leggs
New
My husband and I were recently aboard the Putri Papua for a 10 day liveaboard in Raja Ampat. We didnt know a lot about the boat before booking but due to a combination of late planning and a restricted schedule there werent many other options available and we decided to take a chance on this operation. Overall we really enjoyed our trip and I wanted to share our experiences here since we had trouble finding many reviews of the Putri Papua. tl;dr - it isn't fancy but you'll be safe and reasonably comfortable
About the boat:
The passenger capacity is 9 but luckily there were only 6 divers on our trip, I think this really helped the trip be a lot more comfortable for everyone. 3 cabins are below deck, a 3 person cabin at the bow (which my husband and I booked) and then 2 very cramped looking double cabins on either side of the boat. The final double cabin is above the dive deck and features two single beds. All cabins have ensuite bathrooms and air conditioning and the showers have hot water. The AC and hot water werent amazing but they both worked reasonably well, no nasty surprises there. My husband and I are both fairly tall so we do not fit into a standard double/full sized bed together. We specifically asked for a cabin with two beds and luckily the Putri Papua was able to accommodate us. At 510 I was the exact length of the single bed in our room and my husband slept diagonally in the double bed. Sleep is very important on a liveaboard so were glad to have planned ahead for this! Our bathroom was small but functional, a glance into the double rooms downstairs made ours seem spacious in comparison to what the other rooms offered. There is a cabin attendant who makes the beds each day; sheets and towels were changed halfway through the trip which was very nice. The departure briefing made clear that we were to consider the cabins to be a dry area of the boat and I found our cabin, particularly the bed/pillow, to be less mildew-ish smelling than expected. My only real cabin complaint is that there was a (non-AC related) persistent slow drip from the ceiling of our cabin over one side of my bed. While I didnt expect there was a lot that the crew could do about this mid-trip I would have appreciated a sorry and perhaps a plastic bag to put over that part of the bed to help keep it dry during the day! Luckily the damp spot was by my knee and didnt cause any problems sleeping. No bugs or weird smells to report anywhere on the boat. This is a budget boat and priced accordingly but its not bad as long as youre aware of that upfront. However, I honestly could not recommend taking the Putri Papua if your only option is 2 people in one of the lower double cabins.
The main level of the boat features the dive deck and the salon for eating/relaxing. The dive deck was well laid out and seemed spacious with only 6 divers. 9 people would have been doable but less pleasant. Theres a warm water shower on the back of the boat and dive deck towels were provided for everyone, these were also changed out mid-trip. Typical tanks for cameras and for wetsuits are both available and there is a table in the center of the dive deck for prepping gear/cameras. In the salon there are videos and books for entertainment although most of the books appeared to be in German and the videos looked odd. Plenty of fish guides and maps are available for perusing and there was one power strip with US style sockets on the side shelf for charging camera batteries. Our cabin also had an electric outlet for use but you need your own adapter in the cabin if using US style plugs.
The sundeck is above the salon and has a nice canopy for shade. Only 6 chairs were out but there was space for more if there had been more divers on board. The lounge chairs were actually pretty uncomfortable, I got used to them but my husband couldnt sit up there for long. The sundeck was also considered a dry area which was nice as it meant the chairs werent constantly soaked like we experienced on a previous boat.
Food:
Snacks were always available in the salon as were hot/cold water, coffee and tea. Beer and soda were available from the fridge for an added charge. Meals featured 3-5 dishes and we always had vegetarian options. In general the food was tasty, filling and healthy. There wasnt a huge variety but with only 6 divers that would have been pretty wasteful of food. Fresh fruit or fruit juice was available at every meal. Some of the fresh-caught fish was delicious and I really enjoyed the sauces on the beef and chicken dishes. One day the soup was too spicy for anyone to eat but the crew was very receptive to feedback and we never had another problem. I would describe the food as a combination of western and Malaysian, more in between the two than firmly in either category.
