Trip Report Raja Ampat [10 weeks diving with 9 different operators]

[carono6333]

First of all, great overall write-ups, thanks for that!

I would like to comment specifically on the part I quoted regarding La Galigo; I did three back to back trips with them earlier this season, including the 'Raja North' trip you did, so I was on the boat a couple of weeks before you.
Here are my remarks:
- I'm not sure when you booked your trip; when I booked mine last year in January, the trip plan for the 'North' trip clearly showed that most of the diving would be in the central area.
- it was and is also clearly stated on their website that their trip plans are sample plans that can and will change depending on circumstances like weather, conditions, etc. This is a completely normal and reasonable thing that pretty much every operator does.
- based on my personal experience, and on the assessment of several other people I know and trust (with years to decades of experience diving in Raja), the conditions in the northern area are indeed on average worse than in the central area. So to do only a short part of the trip in the northern area makes perfect sense; and no, the owner wasn't 'talking crap'.

I'm sorry for you that this part of your trip didn't meet your (very specific) expectations, but your overall feeling of being 'conned and fobbed off' by them is extremely unreasonable and unfair.

Hi Chris. Sounds like you had a great Raja Ampat trip. That’s awesome.

We booked ours in Sept. 2023. We booked directly with La Galigo.You are correct that the itinerary splits the sites between Central and Northern areas. In the itinerary we booked there was an approximate even split between central and north. We got a trip that removed most of the northern sites unfortunatlely.

Yes, I totally agree their website and terms state they can change the itinerary based on circumstances such as weather, conditions etc. This is totally normal and understandable. We should be able to use the itinerary as a rough guideline though unless conditions dictate otherwise!

The issue we faced was that the itinerary had undergone a very significant change weeks ago. It is not to avoid temporary change to avoid bad weather or poor diving - it’s a permanent change that sees the majority of northern sites are removed. Other changes include removing the visit to the Wayag Ranger station shark nursery (although this change we didn’t mind).

We booked the tour because of the visit to the northern sites. The tour is called ‘Raja Ampat North’. We were extremely disappointed that they made this permanent and very significant change to the itinerary and did not even inform us. We ended up diving more central sites, which we had already dived in the preceding weeks. If they’d even had the decency to inform us we could have at least adapted the diving earlier in our holiday so we didn’t end up diving some sites for the third or fourth time, whilst missing others.

The owner said he was sorry we didn’t get the trip ‘word for word’ as per the itinerary. We would never expect a ‘word for word’ tour. We did however expect the itinerary to be roughly the same unless conditions were poor.

The La Galigo website is still selling their ‘Raja Ampat North’ trips with the old itinerary. They should advertise the trip with the correct itinerary,…They should change their website and itinerary to reflect where they actually go to.

We still enjoyed our diving… just felt conned that the tour is not sold with the correct itinerary, and feel fobbed off by the owners email. It's great you got a good experience, but for us we’ll not dive with this company again.

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

Hi, I did a 5 week trip in Raja Ampat in November / December 2023. I did 12 dives at Dayan Dive Homestay and there was no problem with the air. I did have my own dive gear with me, so can’t comment on rental gear.
I also dived with Tarzan Divers on Gam and agree with the OP.
I also did a liveaboard on the MSY Seahorse -12 days Sorong to Misool, Fam, Wayag, back to the Dampier Strait. The diving in the North was lovely we were there for 3 days. I think the OP and wider were shafted by the LOB!
Finished off at Delvin Homestay for NY where Dani (Mein Host) conducted his own ‘Burning Man Festval’….it was hilarious! No huts burned down during the celebrations! On NYE I think it was, there was a panic on one of the other boats and a diver was having CPR performed . They were out at the dive site and we were at the Homestay quite a distance away. This was a stark reminder of things can go wrong and they can go really badly wrong in remote places.

 

[JustinJRL]

@Lorraine Mooney did you prefer your experience with Tarzan divers (where did you stay?) or Delvin? I'm trying to decide where to book! Or to go back to Yenbuba/Soul Scuba which was great but it is also getting quite busy.

Priorities are primarily great diving. Furher secondary considerations would be housereef snorkelling, homestay quality, access to trips further afield (mainly Melissa's garden I don't think I could handle visiting RA without paying it a visit)

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

@Lorraine Mooney did you prefer your experience with Tarzan divers (where did you stay?) or Delvin? I'm trying to decide where to book! Or to go back to Yenbuba/Soul Scuba which was great but it is also getting quite busy.

