Raja Ampat in July? No nitrox?

[diveUAE]

Dear all

Need your help and great knowledge again.

I've got my heart set on diving R4 next year and only time it's possible to take more than 2 weeks off is July, where we can go for 3 weeks + a bit. Giving the time/logistics to get there and back I think this is a minimum. We last visited in March 2014, where we did a 7 day LOB with Wicked diving (Jaya), very basic, but diving was awesome, so did not mind. 7 days was far from enough though ...

The question is: where do we stay and should we do a LOB again? Funds are not unlimited, so places like Sorido Bay, Raja4divers etc. are out of the equation. Also would like to avoid being forced to have non diving days due to dive centers closing down on certain days of the week - I'm already expecting dives being cancelled due to weather, don't want to add to that.

First I looked at Liveaboard . com and found a few LOB within our budget: Raja Ampat Explorer, Pearl of Papua (seems to have very bad reviews lately) and Putri Papua (PP)- both Raja Ampat Explorer and PP has an 11 d/10 n trip doing Central and North/Wayag, which looks very interesting.
I contacted Grand Komodo, who runs both PP, RA Explorer and Raja Ampat Dive Lodge (RADL) and got a good quote for LOB + stay at RADL - 9 nights PP, exit at Waisai (no wasting at day sailing back to Sorong) + 7 nights/12 dives at RADL. Am extremely tempted to take the offer, however: PP does not offer any nitrox and at RADL nitrox is 5 $/tank. I've looked through my old log book for our dives on Jaya - no nitrox either, but we mostly did 3 dives a day, around 60 min each and at depths of 12-30 m. The itinerary of PP has 4 dives most days - I can already hear my computer peeping and see it going into deco (which you're not supposed to in RA).

Has anyone done RA (LOB) with air only? How did it go? Would we be ok? They do this trip often, so I guess it should be ok? Also questioning the combo of PP and RADL as PP has some diving in the same area as RADL.

Due to the no nitrox I looked through reviews and comments on this forum - thank you so much to everyone who did trip reports or contributed with their experience - helped me find resorts/home stays to have a look at.

So far my no. 1 for staying land based is Cove Eco resort - @Luko - I blame you - Thanks! It seems really well priced and has nitrox included + a good chance of mantas (we've seen a lot of them already, but never really get tired of watching the big "carpets" glide by). AC and private bath + possible wifi/4G. 14 days there is stretching the budget though and I wonder, if that might be too long time in 1 place.

I then looked at home stays/dive centers to combine and Tarzan together with Aldejus seems like a good option, as Aldejus have electricity all night and a fan + private bath, but Tarzan has no diving on Sundays and no nitrox either. Still I'm thinking 6 nights (sun-sat), then transfer to Cove for 9 nights could give us different dive sites? Could also do RADL and Cove, but again stretching the budget. Any other resorts/home stays I should have a look at? Soul Scuba? Biodiversity ? Would they offer more diversity in dive sites?

Any budget LOB I missed for July? - don't mind no ac + mandi shower on a boat - had a blast on Mimic by wonderpus in 2022.

Should maybe mention we're 2 experienced divers (OWSI + DM) and bring our own equipment (now also looking at bringing a portable fan, due to another tread on this forum)

Thanks!

 

[Luko]

Best thing you could do in July is cut your stay into different areas of Dampier, due to rainfall at the period rather stay out of the bigger landmasses such as Gam or Batanta, hence you'd be better off on a small island out at sea.

Cove won't get you to the classic Mansuar/Kri sites though you will dive manta spots with no other boats around, Pyanemo/Fam area will be closer boat ride too. So if you are missing the great classic dive sites (Cape Kri, Blue Magic, Sardines, ...) you should also add a week stay to a resort which will be more central and closer to Kri and Mansuar.

If you don't want to stretch out the budget you may check out Tabari Dive Lodge (french owned as well) , located on an island in between Batanta and Mansuar so it only takes 20-30 minutes to get to the classic sites.
I have not personally been to Tabari but 1- had good reports on it 2- stayed just in front 2 months ago at Agusta resort and loved the dive location.
I would heartlily recommend Agusta for the cheerful italian enthusiasm, the taylored dive to one's request even in the Passage which is not closed as some people pretend, as well as for the food and comfort, though probably not a good thing for your wallet as it is in roughly the same price range than Cove.
Hence sister island Tabari might be a second best/reasonable option.

