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

[chillyinCanada]

Many locals also cannot live without AC.
We are all individual and have different idea on comfort. I am afraid you have to find it out whether you can cope it or not.
If you do not give it a try, you will never know yourself on how to deal with "unfavourable" conditions.
Flexible.

I'm trying to tell you that I have tried it before and couldn't cope, so quit trying.

That said, perhaps if I was acclimatized for some amount of time spent with my SE Asian family, I would be able to bear it. Plus, the dives everyday, do help to reduce my need for ac.

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

Indeed, you have made me reconsider homestays. That said, I can't bear the heat. How did you all manage?

JonnieB is from Thailand, so I understand that it would be much easier for him.

The homestays I stayed in (5), were reasonably easy to ventilate as they don’t have windows, just openings with blinds. I was there in late December and all of January. I also travel everywhere with a silk pillowcase and silk sarong, which are just lovely when/ if you get hot during the night. I have been in much hotter places……Senegal for example. I thought I was going to melt into the bed….

 

[JonnieB]

The homestays I stayed in (5), were reasonably easy to ventilate as they don’t have windows, just openings with blinds. I was there in late December and all of January. I also travel everywhere with a silk pillowcase and silk sarong, which are just lovely when/ if you get hot during the night. I have been in much hotter places……Senegal for example. I thought I was going to melt into the bed….

My birthday suit does it for me.

 

[Lorraine Mooney]

My birthday suit does it for me.

Na….you get hotter that way!

 

[Centrals]

I'm trying to tell you that I have tried it before and couldn't cope, so quit trying.

That said, perhaps if I was acclimatized for some amount of time spent with my SE Asian family, I would be able to bear it. Plus, the dives everyday, do help to reduce my need for ac.

You can improve your heat tolerance by various suggested methods on line. It is a gradual process and requires dedication and will power.
Good luck.

 

[jeremyl]

Thanks for this report. I had always considered R4 as a LOB place, but now I'm planning to do a Homestay or mixed trip as you did. Getting to explore more of the area for more time would be wonderful. And stretch the budget a bit.

RE: La Galego - I went on a Komodo trip with them last June... I had booked on another boat that had engine issues last minute so had to cancel. As I was already in Indonesia and my dates couldn't change we booked this as the only availability. I was underwhelmed. We had issues with our room AC not working, then switched rooms with another guest who didnt use AC... but didn't tell us of the room smelling of toilet. I ended up sleeping on the roof most nights - not that comfortable given the lack of comfortable lounge chairs and such. Yes this would be fine on a mid-tier boat but they do price themselves a bit high for the quality of the boat. Food was fine, guides and staff were good - but my only comparison in R4 has been Mermaid, which (while more expensive these days) is I think much higher class. I think the staff does try, but I think they have lack of compassion and I think the management really doesnt care... they print money. In Raja/Komodo you sell almost every bed on every boat day in / day out... some companies keep up the standard and truly excel, and others dont. Others may have other experiences. I just concur with yours and would never choose to book La Galego again. There are better options for my bucks.

I do have the concerns with 'bad air' at homestays. Beyond a quick 'smell test', something I never had to think about but my Indo trip last year I saw it quite frequently. Wonder if getting a little tester to carry around is worthwhile.

 

[matts1w]

I do have the concerns with 'bad air' at homestays. Beyond a quick 'smell test', something I never had to think about but my Indo trip last year I saw it quite frequently. Wonder if getting a little tester to carry around is worthwhile.

This is a serious question, and I swear I am not being an a..hole. My time and money are a big deal to me...and I live in Jakarta. How would y'all deal with things going bad?

Lets say you book this sort of RA trip and spend 2000 USD flying from the other side of the world. After transport through Jakarta, Sorong, and Wasai and your backside is kicked, you are at homestay X on island Y in Raja Ampat for four days of diving. You pull out your "little tester" and it is a no go.

Seeing how you are where you are where you are, and their compressor isn't going to get what it needs any time soon, what is the plan?

 

[carono6333]

Thanks for this report. I had always considered R4 as a LOB place, but now I'm planning to do a Homestay or mixed trip as you did. Getting to explore more of the area for more time would be wonderful. And stretch the budget a bit.

RE: La Galego - I went on a Komodo trip with them last June... I had booked on another boat that had engine issues last minute so had to cancel. As I was already in Indonesia and my dates couldn't change we booked this as the only availability. I was underwhelmed. We had issues with our room AC not working, then switched rooms with another guest who didnt use AC... but didn't tell us of the room smelling of toilet. I ended up sleeping on the roof most nights - not that comfortable given the lack of comfortable lounge chairs and such. Yes this would be fine on a mid-tier boat but they do price themselves a bit high for the quality of the boat. Food was fine, guides and staff were good - but my only comparison in R4 has been Mermaid, which (while more expensive these days) is I think much higher class. I think the staff does try, but I think they have lack of compassion and I think the management really doesnt care... they print money. In Raja/Komodo you sell almost every bed on every boat day in / day out... some companies keep up the standard and truly excel, and others dont. Others may have other experiences. I just concur with yours and would never choose to book La Galego again. There are better options for my bucks.

I do have the concerns with 'bad air' at homestays. Beyond a quick 'smell test', something I never had to think about but my Indo trip last year I saw it quite frequently. Wonder if getting a little tester to carry around is worthwhile.

Sorry to hear your La Galigo tour also wasn’t up to scratch. Our cabin was fine except for some issues with the toilet (seat kept coming off, and flush also kept breaking).

An addional problem we had was that others in our group were less experienced, couldn’t handle currents, and didn’t want to dive in currents. Crazy, as R4 is known for currents… but there you go. We wanted to dive the currents as currents = fish!

Anyhow, we approached the Tour Director and there simply wasn’t a solution. He said that he would guide us, but couldn’t as he had to take the lady who was snorkeling. In the end we put a solution forward that we dive by ourselves so we can dive the sites as we like. He got permission from his boss so we could do this.

Regarding homestays and ‘bad air’… it seems that there have been issues with this. By chance I spoke to someone from Stay Raja Ampat and he told me there was attention on this and any homestays reported as having safety issues were investigated. I know of those testers and it could be worthwhile to have one. We didn’t so were very alert to any bad smell/taste and simply moved on to a different place when we were not happy

 

[carono6333]

This is a serious question, and I swear I am not being an a..hole. My time and money are a big deal to me...and I live in Jakarta. How would y'all deal with things going bad?

Lets say you book this sort of RA trip and spend 2000 USD flying from the other side of the world. After transport through Jakarta, Sorong, and Wasai and your backside is kicked, you are at homestay X on island Y in Raja Ampat for four days of diving. You pull out your "little tester" and it is a no go.

Seeing how you are where you are where you are, and their compressor isn't going to get what it needs any time soon, what is the plan?

In the instance where we had bad air we moved on early to a different homestay. I guess the risk is not getting a refund if you have paid in advance e.g. through stayrajaampat.com website. I don’t know how you go about getting a refund in this case, as it didn’t apply to our situation.

If you really want to minimize your risk I’d dive with the well know dive centers such as Tarzan, Soul Scuba etc. These guys are professional operations and their air tasted great.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Bad air doesn't always taste or smell bad.