We just returned from our 6 week trip to Raja Ampat and Thailand. Let me start by saying that this trip has been on our bucket list for many many years, and I am so glad that we finally pulled the trigger and made it happen. We started looking about a year and a half ago and Anne, from Bluewater Travel was absolutely amazing in helping us with all of the details like booking the dive resort, flights, layovers and hotels including a bunch of off the beaten track excursions in Thailand. I highly recommend Anne at Bluewater Travel, she is very knowledgeable, kind and a sweetheart.
Getting there.
Getting there from Montana USA is a long 29-hour process consisting of 25 hours with four flights and 4 hours with 2 boat rides. We spent one layover day in Jakarta which was perfect for catching up on some sleep and a second layover day in Sorong which allowed us to catch the early ferry to Waisai and allowed a buffer for any delayed luggage. Speaking of luggage, what a PITA the new 2025 weight and size limits are. I spent a whole day getting everything I needed for 6 weeks and all of my dive equipment into a checked bag at 20 kg. limit and one carry on at 7kg. limit! (my Scubapro regulators and 2 Shearwater computers weigh almost 4.5kg.), and yes the airlines do check! I think the days of carrying all of your dive gear in your carry on and putting your clothes in the checked bag are over.
Cove Eco.
The rooms. We arrived at Cove Eco about 1:30pm and were greeted on the dock by all of the employees welcoming us. The rooms are all waterfront and our “deluxe” room was very comfortable with air conditioning a ceiling fan, mosquito netting around the bed, a very comfortable bed, quiet and hot water. What made the room Deluxe is we had our own bathroom and it was not attached to other units. For Indonesia It’s great.
The food.
The restaurant at Cove Eco was fantastic. The meals are individually prepared, not buffet style. I am a ‘pescatarian’, I don’t eat beef, pork or chicken, but I do eat fish and dairy. They went above and beyond to make sure every one of my meals for the 2 weeks was special. Every day after dinner they come over and describe what is being served for the next day and if you don’t like something they will change it for you, breakfast, lunch or dinner. I must say the meals were fantastic and the homemade desserts were over the top! The second week I had to spend an hour re-adjusting my backplate from all of the great food and desserts.
The diving.
They have you put all of your gear in a basket that is in front of your room on your first morning and they bring it to the boat and set it all up for you. After that your dive master will take it off the boat every day and wash it and hang it up in the storage room and return it to the boat the next morning. Being a technical diver, this didn’t work for me or my wife. I was ok with our wetsuits, hoods, boots, and fins staying there but my beloved and coveted Freedom Plate, regulators, computers, camera and mask were not leaving my sight or being cleaned by anyone but me back at my room. The boat crew and divemaster’s were eventually ok with that and the fact that we put our own rigs together before each dive.
Every evening at 6:30 sharp the head of the dive operations, Obin, goes over what dive sights each group will be visiting the next day and who is in each group. I was impressed that this was a formal process that they take very seriously and if you are late you get a bit chastised and if you miss it twice you don’t dive. Serious stuff.
There were less than 20 total divers including snorkelers which to my surprise made up about half the divers.
We were on a small 2 engine boat with 4 total divers, 2 divemaster’s,(yep one divemaster per couple), a boat captain and 1 helper. We had Etoh, as our divemaster for the entire 2 weeks and when the other couple we were diving with left we had both divemaster’s, Etoh and Ricoh for just the 2 of us and the boat all to ourselves for several days.
Our first week was a bit stormy which made the 45-minute boat rides in the middle of nowhere a bit rough and exciting. Maybe it’s my background but I noticed as soon as we left Waisai that there were no helicopters or small planes anywhere in the air and the fact that none of the boats have any radio, you suddenly really realize that self-rescue is it.
