When I was there in Dec. 2022, currents were an issue for me not because they were exceptionally bad, but because aside from the occasional drift dive, I'm not good with current.
Raja Ampat offers a range of things, inlacing a lot more macro than I've seen anywhere in the Caribbean. In Indonesia trip reports mention Lembeh as the place for macro, and in the Philippines I believe Anilao gets attention, but R.A. has quite a bit, and a lot of divers are interested in macro. And not just the pigmy seahorses (which are neat).
So what may happen is, you've got a guide with a few divers (4 or what-have-you), moving along a stretch of reef finning into fairly mild current but you can move against it with some effort for part of the dive. Annoying but not a huge deal, right?
Weeeellll, thing is, that guide wants to find some macro stuff to show the paying (and hopefully tipping) customers, so he's moving kinda slow, shining his little flashlight here and yon, etc...
If you're anything like me, fat, not in particularly good shape and middle-aged, with a large cross sectional area for current to push against, that gets old.
And then he finds yet another tiny something-or-other my old eyes may not may not discriminate well. So now he gestures to somebody to come see it, and dutifully the divers come by single file, some snap photos, etc..., while you're trying to hold position after you go through.
I don't see any real way around this issue, given the practical demands of the situation. It is what it is, and you have to deal with it.
This is a much different example of problematic current vs. the recent threads discussing a diver's death from a down current in Raja Ampat.
That said, out of 31 dives on my 1 trip, I never got caught in what I considered a dangerous or markedly strong current. Dives weren't generally spent entirely in current. And if you're lean, fit and good with current you might go and wonder what in the world I was complaining about.
Even if you have problems like I did, I think you'll love Raja Ampat and be glad you went. It's got a rep. as some of the best coral reef diving on Earth, so if you love diving, going to experience it first hand at least once in your life is something special.
