Question Raja Ampat First time

[Franek]

First time
Hi,
We have questions about Raja Ampat's dive in January.
We've read a lot about R4 in the forum and we're wondering about this place, our experiences are various dive spots in Central America and Egypt.
Our questions are initially as follows.

1. Whether this is the right date for diving with Liveabord, we are interested in Blue Manta 7/8 nights
2. We have both been diving for 7 months, we have +/- 45 dives is it a suitable place for divers with little experience?
3. We finished AOWD + Nitrox we are conservative dives only 2 + 1

Maria

 

[drrich2]

I, too, have been researching Raja Ampat as a dive destination, and am posting from my notes and searching, which will also bump your post up where others who've been there might be more likely to see it.

I found a LiveAboard.com Blue Manta Raja Ampat trip page (from Dec., but I don't think that matters) that says:

"ExperienceOpen Water - 30 minimum logged dives required."

Here is an excerpt from some notes I've been compiling:

"Live-aboard trips offered Oct. to May, the prime diving season; less rain, calmer seas & better viz. Mid.-June – Mid.-Sept. monsoon season – some live-aboards don’t go; south gets inaccessible but north and central parts remain accessible. Dan (Post #5) opined Dec. is the best time for Raja Ampat; he said (Post #17) good live-aboards usually fill up about 12 months ahead. Darnold9999 (Post #4) recommended one avoid repositioning trips (e.g.: from Komodo to Raja Ampat), as outside Raja Ampat’s marine park you’ll see a number of dynamited reefs."

 

[Centrals]

1. When is the Best Time to Dive in Raja Ampat? | Papua Paradise

Diving in Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat diving is characterized by its mindblowing diversity, featuring a plethora of medium to large size fish, good macro, and great hard and soft coral reefs, along with some muck and mangrove sites. The water temperatures hover at around 89°F (31°C) year-round--so warm that a wetsuit is...

www.bluewaterdivetravel.com

So Jan should be ok. There is NO typhoon to worry about.

2. Number of dive really has no meaning in respect to actual experience on various diving conditions. There will be current or may be even rough sea on the surface to deal with.
Do not go if you have doubt about your own ability. Applied to me in the beginning.

3. No problem.

Do not forget to pack various personal safety equipment in all diving trips.

 

[Franek]

poza biurembrb #5 Raja Ampat Liveaboard 2019 help​

On average, I would say the diving may not be as beginner friendly. All diving is done off inflatables and there were some entries that required negative descents due to strong currents and ensuring the group stays together while hitting the split point. Quick descents and experience equalizing quickly while sorting out any gear or comfort issues are important. There are obviously no mooring lines to aid someone in ascending or descending, either for holding onto or for visual reference. There is some drift diving, there is some swimming against the current. I would rate the dives more difficult than Cozumel.

 

[Franek]

Ich lese und beginne mich zu fragen, was diese Strömungen sollen. Ich tauchte in Cozumel in San Pedro an einem Außenriff alle Abfahrten ohne Seil. In San Pedro war die Welle großartig.

Wenn ich nach Strömungen frage, was groß bedeutet, gibt es keine eindeutige Antwort.

 

[scubaozy]

I would say consider resort diving instead of LoB. Last LoB I did in R4, least experienced people had 300- 500 dives. In a resort you have better chances to be catered according to your experience level. January is good time for manta's, I did mid Jan to early Feb and I had a manta overdose. Also 1 week is too short, its a long way to get there, optimize by staying longer.

 

[Franek]

I would say consider resort diving instead of LoB. Last LoB I did in R4, least experienced people had 300- 500 dives. In a resort you have better chances to be catered according to your experience level. January is good time for manta's, I did mid Jan to early Feb and I had a manta overdose. Also 1 week is too short, its a long way to get there, optimize by staying longer.

I have to understand that diving with Lob is more difficult, and resort venues are easier do you think?
We dived from the boat, but we didn't live on the boat, that makes such a difference ages?
Can you tell me what to expect when choosing LoB?

 

[Carlos Danger]

"...I would say consider resort diving instead of LoB." "...Also 1 week is too short, its a long way to get there, optimize by staying longer."

I prefer land based diving as well, mostly because I don't really care much for being on a boat longer than a few hours. That said, PADI recently sent some info on various Aggressor itineraries for Raja, Derawan, Lembeh, Sulawesi, Halmahera, etc., which I'll admit look pretty enticing:

Raja Ampat Aggressor​

 

[Dan]

I have been in Raja Ampat 8 times (5 liveaboards & 3 dive resorts). Liveaboard is the way to go as R4 is huge, preferably on 10-11 night trip. 7-day trip is OK, but it may not cover all area where you want to know how the diving there before focusing on specific area that you would like to return later.

Blue Manta has very good DMs and CD. They will put you into similar experience group. I’ll be going back to R4 with them on February 2024 (original supposed to be in February 2022, but Indonesia was still closed then, so it’s rescheduled to February 2024 as the one for 2023 is already fully booked).

If you can’t get on Blue Manta, Mermaid 1 & 2 are another good liveaboard to be on. I’ll be on Mermaid 2 on 4-12 December 2022.

I enjoyed my R4 trip on Amira too. That’s another one that is worth considering.

Trip Report - Raja Ampat Jan 2020 Trip Report

Summary This is a twelve-day (14-25 January, 2020) liveaboard trip to Raja Ampat on Amira liveaboard. The itinerary, as shown in Table 1, includes 10 days of diving, 4 dives / day, except during long passage and the last dive day for 24-hour surface interval before flying home. Figure 1 shows...

scubaboard.com

 

[Centrals]

poza biurembrb #5 Raja Ampat Liveaboard 2019 help​

On average, I would say the diving may not be as beginner friendly. All diving is done off inflatables and there were some entries that required negative descents due to strong currents and ensuring the group stays together while hitting the split point. Quick descents and experience equalizing quickly while sorting out any gear or comfort issues are important. There are obviously no mooring lines to aid someone in ascending or descending, either for holding onto or for visual reference. There is some drift diving, there is some swimming against the current. I would rate the dives more difficult than Cozumel.

Inflatable is an extremely rare sight in SE Asia.