The diving was amazing! I had a list of things I wanted to try and see and every one of them I saw, sometimes 4, 5 or 6 times. I wanted to see a Wobbegong Shark, saw 6, wanted to see a Pygmy Seahorse, saw 4, wanted to see a Frogfish, saw it, how about an Electric Clam, saw one of those also along with Manta Rays, Turtles, Eels and more swarms of fish than can be imagined. There were times that I just hoovered at 40 feet with my camera on video and watched millions of fish of all shapes, sizes and colors swarm around me, truly an experience I won’t soon forget.
We had booked 3 dives a day for the 2-week period. This may not sound like a lot but with the sometimes rough 45–60-minute boat rides this made for some long hard days of diving. We found that we were the only couple doing 3 dives on most days. I didn’t mind it because I will probably not get back there so the more dives the better, but we were exhausted when we left.
There were about 25 SCUBA sites that Cove Eco was using when we were there. After the first week of 3 dives a day we had pretty much hit them all, so to our surprise Obin,the head of dive ops let us pick our own dive sites for the second week. My wife put together a list of her favorite spots and we hit them all. What is amazing about Raja Ampat is that the second time you visit a sight it can be totally different. The tides, currents and creatures can make it feel as if you have never been there before.
General dive observations.
Obin, the head of dive operations runs a tight operation, very impressed!
The dive operation is amazing considering it’s on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
You never hear compressors running, tanks are filled away from where you stay.
At 6:30am sharp you show up and check your nitrox and fill out the forms, your tanks are loaded and you head to breakfast.
At 7:45 you are on the boat and at 8 you are off to the dive site.
They don’t crowd the dive boats, usually 4 divers a boat.
The divemaster’s are great. Young, healthy, energetic, always helping you with gear getting off or on the boat and able to spot a ½” Pygmy Seahorse on one of thousands of 5-foot diameter sea fans in the middle of the Halmahera sea. 80 percent of the cool stuff we photographed Etoh and Ricoh found for us.
The diving is not for beginners. There can be strong currents, and the weather can change in a heartbeat. On one of our second dives it was just my wife and I on the boat, as we were getting close to the dive site we heard thunder then lightning then boom! instant rain like I have never seen in my life, I’m talking monsoon rain. You could not see 20 feet. All that in a matter of minutes. Then Etoh, looks at us and says you ready? I thought he was kidding, he looks at us and says no, lets splash. I must admit I was a bit puckered, but in we went. After an hour+ when we surfaced there was the boat, right next to us and the sky was clear like nothing had ever happened.
The bad.
Imagine your in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet, quiet, tropical, lush, mostly untouched by man, but the shoreline is loaded with plastic waste. Everything from flip flops, water bottles, toothbrush, wrappers. I have seen this before in places like Utilla, Baja Mexico, but I never imagined in what is touted as “the mother of all reef systems on the planet” that it would be so loaded with plastic garbage. It truly broke our hearts. I wish everyone on the planet could witness this firsthand.
We would do our surface intervals on some little island and you would find plastic along the beach.
Cove Eco had crews of workers constantly cleaning the beaches and the divemaster’s and boat crew would always load up several large bags with plastic waste from the islands we would stop at.
Wrap up.
Before we left we saw a travel nurse. We were given oral Malaria meds, Typhoid shots, Chikungunya shots and antibiotics for la tourista if needed, most of these were for the Thailand portion of our trip. When we arrived on Yeben, they told us there has never been a Malaria case on the island. We had also packed enough Deet wipes and Picaridin spray to outfit the US Army. We even had one of those electronic machines that nukes everything in a 20 foot radius. I had also soaked all of our clothes in Permethrin. We did use the wipes several times a day but quickly realized it’s not mosquitos that are a problem it’s those God forsaken no see ums. I actually think they might be attracted to Deet! I would coat myself with Deet and still get no see um bites, those invisible bastards!
Our stay at Cove Eco Resort was fantastic. We were the only couple from the USA for most of the 2 weeks we were there and everyone treated us great. Everyone that works there had a smile, was happy and always willing to answer any question or help when needed. They run a clean operation from room service to the restaurant to the diving operations. The room was great, the food was great, the diving was great, and the people were great.