 

[diveUAE]

Thank you so much, Luko! Point taken about the classic sites, would hate to miss them- I think RADL on Mansuar would be able to dive these places?
Agusta was on my list, did you write a trip report about that trip? Will look into Tabari as well.

For the diving, did you get nitrox? If not was the dives/time limits ok?

 

[Luko]

Agusta was on my list, did you write a trip report about that trip?

Nope. Didn't have time to however you can browse the images on my Raja Ampat Flickr gallery (a mix between all my R4 trips) UW Raja Ampat 2013/24

RADL would probably dive the same spots as Agusta or Tabari, however I felt Agusta was very personalized (I had the chance to dive with Marco the owner) I don't remember whether they do Nx, I didn't use any since we had some deep dives like 40m at Cape Kri or very shallow ones like in the Passage or in the Mangroves.
Most of the time 60 minutes : that's Ok for me when it's not macro dives, I get tired in the current fighting with my camera rig.

 

[living4experiences]

Nitrox is a must for me when doing multiple dives a day for multiple days in a row. When you were younger, 10 years ago, and diving on air in Raja, your body had better recovery from the nitrogen loads. No science here, just logic. Our bodies recover slower as we age. If Nitrox is an upcharge wherever I dive, I'm happy to pay it and consider it a part of my safety equipment.

I went to Raja last year for a LOB and land-based combo, and it was a perfect way to sample Raja for the first time. Next February, I'm doing one week on the White Manta liveaboard, one week at RADL, and one week at Cove Eco.

 

[diveUAE]

Nitrox is a must for me when doing multiple dives a day for multiple days in a row. When you were younger, 10 years ago, and diving on air in Raja, your body had better recovery from the nitrogen loads. No science here, just logic. Our bodies recover slower as we age. If Nitrox is an upcharge wherever I dive, I'm happy to pay it and consider it a part of my safety equipment.

I went to Raja last year for a LOB and land-based combo, and it was a perfect way to sample Raja for the first time. Next February, I'm doing one week on the White Manta liveaboard, one week at RADL, and one week at Cove Eco.

I do feel the same way about nitrox (and will pay, if it makes sense - like Luko says can't go too deep) - but my back up dive computer is the same as back then, so in theory should be able to do the same profiles, as it does not calculate age.
Wish we could do 3 weeks IN RA, but with 3 days travel each way actual stay will be just over 2 weeks, hope you have a fab time! I may have to book our trip, before you return, but still looking forward to a trip report.

 

[diveUAE]

Nope. Didn't have time to however you can browse the images on my Raja Ampat Flickr gallery (a mix between all my R4 trips) UW Raja Ampat 2013/24

RADL would probably dive the same spots as Agusta or Tabari, however I felt Agusta was very personalized (I had the chance to dive with Marco the owner) I don't remember whether they do Nx, I didn't use any since we had some deep dives like 40m at Cape Kri or very shallow ones like in the Passage or in the Mangroves.
Most of the time 60 minutes : that's Ok for me when it's not macro dives, I get tired in the current fighting with my camera rig.

Fabulous photos as always - especially loved the mangrove ones - and the pygmy seahorse

How would you rate the 3 resorts: RADL, Agusta and Cove Eco? In terms of diving, food and lodging? Price seems to be more or less the same. Checked and transfer from Cove Eco to Agusta is and extra 125 euro pr. person, whereas transfer to RADL would be free on Saturdays/Mondays.

 

[Luko]

Checked and transfer from Cove Eco to Agusta is and extra 125 euro pr. person

Mmmh... included in your stay, they'd both take you from/to Waisai, why should you pay extra, can't they arrange that providing you depart on specfic days from Cove, you can checkin any day you like at Agusta. (...but you can nee-veeer leeeeave - (Guitar) toodoo-doo- dooo-hoooh (wah chorus kicks-in) waaa-waaaaaaa wahaa-waaa... Ho hum sorry, I couldn't help but. )?

I give you what would be my Alor Divers notation as a metric so you can compare with an op you know (btw will be there again in two weeks), I rated/10 : Lodging, Food, dive op organization/flexibility, House reef or 3rd dive options and Beach.