Priorities are primarily great diving. Furher secondary considerations would be housereef snorkelling, homestay quality, access to trips further afield (mainly Melissa's garden I don't think I could handle visiting RA without paying it a visit)

So, when I dived with Tarzan Divers, my accommodation was a short boat ride away (Yenbainus Homestay), which cost a small amount extra to be picked up. The accommodation near Tarzan Divers was fully booked, hence why I stayed a very short boat ride away.
Delvin was a different experience. The Homestay was busy and it was NY. It was fine. Dany is a character! I have written my evaluations re homestays on the SRA web page.
At Tarzan, you can put your name down for ‘special trips’, e.g. Melissa’s Garden, Manta Sandy, Piaynemo, night dives etc; if there are enough takers then the trip will go ahead. Good luck!

 

[carono6333]

When diving with Tarzan we stayed at Coconut Homestay, booked through the dive centre. The rooms are more basic than Yenbuba next to Soul Scuba, and the food is also not quite as good. However, we enjoyed our stay there. Of note is that Coconut Homestay is just far enough so you don’t hear the compressor from Tarzan, which is running a lot of course. If we returned to dive at Tarzan we would stay at Coconut again.

 

[carono6333]

@Lorraine Mooney did you prefer your experience with Tarzan divers (where did you stay?) or Delvin? I'm trying to decide where to book! Or to go back to Yenbuba/Soul Scuba which was great but it is also getting quite busy.

Priorities are primarily great diving. Furher secondary considerations would be housereef snorkelling, homestay quality, access to trips further afield (mainly Melissa's garden I don't think I could handle visiting RA without paying it a visit)

Should also add that Tarzan house reef is ok for snorkeling and night dives. We only snorkelled it twice- it’s interesting but not as good as the snorkeling we did at other homestays

 

[JustinJRL]

Hey thanks guys. I love hearing about the different options available. I enjoyed the convenience of yenbuba and Soul scuba , and I don't mind it being a bit busy, but I look at their instagram these days and the boats look PACKED. Actually some of my best dives in R.A. were not on the live aboard , not with Soul, but with a local the homestay owner found for me on WhatsApp when Soul was fully booked

 

[carono6333]

Hey thanks guys. I love hearing about the different options available. I enjoyed the convenience of yenbuba and Soul scuba , and I don't mind it being a bit busy, but I look at their instagram these days and the boats look PACKED. Actually some of my best dives in R.A. were not on the live aboard , not with Soul, but with a local the homestay owner found for me on WhatsApp when Soul was fully booked

We also loved diving with homestays. Particularly the ones in and around the Fam (Pam) Islands

 

[JonnieB]

These are great reports great reports. Maybe you can provide some info on the logistics of travel to and around these remote islands. After getting to Sarong, how to get to and around these many little islands and costs.

 

[JonnieB]

9.Tabari Homestay (Merpati Island)

We did ten dives over five days with these guys. Their Homestay is double the price of other homestays so this was our New Year treat to ourselves, and the last operator we dived with before heading home.

Tabari are French-owned, so things are done differently. Of note are the nicer accommodation and the much-better-than-average food. Electricity is also available in the morning, which is longer than at other places (typically from dusk to around midnight). Tabari have two guides and Jeff (owner) will also guide sometimes.

What we liked was that each evening they talk to the divers in the restaurant and have a discussion about where you want to go. Diving is more expensive at Tabari than elsewhere, but there are no fuel surcharges for standard sites so it works out around the same. We loved going to sites that are not dived frequently by others, including some without names. The speedboats are covered and more comfortable that the open-style local boats that are sometimes used in diving homestays.

One thing we didn’t like was the continual heavy prodding of animals by the dive guides. They are just too rough with their pointers. For example, flipping over sea cucumbers and manoeuvring shrimp to a more photogenic position. Or moving crabs, nudibraches to adjacent areas for photography. On more than one occasion we said we did not like seeing them roughly moving sea-life, but it did not stop.

Another issue was there was no fresh water at the homestay except for drinking water brought in from Waisai. Showers and rinsing equipment was therefore with salty water, Jeff said this was because there hadn’t been sufficient rain to replenish the well, and at other times of year there was fresh water available.

Would we return? PROBABLY NOT. Whilst we enjoyed staying and diving with Tabari, we thought the prices were a bit too steep for what was provided. However, it was certainly nice to stay at a Homestay that is more comfortable and has great food. They have great reviews and most people love staying and diving with Tabari.

CONCUSION:

Wow, Raja Ampat certainly is amazing. Part of the charm is the sheer abundance of dive sites, including some that are rarely dived, and the opportunity to stay with local homestays. Diving with local dive centres and/or homestays adds an extra element to the holiday, and if you restrict yourselves to purely a liveaboard then you will not be getting the most of our Raja Ampat. We will visit Raja Ampat again and recommend you do too.

Maybe some pricing info for stays and diving with homestays, and how did you pay while in these remote places. Also internet and mobile phone coverage.