I definitely recommend them!
I know someone will ask if I would go back to Cove Eco? If I were to ever go back to Raja Ampat I would probably visit a different area and dive different sites maybe Misool?
Getting there.
Getting there from Montana USA is a long 29-hour process consisting of 25 hours with four flights and 4 hours with 2 boat rides. We spent one layover day in Jakarta which was perfect for catching up on some sleep and a second layover day in Sorong which allowed us to catch the early ferry to Waisai and allowed a buffer for any delayed luggage. Speaking of luggage, what a PITA the new 2025 weight and size limits are. I spent a whole day getting everything I needed for 6 weeks and all of my dive equipment into a checked bag at 20 kg. limit and one carry on at 7kg. limit! (my Scubapro regulators and 2 Shearwater computers weigh almost 4.5kg.), and yes the airlines do check! I think the days of carrying all of your dive gear in your carry on and putting your clothes in the checked bag are over.
Cove Eco.
The rooms. We arrived at Cove Eco about 1:30pm and were greeted on the dock by all of the employees welcoming us. The rooms are all waterfront and our “deluxe” room was very comfortable with air conditioning a ceiling fan, mosquito netting around the bed, a very comfortable bed, quiet and hot water. What made the room Deluxe is we had our own bathroom and it was not attached to other units. For Indonesia It’s great.
The food.
The restaurant at Cove Eco was fantastic. The meals are individually prepared, not buffet style. I am a ‘pescatarian’, I don’t eat beef, pork or chicken, but I do eat fish and dairy. They went above and beyond to make sure every one of my meals for the 2 weeks was special. Every day after dinner they come over and describe what is being served for the next day and if you don’t like something they will change it for you, breakfast, lunch or dinner. I must say the meals were fantastic and the homemade desserts were over the top! The second week I had to spend an hour re-adjusting my backplate from all of the great food and desserts.
The diving.
They have you put all of your gear in a basket that is in front of your room on your first morning and they bring it to the boat and set it all up for you. After that your dive master will take it off the boat every day and wash it and hang it up in the storage room and return it to the boat the next morning. Being a technical diver, this didn’t work for me or my wife. I was ok with our wetsuits, hoods, boots, and fins staying there but my beloved and coveted Freedom Plate, regulators, computers, camera and mask were not leaving my sight or being cleaned by anyone but me back at my room. The boat crew and divemaster’s were eventually ok with that and the fact that we put our own rigs together before each dive.
Every evening at 6:30 sharp the head of the dive operations, Obin, goes over what dive sights each group will be visiting the next day and who is in each group. I was impressed that this was a formal process that they take very seriously and if you are late you get a bit chastised and if you miss it twice you don’t dive. Serious stuff.
There were less than 20 total divers including snorkelers which to my surprise made up about half the divers.
We were on a small 2 engine boat with 4 total divers, 2 divemaster’s,(yep one divemaster per couple), a boat captain and 1 helper. We had Etoh, as our divemaster for the entire 2 weeks and when the other couple we were diving with left we had both divemaster’s, Etoh and Ricoh for just the 2 of us and the boat all to ourselves for several days.
Our first week was a bit stormy which made the 45-minute boat rides in the middle of nowhere a bit rough and exciting. Maybe it’s my background but I noticed as soon as we left Waisai that there were no helicopters or small planes anywhere in the air and the fact that none of the boats have any radio, you suddenly really realize that self-rescue is it.
The diving was amazing! I had a list of things I wanted to try and see and every one of them I saw, sometimes 4, 5 or 6 times. I wanted to see a Wobbegong Shark, saw 6, wanted to see a Pygmy Seahorse, saw 4, wanted to see a Frogfish, saw it, how about an Electric Clam, saw one of those also along with Manta Rays, Turtles, Eels and more swarms of fish than can be imagined. There were times that I just hoovered at 40 feet with my camera on video and watched millions of fish of all shapes, sizes and colors swarm around me, truly an experience I won’t soon forget.
