A land-based mini-tour of Raja Ampat... itinerary assistance pls..

[stepfen]

Keep in mind that supplies come from Waisai, hence in general the further west you go, the more primitive things get (including food, comfort, language and general organization). Exceptions are big villages like Arborek and Sawandarek.

 

[kiwidives]

Sorry I can't help you with your request per se, but just to comment on your plan: 4-5 days (10-15dives ) on Arborek sound too much to me. There are indeed few "must do" dive sports near there (eg manta sandy) but not as many. I'd guess that eventually you will have to spend few days diving further out (eg to Pam), but if you plan to stay on Pam anyway this won't make sense as traveling distances/times are not short, at least for the usual kind of boats used.

On the other hand, the area around Kri (including Gam etc) has 10s of "top class" sites within say 20mins of transiting and one can easily dive there for weeks (if not months or even years ).

I hope these help...

If you had limited time, how many days would you spend diving Arborek vs Kri or Gam or Pam? Like OP, I'm planning a similar honestay based trip to R4. I've never been before and have no idea how I should divide my time between islands. Would appreciate any input!

 

[stepfen]

If you had limited time, how many days would you spend diving Arborek vs Kri or Gam or Pam? Like OP, I'm planning a similar honestay based trip to R4. I've never been before and have no idea how I should divide my time between islands. Would appreciate any input!

It depends on a lot of factors. For example, how many days do you plan to stay in the area in total? How many of these days are you willing to sacrifice to move around (things are slow in the area - moving around usually means no diving on that day).

My first two visits in the area (3 weeks in total) were on the same, single homestay (Corepen), diving as much as possible (and for sure I could have stayed easily there even few more weeks at a time without getting bored).

For first timers and for people who don't stay for more than a week or so and their main goal is diving, I would suggest the same plan i.e. find a single, good homestay somewhere central such as Kri or Gam and spend all the time there. The reason I'm suggesting this is that, to me, that's the best balance between comfort, moving around and diving. With so limited time, moving to more homestays is a waste of time to me.

If I was staying more, say two weeks, then I would accept to sacrifice some diving days for moving around. I would again stay for most of the days (say half) in central, then move for 1-2 diving days to say Arborek and then move to Pam / Pyainemo area for the rest of the days - making sure that I'm back near Waisai for the last night to be able to catch the ferry next day.

Only if I had even more time (three weeks or more), I would explore more remote areas eg further north, or consider spliting the time between central and misool.

 

[kiwidives]

It depends on a lot of factors. For example, how many days do you plan to stay in the area in total? How many of these days are you willing to sacrifice to move around (things are slow in the area - moving around usually means no diving on that day).

My first two visits in the area (3 weeks in total) were on the same, single homestay (Corepen), diving as much as possible (and for sure I could have stayed easily there even few more weeks at a time without getting bored).

For first timers and for people who don't stay for more than a week or so and their main goal is diving, I would suggest the same plan i.e. find a single, good homestay somewhere central such as Kri or Gam and spend all the time there. The reason I'm suggesting this is that, to me, that's the best balance between comfort, moving around and diving. With so limited time, moving to more homestays is a waste of time to me.

If I was staying more, say two weeks, then I would accept to sacrifice some diving days for moving around. I would again stay for most of the days (say half) in central, then move for 1-2 diving days to say Arborek and then move to Pam / Pyainemo area for the rest of the days - making sure that I'm back near Waisai for the last night to be able to catch the ferry next day.

Only if I had even more time (three weeks or more), I would explore more remote areas eg further north, or consider spliting the time between central and misool.

I'll have just over 2 weeks, so a bit of time but still tight for the transfers. In your experience, how long do the transfers take? Does it vary by homestay and the individual circumstances of the day, or is there a normal time to transfer (i.e. transfers are usually done in the morning)? Thanks for all your input, it's really helpful!​

 

[jeremyl]

My concern with being at one homestay for a longer time is if there is something I do not like about it. Of course there are some with consistently better ratings/reviews, but anything can happen to change that or personal preference can vary. In general in peak season if you do not book ahead things will fill. With flexibility/time you can wander or find other opportunities, but finding/booking top-choice places is difficult. Same goes for dive ops - Corepen/Tarzan/Soul Scuba all had very small windows of availabilty for my booking, so I had to plan around that and take what homestays I can get. Everyones levels of comfort are different.