Alor Divers : Lodging 8/10 (despite no AC; the deluxe bungalows are superb), dive op 7/10, food 8/10 (for quality), House reef/3rd dive 8/10, beach 10/10 (how can you say else?)

RADL : lodging 7/10, food 3/10 (really really a bad point) dive op 8/10 (I had a boat and 2 guides for myself, I was lucky), house reef/3rd dive option in the afternoon 8/10 (next to Mansuar sites), beach 2/10 (what beach?).
Cove : lodging 8/10, food 7,5/10, dive op 9/10, house reef/3rd dive 6/10 (jetty is good, lots of fish shools), beach 7/10 (located 10 minutes walk)
Agusta : lodging 9/10 (I had deluxe cottages, really large bungalows, good open air bathroom as well), food 8/10 (Indo italian mix, you get extra kilos in the end), dive op 7/10 (I guess german divers would go crazy, expect 30 minutes delay for everything but sooo fun), 3rd dive/House reef 4/10 (apart for a macro site, nothing close, better go out for full day trips), beach 7/10 (problem is the current).

I have to mention as well some points which might be "subjective"

I feel RADL can be a hit or miss : it's an Indonesian managed operation which can be "surprizing" at some times, when you're lucky with no clients around it can be the best dive operation, you'd go with your own guides wherever you want to. I had a recent report where I was told the dive op had gone downhill with guides hardly speaking any english and not completely enthusiastic. Bring your own snacks, you might be starving, this hasn't improved in years. For bird lovers the location is magical as from the jetty you'd see flocks of sulphur crested lorekeets playing in the high trees.

Cove scores big on their dive op flexibility, if you're a small party of 4 you'll get your own boat, just ask after a few days where you want to go, they'll arrange. the manta cleaning station is one of the closest, so you can schedule it whenever you want, however there is not much opportunities of 3rd dives except for the jetty. Their Breakfast is excellent, the best of all 3. The island is quite long so you can take a walk to the beach on the eastern side, this makes it less cluttered than the 2 other ops.

Agusta lives by their owners, Marco and Mara. Italian oriented, so you may have groups but no so annoying either, Marco will cut himself in half to satisfy his guests. it's a real pleasure to do the dive trips with him since he will arrange dive intervals in the surrounding villages, and during the walks/visits will tell you the stories of the place. he's one of the few who'll do full daytrips into the Passage including shallow cave diving. Main issue is that he obvioulsy doesn't dive many sites in Fam, almost always the same ones like Melissa's Garden (but you'll do the other ones with Cove). Dinner is spectacular, up to five dishes and as he's a gourmet as well, he will go out of his way to purchase fresh fish or squids to the fishermen during the dive trips (I remember coming back from a daytrip with 30kg of squids squirting ink in the dive boat, eventually we had potato/squid salad and squid risotto for the next days)

 

[Kendall Raine]

Concur on 32%. A must have. Profiles are classic nitrox profiles (max depths ~80 ft with weighted average of 45 ft). You're going a long way and, if like me, will want to dive your brains out (4x/day every day without feeling sluggish/nappish/stupid). Besides, Raja is not the place to get bent (even a little) so why mess around.

If it were me I and I was committed to land based, I'd try something like ten days each at either end of the Dampier straight-Cove Eco looks like a good choice (on my radar) for the western end and gives close proximity to Fam, Gam, Kawe as well as Aljui Bay. The east end gives access to all the Dampier classics (Cape Kri, Mike's, Mioskon, Sawanderek, Chicken, Sardine's, etc). You can dive the whole strait from a land based op at either end, but you might pay extra for longer drives. That can add up over two+ weeks.

I was in North Raja last April with nine days on land and nine on LOB. Visited many of the same sites. Takeaways: 1) the same site changes a lot from dive to dive/day to day so no worries about doing the same site a couple of times. 2) the night dives were much better on the LOB because each was a new site (instead of the same house reef all the time which is common practice for many land based ops). No matter how good the house reef is the risk (as I found out) is that everyone at the place wants to dive the house reef which can mean a crowded chaotic dive. The LOB means you can spread out and may have fewer divers in the water.

