Anybody dove Raja Ampat aboard the Pearl of Papua Liveaboard?
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MA
Contributor
I haven't dived with them, but i did meet them on a trip. The dive guide seemed to know his stuff, e.g. tried to tell me where to find a pygmy at a certain site, "go to 20m, go past 2 big fans, its the third one a bit smaller" etc etc. I was pretty impressed. And he seemed to love his diving!
The owner, or guy that ran the trip was great to talk to. The boat looked fantastic too!! I was pretty impressed.
But hopefully someone else will have actually done a trip and can help you more!
Have fun.
The owner, or guy that ran the trip was great to talk to. The boat looked fantastic too!! I was pretty impressed.
But hopefully someone else will have actually done a trip and can help you more!
Have fun.
BravoPapaWhisky
Registered
I went on their first commercial trip.
It was a disaster.
Water maker couldnt keep up with consumption, we lost more than half a day getting fresh water from a small island.
Both compressors went dead on the 3rd day of the 7 day trip, they cancelled the rest of the trip.
No awning on both sundecks (one infront of the wheelhouse and the other above), so we either had to bake in the sun or sit indoor during daytime.
Saw one cockroach in my room, all the rooms are small and not particularly comfortable. AC in my room didnt work properly, my roommate actually slept on the deck the whole trip.
Food was so so.
No ladders on the tender boats.
Ship almost run aground on some reef last night of the trip.
All in all, very dissapointing.
They refunded our money minus airfare, but that's only after much haggling.
It was a disaster.
Water maker couldnt keep up with consumption, we lost more than half a day getting fresh water from a small island.
Both compressors went dead on the 3rd day of the 7 day trip, they cancelled the rest of the trip.
No awning on both sundecks (one infront of the wheelhouse and the other above), so we either had to bake in the sun or sit indoor during daytime.
Saw one cockroach in my room, all the rooms are small and not particularly comfortable. AC in my room didnt work properly, my roommate actually slept on the deck the whole trip.
Food was so so.
No ladders on the tender boats.
Ship almost run aground on some reef last night of the trip.
All in all, very dissapointing.
They refunded our money minus airfare, but that's only after much haggling.
First of all thanks for both replies. Still in a turmoil now. BravoPapaWhisky's experience sounds terrible and definatelly don't wanna go through that. The boat on the pictures looks pretty nice and it seems very new. But what worries me is that its up for sale at the moment...
jeremyl
Contributor
It looks like Kararu owns this boat now... If I recall they get decent ratings as an OP, but please chime in with opinons. I too am looking for an R4 boat. I prefer a nice long trip but it seems most are 10-11 day (unless you are on the spendy boats). <$350/nt is my cutoff, but the cheaper the better if still a good boat/crew. At $275/nt w/ free nitrox this is def one of the lower budget boats. Since "dive-the-world".com offers this boat I would think them a decent ship... that site gets good feedback and I have had good experience with them. (I am getting in contact with them about this and other options). I also welcome feedback on other boats in the <$350 price with 10+ day cruises. Indo Siren or Mermaid are high on my list as they both have good reviews (going on Mermaid in Komodo in June). but there are a few lower budget options that I would snag if I heard nice things about them. I'll list what I found so the others can check them out - just dont steal any last spots before me 
Black Manta, Felicia, Aurora, RA Explorer, Paisubatu II, Tidak Apa Apa, Ambai, Temu Kira, Putri Papua
Black Manta, Felicia, Aurora, RA Explorer, Paisubatu II, Tidak Apa Apa, Ambai, Temu Kira, Putri Papua
i'm use pear of papua last year. totally can acomodate for 15 divers. divemasters are good, especially Ben, englishman divemaster, he wil show and explain you everything he knows. Room is not too big. but it's clean. But one of my friend room have bad diesel gasoline smell leakage from engine room. Food is acceptable, they serve indonesian, asian and western. They have nice sundeck for us to relax between dive. overall i'll give 3 star rating for them.
Kararu doesn't own any boats. Never have.
Indo Siren and Mermaid are nice boats.
The Pearl is a smaller boat, while holding 14 divers. It has a 7.5m beam, smaller than its competitors.
I think there are better options.
Indo Siren and Mermaid are nice boats.
The Pearl is a smaller boat, while holding 14 divers. It has a 7.5m beam, smaller than its competitors.
I think there are better options.
hallboy
Contributor
is the itinerary mostly North?
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