Raja Ampat trip report, Gaia liveaboard, January 2020

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Erwin, have you been to the Red Sea? We are considering Raja Ampat or possibly going to Egypt for Red Sea Liveaboard and then tour the archaeological sites. The liveaboards in the Red Sea are sooo cheap, it seems hard to believe. Any experience diving there? The videos and photos from the Red Sea look great also. Thanks.

Sorry, but I have never been to the Red Sea. I know that it can be a much less expensive trip. The pictures that I have seen are fantastic, but I know that it can be a crowded destination because of the proximity for European divers. Good luck!
 
Erwin, have you been to the Red Sea? We are considering Raja Ampat or possibly going to Egypt for Red Sea Liveaboard and then tour the archaeological sites. The liveaboards in the Red Sea are sooo cheap, it seems hard to believe. Any experience diving there? The videos and photos from the Red Sea look great also. Thanks.

I’m in hurghadha as we speak. What do you need to know? If you haven’t been to indo, red sea is good to do before.
 
Ministry, we haven't done either Indo or Red Sea, strictly caribbean destinations thus far. We have also never been on a liveaboard. My wife is hesitant as she thinks it may be too confined and get bored with the food. I am looking at Blue Force 3 and the boat looks great, reviews are good, and cost is even more affordable than the Indo liveaboards. Flights aren't as easy, but it would allow for sightseeing in Egypt as well. Are you doing a liveaboard or diving from land?
 
Erwin, have you been to the Red Sea? We are considering Raja Ampat or possibly going to Egypt for Red Sea Liveaboard and then tour the archaeological sites. The liveaboards in the Red Sea are sooo cheap, it seems hard to believe. Any experience diving there? The videos and photos from the Red Sea look great also. Thanks.

I was in Red Sea 6 weeks ago, see my trip report, link below. Yes it is cheap & definitely better than Caribbean, but it is still pale in comparison to the diversity of Raja Ampat.

BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019

I was in Raja Ampat 3 weeks ago and still am working on writing up my RA trip report. Here is a short video of one of the dive sites in Misool to give you a flavor the difference between Red Sea & RA.


I’m still glad to be in Red Sea though for this special experience that you don’t see in RA:

 
Awesome video. I have only been fortunately enough to see 2 mantas in all of my dives. I saw some reef hooks at times. Is the current always so strong that you need those, or was it only in certain sites?
 
Awesome video. I have only been fortunately enough to see 2 mantas in all of my dives. I saw some reef hooks at times. Is the current always so strong that you need those, or was it only in certain sites?

Thanks!

Some sites do have some currents, but not always strong to need a reef hook, depending on the time of the day and topography. You can always hide behind a boulder if the current is too strong. With currents you see more fish actions. Reef hook helps you to free your hand for photography and keeping your hand off the corals, especially stinging hydroids.

If you don’t like currents, the guide can always find some sites that don’t have current. Good DM will check the current before letting us enter the water.

If the current is too strong, we often skip the site and find a milder site or reposition the boat to be further up current from the site in the Bluewater where the current is not strong, so by the time we descend to the bottom we would be on the right spot to hook in.
 
Awesome video. I have only been fortunately enough to see 2 mantas in all of my dives. I saw some reef hooks at times. Is the current always so strong that you need those, or was it only in certain sites?

Most of the manta sites in Raja Ampat do not require reef hooks, though some do, depending on currents. I have been on about 10 manta dives in Raja Ampat and have only used reef hooks twice, and they were optional then, for that matter.
 
Ministry, we haven't done either Indo or Red Sea, strictly caribbean destinations thus far. We have also never been on a liveaboard. My wife is hesitant as she thinks it may be too confined and get bored with the food. I am looking at Blue Force 3 and the boat looks great, reviews are good, and cost is even more affordable than the Indo liveaboards. Flights aren't as easy, but it would allow for sightseeing in Egypt as well. Are you doing a liveaboard or diving from land?

all of the above actually over my trips. In nov 2017 I was on the MY BLUE and spent 3 days at the breakers resort on soma bay to do some check out dives. This time I’m back just at the breakers for 10 days as my brother and nephew came out so he could learn to dive. The breakers was a great little win when I wasn’t expecting it. I really like it here and will likely come back again. I also like the liveaboards here but it can get a little busy. Last time I was at brothers islands there were 14 other liveaboards onsite and on one wreck there must have been over 100 divers at the same time for one dive.:. They have put a limit on this now though, so it may not be as bad. Red Sea is basically Europe’s Caribbean and a lot cheaper, so that means it gets very busy. That being said. It is a very good segue between Carib and Asia IMO. I like that with the cheapness of the liveaboards, I can fly business class fully flat bed from Toronto and have a liveaboard for about the same proce if a liveaboard in Asia. ( the ones I would choose)

I think if you want to see the sights and do liveaboard it’s likely going to be a 2 week trip. My itinerary would be 4 days touring, 3 days relaxing/acclimatizing at the breakers and then liveaboard out of hurghadha. But you can do Sharm as well etc.

the boats are better than the Carib usually but the food can be a bit pedestrian. I find the food in Carib to be better, you are going to end up on aboat with Germans/brits/Italians etc usually. Occasionally Americans. There are some really great bucket list dives and the coral density in the Red Sea is actually overwhelming, I often get sensory overload as there is too much stuff to focus on. Everyone should dive the thistlegorm once IMO.

oh and I don’t like the chainsmoking. I think I’ve met one dive guide in Egypt who doesn’t chain smoke.

I would highly recommend the Red Sea as your next stop if you are a completionist, then Maldives then start heading over to indo/Philippines etc. If you don’t do the Red Sea first, you may never do it after going to indo.. and you should do it at least once:
 
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