Crew:
There were 2 divemasters on boards and about 8 other crewmembers. English was pretty limited among the crewmembers and one divemaster did all of the communicating with the passengers for the entire trip. That being said, everyone in the crew was universally helpful and seemed happy to be on board. A couple of the crewmembers joined us on the two afternoon hikes and it was fun interacting with them off of the boat. After one of our dives there were manta rays near the pick-up point. The divemasters and skiff driver were happy to let us back into the water for snorkeling and then surprised us by going back to the boat to get snorkels people who didnt have theirs with them. Little things like this put everyone in a good mood and made the trip that much more enjoyable.
Hikes:
There were 2 afternoon hikes that we went on, the first one at Star Lagoon and the second at Wayag. The hiking wasnt mentioned at all before we set foot on the boat so sadly we didnt know to bring good shoes. The first hike was stairs but the hike at Wayag is over really jagged limestone, doing it in flip-flops was no fun and not particularly safe! That being said, the views were fantastic and we really enjoyed this part of the trip. One of our fellow divers brought her drone along on the trip and the crewmembers were nice enough to carry it up on both hikes so she could get some aerial footage. This was super nice of them, especially on the second hike when a lot of scrambling over sharp rocks was involved! After the hike at Wayag we toured the lagoon on the skiff and came back to the boat just in time for an amazing sunset, the crew really timed things perfectly for some amazing views.
Diving:
We did 26 dives over the course of 8 days (day 1 was motoring south, day 10 was disembarkation) and covered the south, north and central regions of Raja Ampat. There was one night dive that everyone skipped since we were all pretty tired. On this itinerary there were 27 potential dives, it sounded like southern only itineraries would have 1-2 more dives since less time is needed for motoring. There was a brand-new captain piloting the boat for this trip which made several of us pretty nervous about how the trip would go; luckily we had no issues. The only almost issue was that when we discussed our route with the divemasters after a few days in Misool they suggested that the weather was too rough to make it up to Kawe and Wayag. However all of the divers agreed that we were willing to chance a bouncy overnight journey for the chance to see the northern islands and in the end there was no weather difficulty at all. Not sure if this was due to reluctance on the part of the captain or crew, a desire to save fuel or real concern over winds but we had great weather and it all worked out in the end. There is no nitrox on board.
Before each dive the two divemasters would head out in the skiff to check out the divesite for up to date currents and any other condition updates. Both divemasters were local and knew the sites quite well. Dive briefings were very thorough and divemaster Kris drew super detailed pictures of each site with the underwater features, boat location and expected currents. Kriss English was quite good, and by far the best on board, but having the pictures as reference helped us all feel even more confident about what to expect underwater. We dove in two groups, with a full 9 passengers I think there would have been a third divemaster available. I really appreciated the efforts to keep dive groups small. They were also very good about communicating dive times with other liveaboards to avoid crowded divesites if 2 or more boats were at the same location. I think we only saw other divers at Cape Kri and Manta Point and only brief overlaps at each site. One issue did come up with dive planning - the second divemaster, Teddy, had a tendency to head straight to 70 feet regardless of diveplan. On one dive in particular the entire group expressed a desire to stay near the top of a pinnacle since mantas had been seen in the area. But after a few minutes of only 1-2 mantas in the distance it was straight down we went and not much else of interest seen on that dive. We quickly learned to pay extra attention to air and no deco time when on dives with Teddy; his computer must have much more liberal algorithms than ours.
Overall we really enjoyed the diving in Raja Ampat. That being said, the visibility was disappointing and got worse as we headed to the central and northern divesites; probably 10-12 meters on average. During our second day in the Misool area we stumbled upon our first manta rays, this took away the anxiousness to get to Manta Point and made the trip a success in my husbands book! There were tons of fish and the soft and hard corals were really nice, they would have been gorgeous with more light coming through the water. Highlights included wobbegong sharks, a swimming spanish dancer, lots of mantas, a giant clam, cuttlefish shooting ink and many more. With the limited visibility it was tough to spot many sharks and deepwater fish but closer to the reefs there was plenty to see. Weve never seen such large schools of fish or such diversity of fish on a single dive before so in that sense Raja Ampat lived up to its reputation.
