John Trecker
Contributor
If you had to go back again, which would you go to and why?
Trip Report Raja Ampat Dive Lodge-March 2025
- Thread starter Living4Experiences
- Start date
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OP
If I ever return to Raja Ampat, IMO, there were more negatives at Cove Eco, as listed in my trip report, than at RADL. So, I would choose RADL.
Am looking RADL and Cove. If you disregard from what you found negative (untidy / sloppy run as I read, no). what would you say about the location of the resorts in regards to reaching the more interesting dive sites inyo? Did any of them have an easily accessible house reef?
melliodora
Registered
I'm interested in your comment about trash - are you mostly referring to on the islands (I saw that too) or in the water (I didn't experience that - sure, a bag floating here or there on a site or two, but nothing like the floating garbage dumps I've heard folks reference)?
OP
Cove Eco is more accessible to the southern dive sites that RADL doesn't go to unless you pay extra for a special trip because it's a long haul. In general, the farther south you go towards Misool, the better the diving. Cove Eco is the only non-homestay dive resort that far south before getting to Misool Eco Resort. My definition of non-homestay is electricity with no usage limits, plumbing for showering and toilets, A/C, food that doesn't make me sick, and a dive operation that has safe Nitrox and air fills.
IMO, if you can stay out of the Dampier Strait, you'll see less bleaching. Neither CE or RADL have a house reef. CE has trash on the beach and in the water. RADL has a mangrove forest on one side of the resort and a long walk down the pier where they launch for the night dives, but I never saw anyone jumping in for diving without the boat.
If you're looking for a great house reef, that can be found at Sorido Bay Resort; however, that's located in the heart of the Dampier Strait and the famous Cape Kri, which is bleached.
OP
There's trash on the beaches and in the water, more pervasive at CE. The dive boats with CE and RADL ran an obstacle course on the way to the sites avoiding trash.
melliodora
Registered
Oh wow! I guess we got lucky. I was based on Arborek then Gam, never once saw more than an individual piece in the water
So what happened to the bleached coral, do we know? Reports? Did it die off or did temperatures go down and coral have a chance to live on?
TostitoBandito
Contributor
Not first hand, but:
West Papua Regional Products 2025-10-17
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
Looks like the main spike was in December 2024, with a secondary less intense event in June, and then it's been back into "relatively" safe temperature ranges since then. Although impact will vary due to depth and other factors. Shallower sites closer to shore or with less current/tidal action to bring in cooler water will be hit hardest and have the toughest time recovering. Will also vary a lot by species, some may be dead, some may have recovered already in a few months, and some may take multiple years to recover (assuming no other events occur, which is unlikely).
Also looks like the majority of the impact has been to northern RA and the strait, with Misool and the south much less impacted. Which aligns with first hand reports.
Not first hand, but:
West Papua Regional Products 2025-10-17
Looks like the main spike was in December 2024, with a secondary less intense event in June, and then it's been back into "relatively" safe temperature ranges since then. Although impact will vary due to depth and other factors. Shallower sites closer to shore or with less current/tidal action to bring in cooler water will be hit hardest and have the toughest time recovering. Will also vary a lot by species, some may be dead, some may have recovered already in a few months, and some may take multiple years to recover (assuming no other events occur, which is unlikely).
Also looks like the majority of the impact has been to northern RA and the strait, with Misool and the south much less impacted. Which aligns with first hand reports.
So we know for a fact that some of the coral did die? The bleaching itself is just a precautionary measure to protect the coral against the high temperature (or other circumstances) so if it goes back normal within a shorter time span, coral can go back to normal too. But here it sounds like a longer time with too warm water and some coral actually dead…
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