Question How much dive experience to do Live aboard in Raja Ampat

[Franek]

We have just returned from Blue Manta a sensational approach to divers. 4 dives a day, we both had a similar experience as you. Maybe we were lucky 2 dives were difficult there was electricity our guide showed us how to deal with it and it was ok.
We had a private guide, the rest is 1+4 no one complained and there were people with similar experience to ours.
Egoi tried to set the dives so that there was no problem while underwater. The average diving time is 50-55 minutes.

The world belongs to the brave and the prudent

 

[Laval]

I would rather consider a resort at Dampier Strait. We stayed two times at Sorido Bay Resort for 18 days each time, and we booked another stay with them in December. You will get much more value for your $$$ and you will see about 90% - 95% of what you can see in Raja Ampat at much greater comfort and cheaper.

I would recommend absolute minimum of 10 days, but two weeks will be better.

You can watch my video as per link below. Also, you can search for my reviews on this website.
Raja Ampat - The Last Paradise | Episode 1 Sorido Bay Resort & Cape Kri | Indonesia | 4K (2021)

 

[Joneill]

I would rather consider a resort at Dampier Strait. We stayed two times at Sorido Bay Resort for 18 days each time, and we booked another stay with them in December. You will get much more value for your $$$ and you will see about 90% - 95% of what you can see in Raja Ampat at much greater comfort and cheaper.

I would recommend absolute minimum of 10 days, but two weeks will be better.

You can watch my video as per link below. Also, you can search for my reviews on this website.
Raja Ampat - The Last Paradise | Episode 1 Sorido Bay Resort & Cape Kri | Indonesia | 4K (2021)

Great choice too - but a different experience vs a liveaboard… and, at least with Blue Manta, I would argue that land based is not much greater comfort at all!

 

[CJS]

Did you book a trip? I made it down in Dec. 2022 - Raja Ampat 10-Night Indo-Siren Liveaboard Dec. 2 – 12, 2022 Trip Report - Trip Report - Raja Ampat 10-Night Indo-Siren Liveaboard Dec. 2 – 12, 2022 Trip Report

While I have considerably more dives than you, I'm big, chubby and not recognized at the gym, and diving against current isn't my strong point. 2 Things helped me avoid cramping other people's diving.

1.) 100-cf tanks.
2.) The guides were okay with me heading up alone when my gas got low.

I'm not awful on air consumption (maybe trending toward RMV 0.65 cf/minute in benign conditions?), but Raja Ampat does draw seasoned divers, and I suspect on the whole they tend to have good air consumption, so I tended to be the first of our group to run low. A dinghy then got me, and sometimes took me back to the main boat then went back for others.

I'm not pushing for you to go or wait, just putting my limited experience out there.

Another follow on thoughr. Can you pay for a private guide? I've done this in Thailand. It means I never have to think about how my air consumption compares with anyone else's and I don't have to worry about getting buddies with a muppet.

The big tank thing can also work as well. I did this in Red Sea when everyone else was a seasoned dive pro with amazing sac rates. We were all happy with the outcome.

Big tank AND good private guide leads to some very fun diving in my experience!

 

[Laval]

Another follow on thoughr. Can you pay for a private guide? I've done this in Thailand. It means I never have to think about how my air consumption compares with anyone else's and I don't have to worry about getting buddies with a muppet.

The big tank thing can also work as well. I did this in Red Sea when everyone else was a seasoned dive pro with amazing sac rates. We were all happy with the outcome.

Big tank AND good private guide leads to some very fun diving in my experience!

At Sorido Bay Resort you always have a private guide. To be exact, one guide per bungalow. So, for me and my wife there was one guide. If my wife does not go, the guide is with me - one on one. I use big tanks as well. You just have to ask for it, and pay a bit more.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I have dived with very freshly certified open water divers land based here before. (I have mostly dived this area by liveaboard.) Granted, they were in separate groups and being land based, they dived RA successfully and enjoyed it. However, know that your experience will dictate where, when, and how you dive a particular site. On a liveaboard, the cruise director and guides have to take experience of guests into account and determine dives that way. Usually, the least experienced group will determine the plan so that it is safe and enjoyable for everyone. Being land based lends itself to being more flexible because you won’t be tied to a schedule; dive sites for land based options can be chosen based on conditions including tides, weather, and comfort or experience of groups. Different boats can go to different locations. I feel land based may be best for you because of this and that you will enjoy it more as a result.

In my opinion, the best of RA is often where and when there is moderate to strong current. As an example, Cape Kri is an amazing dive when it’s strong and you’re hooked in but you have to hit the split point and drop down deep and drop down quickly with no lines. Dive that site when there’s little to no current and it’s a snooze. Given the effort, time, and price to dive in RA, I think it’s to one’s benefit to wait until you feel you can dive comfortably in current and potentially challenging conditions so you can enjoy the dive sites at their best. I also feel diving this area too early in one’s “dive career” may not make it easy to appreciate until one has dived other places and have some context or something to compare it to.

I know someone that went on a LOB there recently and she was underwhelmed by the diving. She shared they dived all sites with hardly any or no current and they never once used their reef hooks either which was so surprising and seemed like what iconic RA dives would include. Lots of current brings in lots of fish!

 

[Dan]

We have just returned from Blue Manta a sensational approach to divers. 4 dives a day, we both had a similar experience as you. Maybe we were lucky 2 dives were difficult there was electricity our guide showed us how to deal with it and it was ok.
We had a private guide, the rest is 1+4 no one complained and there were people with similar experience to ours.
Egoi tried to set the dives so that there was no problem while underwater. The average diving time is 50-55 minutes.

The world belongs to the brave and the prudent

I was on Blue Manta in 2019 for Ring of Fire trip. Egoi is an excellent cruise director. They grouped guests according to their experience and took them to dive sites that were par with their skill level. Newbies learnt quickly under good guidance. Blue Manta DMs are excellent guides.

I’ll be back on Blue Manta for Raja Ampat in February 2024.

 

[Luko]

Cape Kri is an amazing dive when it’s strong and you’re hooked in but you have to hit the split point and drop down deep and drop down quickly with no lines. Dive that site when there’s little to no current and it’s a snooze.

I beg to disagree with Cape Kri. Same with Otdima, Sardines or some other sites.
I've already had wonderful dives at slack tide without a pinch of current (which is better for photographers when you're 38m deep and you can take your time).
I think it's rather the guide's knowledge that can do or undo a dive : that's why I prefer resort diving in R4..

 

[outofofficebrb]

I think it's rather the guide's knowledge that can do or undo a dive : that's why I prefer resort diving in R4..

Yes…I agree the land based guides are better for this area.

 

[Dan]

I beg to disagree with Cape Kri. Same with Otdima, Sardines or some other sites.
I've already had wonderful dives at slack tide without a pinch of current (which is better for photographers when you're 38m deep and you can take your time).
I think it's rather the guide's knowledge that can do or undo a dive : that's why I prefer resort diving in R4..

Nice shots of those sweetlips packing like sardines in Cape Kri. I was there on 12 December, 2022, but the visibility was bad and had to get close to them to get good shot at 38 msw (125 fsw) depth. They weren't too happy for me getting too close to them with video light and started to swim apart.

@SunSeek, although you have AOW, make sure you have experience and feel comfortable to dive deep, if you want to see this.