In conclusion we really enjoyed our time on the Putri Papua and thought that the crew was generally excellent. While its a budget liveaboard it had all of the amenities we needed to be comfortable and enjoy our time in Raja Ampat.
About the boat:
The passenger capacity is 9 but luckily there were only 6 divers on our trip, I think this really helped the trip be a lot more comfortable for everyone. 3 cabins are below deck, a 3 person cabin at the bow (which my husband and I booked) and then 2 very cramped looking double cabins on either side of the boat. The final double cabin is above the dive deck and features two single beds. All cabins have ensuite bathrooms and air conditioning and the showers have hot water. The AC and hot water werent amazing but they both worked reasonably well, no nasty surprises there. My husband and I are both fairly tall so we do not fit into a standard double/full sized bed together. We specifically asked for a cabin with two beds and luckily the Putri Papua was able to accommodate us. At 510 I was the exact length of the single bed in our room and my husband slept diagonally in the double bed. Sleep is very important on a liveaboard so were glad to have planned ahead for this! Our bathroom was small but functional, a glance into the double rooms downstairs made ours seem spacious in comparison to what the other rooms offered. There is a cabin attendant who makes the beds each day; sheets and towels were changed halfway through the trip which was very nice. The departure briefing made clear that we were to consider the cabins to be a dry area of the boat and I found our cabin, particularly the bed/pillow, to be less mildew-ish smelling than expected. My only real cabin complaint is that there was a (non-AC related) persistent slow drip from the ceiling of our cabin over one side of my bed. While I didnt expect there was a lot that the crew could do about this mid-trip I would have appreciated a sorry and perhaps a plastic bag to put over that part of the bed to help keep it dry during the day! Luckily the damp spot was by my knee and didnt cause any problems sleeping. No bugs or weird smells to report anywhere on the boat. This is a budget boat and priced accordingly but its not bad as long as youre aware of that upfront. However, I honestly could not recommend taking the Putri Papua if your only option is 2 people in one of the lower double cabins.
The main level of the boat features the dive deck and the salon for eating/relaxing. The dive deck was well laid out and seemed spacious with only 6 divers. 9 people would have been doable but less pleasant. Theres a warm water shower on the back of the boat and dive deck towels were provided for everyone, these were also changed out mid-trip. Typical tanks for cameras and for wetsuits are both available and there is a table in the center of the dive deck for prepping gear/cameras. In the salon there are videos and books for entertainment although most of the books appeared to be in German and the videos looked odd. Plenty of fish guides and maps are available for perusing and there was one power strip with US style sockets on the side shelf for charging camera batteries. Our cabin also had an electric outlet for use but you need your own adapter in the cabin if using US style plugs.
The sundeck is above the salon and has a nice canopy for shade. Only 6 chairs were out but there was space for more if there had been more divers on board. The lounge chairs were actually pretty uncomfortable, I got used to them but my husband couldnt sit up there for long. The sundeck was also considered a dry area which was nice as it meant the chairs werent constantly soaked like we experienced on a previous boat.
Food:
Snacks were always available in the salon as were hot/cold water, coffee and tea. Beer and soda were available from the fridge for an added charge. Meals featured 3-5 dishes and we always had vegetarian options. In general the food was tasty, filling and healthy. There wasnt a huge variety but with only 6 divers that would have been pretty wasteful of food. Fresh fruit or fruit juice was available at every meal. Some of the fresh-caught fish was delicious and I really enjoyed the sauces on the beef and chicken dishes. One day the soup was too spicy for anyone to eat but the crew was very receptive to feedback and we never had another problem. I would describe the food as a combination of western and Malaysian, more in between the two than firmly in either category.
Crew:
There were 2 divemasters on boards and about 8 other crewmembers. English was pretty limited among the crewmembers and one divemaster did all of the communicating with the passengers for the entire trip. That being said, everyone in the crew was universally helpful and seemed happy to be on board. A couple of the crewmembers joined us on the two afternoon hikes and it was fun interacting with them off of the boat. After one of our dives there were manta rays near the pick-up point. The divemasters and skiff driver were happy to let us back into the water for snorkeling and then surprised us by going back to the boat to get snorkels people who didnt have theirs with them. Little things like this put everyone in a good mood and made the trip that much more enjoyable.