 

[diveUAE]

Mmmh... included in your stay, they'd both take you from/to Waisai, why should you pay extra, can't they arrange that providing you depart on specfic days from Cove, you can checkin any day you like at Agusta. (...but you can nee-veeer leeeeave - (Guitar) toodoo-doo- dooo-hoooh (wah chorus kicks-in) waaa-waaaaaaa wahaa-waaa... Ho hum sorry, I couldn't help but. )

I give you what would be my Alor Divers notation as a metric so you can compare with an op you know (btw will be there again in two weeks), I rated/10 : Lodging, Food, dive op organization/flexibility, House reef or 3rd dive options and Beach.

Alor Divers : Lodging 8/10 (despite no AC; the deluxe bungalows are superb), dive op 7/10, food 8/10 (for quality), House reef/3rd dive 8/10, beach 10/10 (how can you say else?)

RADL : lodging 7/10, food 3/10 (really really a bad point) dive op 8/10 (I had a boat and 2 guides for myself, I was lucky), house reef/3rd dive option in the afternoon 8/10 (next to Mansuar sites), beach 2/10 (what beach?).
Cove : lodging 8/10, food 7,5/10, dive op 9/10, house reef/3rd dive 6/10 (jetty is good, lots of fish shools), beach 7/10 (located 10 minutes walk)
Agusta : lodging 9/10 (I had deluxe cottages, really large bungalows, good open air bathroom as well), food 8/10 (Indo italian mix, you get extra kilos in the end), dive op 7/10 (I guess german divers would go crazy, expect 30 minutes delay for everything but sooo fun), 3rd dive/House reef 4/10 (apart for a macro site, nothing close, better go out for full day trips), beach 7/10 (problem is the current).

I have to mention as well some points which might be "subjective"

I feel RADL can be a hit or miss : it's an Indonesian managed operation which can be "surprizing" at some times, when you're lucky with no clients around it can be the best dive operation, you'd go with your own guides wherever you want to. I had a recent report where I was told the dive op had gone downhill with guides hardly speaking any english and not completely enthusiastic. Bring your own snacks, you might be starving, this hasn't improved in years. For bird lovers the location is magical as from the jetty you'd see flocks of sulphur crested lorekeets playing in the high trees.

Cove scores big on their dive op flexibility, if you're a small party of 4 you'll get your own boat, just ask after a few days where you want to go, they'll arrange. the manta cleaning station is one of the closest, so you can schedule it whenever you want, however there is not much opportunities of 3rd dives except for the jetty. Their Breakfast is excellent, the best of all 3. The island is quite long so you can take a walk to the beach on the eastern side, this makes it less cluttered than the 2 other ops.

Agusta lives by their owners, Marco and Mara. Italian oriented, so you may have groups but no so annoying either, Marco will cut himself in half to satisfy his guests. it's a real pleasure to do the dive trips with him since he will arrange dive intervals in the surrounding villages, and during the walks/visits will tell you the stories of the place. he's one of the few who'll do full daytrips into the Passage including shallow cave diving. Main issue is that he obvioulsy doesn't dive many sites in Fam, almost always the same ones like Melissa's Garden (but you'll do the other ones with Cove). Dinner is spectacular, up to five dishes and as he's a gourmet as well, he will go out of his way to purchase fresh fish or squids to the fishermen during the dive trips (I remember coming back from a daytrip with 30kg of squids squirting ink in the dive boat, eventually we had potato/squid salad and squid risotto for the next days)

Wow, just ... thank you is not enough! Brilliant with the comparison to Alor - Not at all envious about you going back there Say hi, from us. Still remember the tears I shed, when we had to leave.

You're right: could get Cove to drop us at Waisai and Agusta to pick up.

Point taken about RADL - food is important, but would not mind loosing a few pounds, but my main dislike to Moalboal was the indifference of the dive guides, could not imagine diving world famous sites with a guide like that.

Agusta: 30 min late for dives etc - yeah, I'm with the Germans there, but at least now I'm warned. What's meant by full day trip? 2 or 3 dives?

It seems for all options 3rd dive or night dive is a bit limited - I was hoping we could do 4 dives most days, but if the only option is doing it on "house reef" it may end up being too repetitive.

Tough decision - except for Cove, definitely want to stay there.