Info Kri island raja ampat advice

[boletus1973]

Hi guys,

we were looking for advice on the best dive shop in kri island.. we booked 8 nights in raja ampat for next august in a new homestay just built.. we know it would be low season but unfortunately we can only go in august.. we fly in from Manado.

The closest dive shop is YENKORANU.
The most famous is SOUL SCUBA divers.
There is TURTLE DIVE on the other side of the island..

Has anyone dived with one of these? Are they reliable?
if you have any advice I'm also willing to change our plans..

 

[Centrals]

If your Homestay has an in house dive operation then you cannot dive with others but this only applies to Kri.

Diving with Raja Ampat Homestays: Essential information & list

Raja Ampat can be a challenging dive environment and specialist medical treatment is unavailable locally. Here's what you need to know.

www.stayrajaampat.com

 

[boletus1973]

If your Homestay has an in house dive operation then you cannot dive with others but this only applies to Kri.

Diving with Raja Ampat Homestays: Essential information & list

Raja Ampat can be a challenging dive environment and specialist medical treatment is unavailable locally. Here's what you need to know.

www.stayrajaampat.com

Thanks.. I know it… my homestay didn’t have a dive shop.. did you dive with one of them?

 

[Centrals]

I cannot find the operator on the latest:
www.stayrajaampat.com
It might have gone out of business or change name or ditched the association etc etc.

There are only 15 on the list and a handful few in Kri.

We booked the room and then checked the dive operator after arrival. Back in those day there was no restriction on who you dived.

 

[stepfen]

I wouldn't limit myself on the island of Kri itself. There are several other good homestays (with diving ops on site) on other islands (such as Gam but not only) but near enough that all of them dive essentially the same sites.

1st Edit: Sorry just noticed you've already booked your accommodation.

2nd Edit: I think you have plenty of time to change your booking (if booked through stayrajaampat.com you probably haven't paid as yet anything and changes of bookings are possible).

So my initial commend still stands:

I wouldn't limit myself on the island of Kri itself. There are several other good homestays (with good diving ops on site) on other islands (such as Gam and not only) but near enough that all of them dive essentially the same sites.

 

[boletus1973]

I wouldn't limit myself on the island of Kri itself. There are several other good homestays (with diving ops on site) on other islands (such as Gam but not only) but near enough that all of them dive essentially the same sites.

1st Edit: Sorry just noticed you've already booked your accommodation.

2nd Edit: I think you have plenty of time to change your booking (if booked through stayrajaampat.com you probably haven't paid as yet anything and changes of bookings are possible).

So my initial commend still stands:

I wouldn't limit myself on the island of Kri itself. There are several other good homestays (with good diving ops on site) on other islands (such as Gam and not only) but near enough that all of them dive essentially the same sites.

Thanks!

we already booked but not with stayraja.. its a new homestay a little more fancy than the usual... they soft opened one month ago..

For changing islands.. we have big bags with dive equipment and also UW camera gear.. the diving days we can do are only 6... maybe for us is more right to stay on kri and do a pair of full day trips on the other spots... otherwise we propably lost another dive day..
but the good question is.. have you dived with one of the dive shops i wrote here?

thanks a lot
Fabio

 

[fantarara]

Haven't tried any of the 3 but have you tried searching the board? I recall many good reviews for Soul Scuba.

 

[funscuba]

Back in march 2015 I stayed for 9 days with Yenkoranu homestays. Was really a good experience with them. Few years later a friend of mine went there and told me they built more cottages to get more tourists and became more of a tourists' factory of what I understood. But in that season the diving was great with perfect weather. I've heard that august is low season, water even clearer but less action UW, well, it's nature.

 

[Centrals]

Yenkoranu has been around long time according to TripAdvisor reviews.

Dugongs Spotted on Cape Kri

Dugongs Spotted on Cape Kri

divernet.com

Good luck with the dugone.

 

[stepfen]

Thanks!

we already booked but not with stayraja.. its a new homestay a little more fancy than the usual... they soft opened one month ago..

For changing islands.. we have big bags with dive equipment and also UW camera gear.. the diving days we can do are only 6... maybe for us is more right to stay on kri and do a pair of full day trips on the other spots... otherwise we propably lost another dive day..
but the good question is.. have you dived with one of the dive shops i wrote here?

thanks a lot
Fabio

No I haven't dived any of the operators mentioned.

Moving between homestays given you only have 6 days is indeed waste of time and I wouldn't recommend this.
What I actually suggest is to scrap you plan to stay on the particular homestay (assuming you can change your booking) and book with another (of the several) homestay on Kri or nearby (such as Gam) that offer diving on site. All the homestay ops around there dive the same spots as the distances are small (max 20-30 minute boat rides, usually even less than that)