We had booked 3 dives a day for the 2-week period. This may not sound like a lot but with the sometimes rough 45–60-minute boat rides this made for some long hard days of diving. We found that we were the only couple doing 3 dives on most days. I didn’t mind it because I will probably not get back there so the more dives the better, but we were exhausted when we left.
There were about 25 SCUBA sites that Cove Eco was using when we were there. After the first week of 3 dives a day we had pretty much hit them all, so to our surprise Obin,the head of dive ops let us pick our own dive sites for the second week. My wife put together a list of her favorite spots and we hit them all. What is amazing about Raja Ampat is that the second time you visit a sight it can be totally different. The tides, currents and creatures can make it feel as if you have never been there before.
General dive observations.
Obin, the head of dive operations runs a tight operation, very impressed!
The dive operation is amazing considering it’s on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
You never hear compressors running, tanks are filled away from where you stay.
At 6:30am sharp you show up and check your nitrox and fill out the forms, your tanks are loaded and you head to breakfast.
At 7:45 you are on the boat and at 8 you are off to the dive site.
They don’t crowd the dive boats, usually 4 divers a boat.
The divemaster’s are great. Young, healthy, energetic, always helping you with gear getting off or on the boat and able to spot a ½” Pygmy Seahorse on one of thousands of 5-foot diameter sea fans in the middle of the Halmahera sea. 80 percent of the cool stuff we photographed Etoh and Ricoh found for us.
The diving is not for beginners. There can be strong currents, and the weather can change in a heartbeat. On one of our second dives it was just my wife and I on the boat, as we were getting close to the dive site we heard thunder then lightning then boom! instant rain like I have never seen in my life, I’m talking monsoon rain. You could not see 20 feet. All that in a matter of minutes. Then Etoh, looks at us and says you ready? I thought he was kidding, he looks at us and says no, lets splash. I must admit I was a bit puckered, but in we went. After an hour+ when we surfaced there was the boat, right next to us and the sky was clear like nothing had ever happened.
The bad.
Imagine your in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet, quiet, tropical, lush, mostly untouched by man, but the shoreline is loaded with plastic waste. Everything from flip flops, water bottles, toothbrush, wrappers. I have seen this before in places like Utilla, Baja Mexico, but I never imagined in what is touted as “the mother of all reef systems on the planet” that it would be so loaded with plastic garbage. It truly broke our hearts. I wish everyone on the planet could witness this firsthand.
We would do our surface intervals on some little island and you would find plastic along the beach.
Cove Eco had crews of workers constantly cleaning the beaches and the divemaster’s and boat crew would always load up several large bags with plastic waste from the islands we would stop at.
Wrap up.
Before we left we saw a travel nurse. We were given oral Malaria meds, Typhoid shots, Chikungunya shots and antibiotics for la tourista if needed, most of these were for the Thailand portion of our trip. When we arrived on Yeben, they told us there has never been a Malaria case on the island. We had also packed enough Deet wipes and Picaridin spray to outfit the US Army. We even had one of those electronic machines that nukes everything in a 20 foot radius. I had also soaked all of our clothes in Permethrin. We did use the wipes several times a day but quickly realized it’s not mosquitos that are a problem it’s those God forsaken no see ums. I actually think they might be attracted to Deet! I would coat myself with Deet and still get no see um bites, those invisible bastards!
Our stay at Cove Eco Resort was fantastic. We were the only couple from the USA for most of the 2 weeks we were there and everyone treated us great. Everyone that works there had a smile, was happy and always willing to answer any question or help when needed. They run a clean operation from room service to the restaurant to the diving operations. The room was great, the food was great, the diving was great, and the people were great.
I definitely recommend them!
I know someone will ask if I would go back to Cove Eco? If I were to ever go back to Raja Ampat I would probably visit a different area and dive different sites maybe Misool?