If you had 2wks I agree to limit to 1-2 places - but if peak season (Dec->Mar) you have to find openings. I have semi-unlimited time, but for now I am keeping my booking to ~2wks and will see how it goes. It seems the more remote areas don't book so much for homestays (resorts do).

I know it CAN take quite a while for transit, but if you 'pay the piper' and pay for your own transport it should be pretty flexible, no? Yes it would cost a fair penny for 1pp to go from Arborek to Gam - or you sit around all day trying to link with others or meet with a snorkel trip or something. I can't say how easy yet b/c I have not done it yet - but i would like to know as well... I'm hoping for morning dives and then transfers for most of my transit days... tho gear would be kinda soggy

Keep the Facebook groups (with a separate group just for boat sharing) in mind... I dont think it works often, but it can help.

 

[stepfen]

I'll have just over 2 weeks, so a bit of time but still tight for the transfers. In your experience, how long do the transfers take? Does it vary by homestay and the individual circumstances of the day, or is there a normal time to transfer (i.e. transfers are usually done in the morning)? Thanks for all your input, it's really helpful!

It's a bit difficult to explain and for people who haven't been there to comprehend.

The same transfer that in one day takes half an hour, next day might take hours and on top of that there is usually nothing the visitor can do other than wait.

Things like weather, miscommunications, running out of fuel, broken engine, guy went fishing and is late, another customer was late so your transfer needs to be moved forward etc etc happen quite often. Locals there have no sense of punctuality in the way we have (and hence are much more relaxed than us - lucky them). Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day things get shorted out (usually), but until then, if you expect things to run as smoothly as they do back home you will be greatly disappointed.

For this reason, you should not squeeze too many things in too short periods and you should not make plans down to minutes.

Longer transfers usually take place in the morning (so that there is enough time for the boat to make it safe back home). Diving commences early(-ish) in the morning, so combining diving and transfer in the same day is not common especially for incoming visitors. You can book a transfer in the (latish) afternoon after you do 2 morning dives eg to move to another homestay, but that can't be too far away. Transfers can generally be arranged any time the customers wants subject to availability. Keep in mind though that quite often the boat (and the boat man) used for the transfer is different to the boat of the homestay and different to the boat used for diving etc. It's not rare to want to move 10-20 minutes away but have to wait 1-2-3 hours for THE boat to come pick you up, while there are 2-3-4 boats (with boat men) moored right next to you doing nothing...

My advice: keep it simple and flexibe, don't squeze too many things in a day, think positive and you will be fine.

 

[kiwidives]

It's a bit difficult to explain and for people who haven't been there to comprehend.

The same transfer that in one day takes half an hour, next day might take hours and on top of that there is usually nothing the visitor can do other than wait.

Things like weather, miscommunications, running out of fuel, broken engine, guy went fishing and is late, another customer was late so your transfer needs to be moved forward etc etc happen quite often. Locals there have no sense of punctuality in the way we have (and hence are much more relaxed than us - lucky them). Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day things get shorted out (usually), but until then, if you expect things to run as smoothly as they do back home you will be greatly disappointed.

For this reason, you should not squeeze too many things in too short periods and you should not make plans down to minutes.

Longer transfers usually take place in the morning (so that there is enough time for the boat to make it safe back home). Diving commences early(-ish) in the morning, so combining diving and transfer in the same day is not common especially for incoming visitors. You can book a transfer in the (latish) afternoon after you do 2 morning dives eg to move to another homestay, but that can't be too far away. Transfers can generally be arranged any time the customers wants subject to availability. Keep in mind though that quite often the boat (and the boat man) used for the transfer is different to the boat of the homestay and different to the boat used for diving etc. It's not rare to want to move 10-20 minutes away but have to wait 1-2-3 hours for THE boat to come pick you up, while there are 2-3-4 boats (with boat men) moored right next to you doing nothing...

My advice: keep it simple and flexibe, don't squeze too many things in a day, think positive and you will be fine.

This is extremely helpful, thank you!