don't bring a lot of clothing.

I travel with about 100lbs of luggage - less than 10 of which is clothes and toiletries - everything else is dive or photography so almost all "sports equipment" as well ;-)

 

[Centrals]

There are a lot of hydroids in RA. Learn how to recognize them & keep your ankles and hands away from them.

Hydroid (zoology) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

LOL.
Just keep your ankles and hands away from everything. I learnt that from my OW. So simple and effective.

 

[scuba_kate]

We are heading to Raja Ampat in April from the East Coast. I would love to know how you would describe the currents. Im pretty intimidated by strong currents. I plan to ask our dive master to choose non drift sites. Will I miss out on too much by limiting my scope?? Did you wear full suit? Were you allowed to carry knives on the dives? We are flying Garuda from Bali. I too am wondering about luggage requirements...

In our experience, the currents really depended on location and time of the day/weather, most of the time they were not worse than what we're used to. Some dives were like flying but at no time we felt scared or in danger. I would second that unless you hire a private guide you would have to do drift dives as most of the dives are drift dives. Also, I would not recommend opting out of drift dives as they were amazing and you get to see so much! I would recommend wearing the full suit for protection mostly as there are some poisonous things. Cold wise it was not cold at all, almost the same as in Roatan last time we were there. For our operator, gloves were not allowed as it discourages people from touching. We did have ankle knifes and that was fine. I would say bring a muck stick as it was a huge help to stay in place. Baggage wise we brought 2 check in and 2 carry on bags between the two of us, so did not ask about sports bag requirements. Please note they destroy bags, our hard case was cracked in several places and the new soft case bag looked like it's been thrown and kicked. Thankfully we had our regs in carry on bags so they were fine. Also, please note that requirements for carry on bags are much smaller for Garuda and they don't really care if it was allowed on previous flight. We had some issues there but were able to come to a solution.