Raja Ampat or Banda Sea

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Anish

Registered
Messages
31
Reaction score
18
Location
Singapore
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi. Apologies if this has been asked and answered. Im looking into a liveaboards for Oct/Nov and am considering Raja Ampat or Banda Sea. I found a reasonable one with single rooms (a requirement) for Banda Sea in Oct. The attraction would be possibility of schooling hammerheads and larger pelagics. But Raja Ampat is the king of dive sites (or so I hear). Any opinions from people who have done both?
 
The Banda Sea trip I did spent a few days in Misool at the end of the trip.
After my Banda Sea trip I did another 10 day LOB thru the entire Raja Ampat region. ( Back to back LOB? I figured I was going all that way, and I was celebrating turning 50 what the hell, why not?)
Both trips were epic.

My evaluation is
Banda- the hammers were cool, we did alot of swimming in the blue doing looking for hammers, it's freaky having no refrence besides other divers. The other dive sites thru Banda were excellent.
Manuk Island is really cool above and below, we came cruising up as the sun was rising and the sea birds taking off for the day was incredible. And it's got sea snakes, lots of sea snakes. We saw a few hammers here also. I lucked out here also seeing barrel sponges spawn. None of the dives on this trip did I say after "that was crap"

How would I compare it to central and north of Raja. North is mostly hard coral, nice and yes Melissa's Garden is spectacular, but it's not my fave part.

Central has some really great diving but many are current prone. It has a lots of hard coral and soft coral, great fish life, and the current can really run. Yes here I had one of those "that was crap" dives. due to timing we dropped in at with high current sand spent the first 20 minutes kicking like mad around the leeside of the reef, (my buddy was an 74 year woman, my new hero at that time she did OK but was in agreement "that was crap"),
Then we got separated and did my search during which I found another group who were struggling, I floated my SMB and we all did our safety stop while holding on for dear life. The groups were scattered all over. Yes, a " that was crap" dive probably affects how much I like Central Raja Ampat. Central Raja has great diving that's for sure.

I Love the south of Raja Ampat, Misool has quote a few spectacular sites. Some can be absolutely mind blowing. Amazing reefscapes, Oceanic Mantas, fish everywhere, what's not to love?

Given my evaluation I would probably go for a Banda trip ending with a few days in South Raja Ampat.

Other people's experiences and yours may differ from mine.
 
Thanks! Thats good info. I will eventually do Raja Ampat as well. Im moving to Singapore so access is a lot easier than from the states (BTW Im in Nor Cal also.. SF Bay Area). I know what you mean about current. I had one bad dive on my last trip to Komodo. Didn't get separated but had to call the dive cause I was exhausted with the heading into the current. I can drift but constant swimming against the current is not my idea of a fun dive. Ive seen my share of Mantas in Hawaii and Komodo but never seen Hammerheads. Im leaning towards committing to the Banda Sea trip in October.
 
October/November seems late in the season for the hammerheads in Banda. I was on a Banda sea trip this past year (having done one a few years earlier) in early November. The boat had seen many more hammers on the late September/early October trips. That said, there are lots of great things about Banda--including the sea snakes at Manuk, etc.--other than hammers.
 
Thanks! Thats good info. I will eventually do Raja Ampat as well. Im moving to Singapore so access is a lot easier than from the states (BTW Im in Nor Cal also.. SF Bay Area). I know what you mean about current. I had one bad dive on my last trip to Komodo. Didn't get separated but had to call the dive cause I was exhausted with the heading into the current. I can drift but constant swimming against the current is not my idea of a fun dive. Ive seen my share of Mantas in Hawaii and Komodo but never seen Hammerheads. Im leaning towards committing to the Banda Sea trip in October.

Good call! I’ve tried to go to Banda Sea in late November and got blown away by bad weather. Luckily the Phinisi boat survived the storm. I learned later that September is better than November so I’ll be going with the big metal boat that has lots of experience going there and in spotting the schooling hammerheads, Ring of Fire September 9-19, 2019

There are limited window of time and numbers of liveaboards going to Banda Sea so, if you get such an opportunity, grab it. There are plenty of time window (November-March) and liveaboards going to Raja Ampat.
 
Hi. Apologies if this has been asked and answered. Im looking into a liveaboards for Oct/Nov and am considering Raja Ampat or Banda Sea. I found a reasonable one with single rooms (a requirement) for Banda Sea in Oct. The attraction would be possibility of schooling hammerheads and larger pelagics. But Raja Ampat is the king of dive sites (or so I hear). Any opinions from people who have done both?

Banda Sea will give you the opportunity for more pelagic and possibly schooling hammerheads. Banda Sea Video - Click here You really can't go wrong with Banda Sea or Raja Ampat. If you are looking for space on a Banda Sea itinerary - All Star Velocean - offers single suites without having to pay a hefty single supplement and there is availability for October 2020.
 
@dirtfarmer , thanks for your thorough summary of both places. I've been to Raja Ampat 2X (returning spring 2020 for the 3rd time) and am scheduled to do the 11 night Banda crossing with Mermaid in October. I'm interested to see what my thoughts are after I return, and will compare them to yours. I hope I remember to come back to this thread!

With that said, for the OP @Anish , I have been to Raja in both mid-October as well as mid-April. I enjoyed it much more in mid-April and it was amazing. Since you have time in Oct/Nov, I suggest you go to Banda and then try to do Raja another time. It is better as it gets deeper into winter (closer to Dec-Feb) if you can swing that. I can never go during that time due to work reasons.

Here are my top 40 photos from my most recent (April) Raja Ampat trip: Amazon Photos
 
Hi. Apologies if this has been asked and answered. Im looking into a liveaboards for Oct/Nov and am considering Raja Ampat or Banda Sea. I found a reasonable one with single rooms (a requirement) for Banda Sea in Oct. The attraction would be possibility of schooling hammerheads and larger pelagics. But Raja Ampat is the king of dive sites (or so I hear). Any opinions from people who have done both?
In terms of the time you are looking to travel, the season in Banda is more September and October time, in November the season is more favorable in Raja Ampat.
If you still look for a boat in Raja Ampat, an operator I have been diving with since many years and who is currently finalizing his own liveaboard project, Fenides Liveaboard, has 6 spaces available from 13-21.11.2019 on his Raja Ampat trip and single occupancy is also possible. All other trips are totally sold out already until April 2020...so maybe this could be an option for you.
However you decide Banda and Raja Ampat are both amazing and from what it sounds like you will live in Asia any time soon anyway so you can always do one trip this autumn and the other one next year. :)
 
Thanks all for the feedback. I booked the Banda Sea October trip. I will do Raja later in the season as well. Im taking a year (or more) off work and diving is one of the main activities I plan to do. I want to hit the big Indonesia spots. Did Komodo last Oct (amazing!), Banda this Oct and Raja sometime late this year or early next year...woo hoo!
 
Thanks all for the feedback. I booked the Banda Sea October trip. I will do Raja later in the season as well. Im taking a year (or more) off work and diving is one of the main activities I plan to do. I want to hit the big Indonesia spots. Did Komodo last Oct (amazing!), Banda this Oct and Raja sometime late this year or early next year...woo hoo!

What boat will you be in? Maybe I will cross paths with you, either on the boat or at a dive site. I am scheduled for the Mermaid 1 Oct 4 sailing out of Ambon to Maumere for 11 nights/12 days. :) I will also be diving in Ambon the week before that and then will head to Komodo right after for a 6 night LOB...I'm going back for my junky fix. If you will be in Ambon in late Sept/early October and Komodo for day diving in mid Oct, let me know!
 

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