Hikes:
There were 2 afternoon hikes that we went on, the first one at Star Lagoon and the second at Wayag. The hiking wasnt mentioned at all before we set foot on the boat so sadly we didnt know to bring good shoes. The first hike was stairs but the hike at Wayag is over really jagged limestone, doing it in flip-flops was no fun and not particularly safe! That being said, the views were fantastic and we really enjoyed this part of the trip. One of our fellow divers brought her drone along on the trip and the crewmembers were nice enough to carry it up on both hikes so she could get some aerial footage. This was super nice of them, especially on the second hike when a lot of scrambling over sharp rocks was involved! After the hike at Wayag we toured the lagoon on the skiff and came back to the boat just in time for an amazing sunset, the crew really timed things perfectly for some amazing views.
Diving:
We did 26 dives over the course of 8 days (day 1 was motoring south, day 10 was disembarkation) and covered the south, north and central regions of Raja Ampat. There was one night dive that everyone skipped since we were all pretty tired. On this itinerary there were 27 potential dives, it sounded like southern only itineraries would have 1-2 more dives since less time is needed for motoring. There was a brand-new captain piloting the boat for this trip which made several of us pretty nervous about how the trip would go; luckily we had no issues. The only almost issue was that when we discussed our route with the divemasters after a few days in Misool they suggested that the weather was too rough to make it up to Kawe and Wayag. However all of the divers agreed that we were willing to chance a bouncy overnight journey for the chance to see the northern islands and in the end there was no weather difficulty at all. Not sure if this was due to reluctance on the part of the captain or crew, a desire to save fuel or real concern over winds but we had great weather and it all worked out in the end. There is no nitrox on board.
Before each dive the two divemasters would head out in the skiff to check out the divesite for up to date currents and any other condition updates. Both divemasters were local and knew the sites quite well. Dive briefings were very thorough and divemaster Kris drew super detailed pictures of each site with the underwater features, boat location and expected currents. Kriss English was quite good, and by far the best on board, but having the pictures as reference helped us all feel even more confident about what to expect underwater. We dove in two groups, with a full 9 passengers I think there would have been a third divemaster available. I really appreciated the efforts to keep dive groups small. They were also very good about communicating dive times with other liveaboards to avoid crowded divesites if 2 or more boats were at the same location. I think we only saw other divers at Cape Kri and Manta Point and only brief overlaps at each site. One issue did come up with dive planning - the second divemaster, Teddy, had a tendency to head straight to 70 feet regardless of diveplan. On one dive in particular the entire group expressed a desire to stay near the top of a pinnacle since mantas had been seen in the area. But after a few minutes of only 1-2 mantas in the distance it was straight down we went and not much else of interest seen on that dive. We quickly learned to pay extra attention to air and no deco time when on dives with Teddy; his computer must have much more liberal algorithms than ours.
Overall we really enjoyed the diving in Raja Ampat. That being said, the visibility was disappointing and got worse as we headed to the central and northern divesites; probably 10-12 meters on average. During our second day in the Misool area we stumbled upon our first manta rays, this took away the anxiousness to get to Manta Point and made the trip a success in my husbands book! There were tons of fish and the soft and hard corals were really nice, they would have been gorgeous with more light coming through the water. Highlights included wobbegong sharks, a swimming spanish dancer, lots of mantas, a giant clam, cuttlefish shooting ink and many more. With the limited visibility it was tough to spot many sharks and deepwater fish but closer to the reefs there was plenty to see. Weve never seen such large schools of fish or such diversity of fish on a single dive before so in that sense Raja Ampat lived up to its reputation.
In conclusion we really enjoyed our time on the Putri Papua and thought that the crew was generally excellent. While its a budget liveaboard it had all of the amenities we needed to be comfortable and enjoy our time in Raja Ampat.
