Has anyone tried the new Coriana liveaboard in Raja Ampat?

[Displayed Name]

Hello,
I am booked on the Tiare for a Raja Ampat cruise in Dec., but a member of this forum found some seriously bad reviews about it. So I am looking at alternatives.
One is the Coriana, brand new luxury ship with no review whatsoever. The pros: it belongs to a chain of resorts which has loads of raving reviews. The cons: new means inexperienced....
The other one is the Gaia Love, I read one good review about it on this blog.
I know there are plenty more, and at better prices, but I am quite claustrophobic so small cabins and small portholes and too many people in a small space are a big no no for me!
I would welcome any information!
Thank you in advance.
Veronique

 

[WittzEnd]

I can’t speak of the Coriana but I can speak of the Tiare. My wife and I spent a week on the Tiare in Komodo last year. The experience was sublime. The crew went out of the way to make everything perfect. The food was great, the service was better and the dives (and divemasters) were even better.

 

[nudisusie]

Can't speak to the Tiare, looks lovely but they did have a reef crash incident last year in the forgotten Islands so maybe got some bad reviews for that!
The Coralia (i think thats the boat you mean) although will be a new boat has extremely experienced cruise directors who ran the Arenui for many years, Debbie and Jerry - they know Indo!
The Gaia Love looks spacious but with 24 guests means crowded dive sites.... some of them dropped in on top of us whilst diving at Andiamo in Raja Ampat recently ... 4 boat loads of divers, why they needed to dive the exact same site in that area when there are 3 others was beyond us! Not impressed at all.

If you're looking for spacious, light cabins then the master on the Samambaia is fabulous, and won't set you back more than Tiare or Coralia. Master cabins on the Damai are also great but the cost is 6k+

 

[Displayed Name]

Can't speak to the Tiare, looks lovely but they did have a reef crash incident last year in the forgotten Islands so maybe got some bad reviews for that!
The Coralia (i think thats the boat you mean) although will be a new boat has extremely experienced cruise directors who ran the Arenui for many years, Debbie and Jerry - they know Indo!
The Gaia Love looks spacious but with 24 guests means crowded dive sites.... some of them dropped in on top of us whilst diving at Andiamo in Raja Ampat recently ... 4 boat loads of divers, why they needed to dive the exact same site in that area when there are 3 others was beyond us! Not impressed at all.

If you're looking for spacious, light cabins then the master on the Samambaia is fabulous, and won't set you back more than Tiare or Coralia. Master cabins on the Damai are also great but the cost is 6k+

That's great information, thank you so much.

 

[peeweediver]

Was on the Gaia Love in December. Max is 20 divers though they can hold 22. We had the whole boat and were limited to 20. Guide Ratio, 4 to 1. Food was best of the 6 live-a-boards we've been on. Never went where another group was, but did have some groups arrive where we were and we just swam away. Very spacious and great rooms. Just IMHO.

Rob

 

[Chidiver1]

Was on the Gaia Love in December. Max is 20 divers though they can hold 22. We had the whole boat and were limited to 20. Guide Ratio, 4 to 1. Food was best of the 6 live-a-boards we've been on. Never went where another group was, but did have some groups arrive where we were and we just swam away. Very spacious and great rooms. Just IMHO.

Rob

Who did you travel with, a shop?

 

[peeweediver]

Who did you travel with, a shop?

Yes, we dove with our local dive shop. Everyone in the group (we've traveled with these same folks for years) really loved the boat and, of course, the experience of diving in Raja. What we did see, as does everyone else on live-a-boards in Raja, is the large number of live-a-boards now working Raja. We discussed this with the cruise directors and they did talk about trying to steer as clear a path away from other boats as possible. When there were other pangas near our site, we waited for 45 minutes to board our pangas so the group in the water would be finishing up when we arrived.

 

[RODRIGO CORREIA LOPES]

I think the correct name is CORALIA, and it is a new boat operating there since early 2019. That's why there is not many reviews out there

 

[Avanti86]

I know this is a bit late, but hopefully it'll help a few folks! Rodrigo, you're right - it's spelled Coralia. It's only been functional for the last year or so and STILL won LA of the year in 2019!

The owners of the Coralia also own and operate the Papua Explorers Resort in Raja Ampat. I visited Papex (where the staff helped my now-husband plan his proposal to me underwater!), and then a year or so later (Dec 2019) we booked ourselves on the Coralia for Raja Ampat and Misool. Debbie and Jerry are the cruise directors, and they split time with Ronan Debelius, who was our cruise director. He is fantastic, as is the rest of the crew: The warmth and hospitality is quite unparalleled, which is saying something because there's no shortage of great service in Indonesia. The food is fantastic. They make these donuts for breakfast that I still see in my dreams. The dive deck is large and spacious and they have a small dive guide: guest ratio. The diving of course is sublime. To your specific concerns about the rooms: they're quite large. Much larger than any other liveaboard I've been on, and the boat takes up to 16 people, so it's never over crowded.

We've also booked ourselves on the Coralia for Komodo in July 2020 (Corona willing), but we'll reschedule it if we have to. We're also thinking about a Banda Sea trip on the Coralia at some point. I've found my boat. Its luxury lies in its relaxed elegance - light wood everything, large windows that let the light in, large deck spaces and lounge chairs for that necessary post-dive nap.
Did I mention the food? Great dive guides - very knowledgeable about the area. But what really struck me was how serious the staff are about being responsible divers - they really emphasise that the guests don't touch coral and/or marine life. And gently correct folks for being remiss. There was one situation in which our guide charged over to another diver (not from our boat) and yanked her off the reef because she was lying down on some table coral to take a photograph of something. He then yelled at her dive guide underwater. Or just gesticulated madly. But the point was made

So, if the question is Coralia, the answer is yes. It's worth every penny. Happy to answer any more questions if you have them!