Raja Ampat in July? No nitrox?

[diveUAE]

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.

Thanks. Spot on - going for 9/10 days at one place and 7/8 at another is now my plan. But hate to miss out on the different night dives of a LOB.
Strangely enough I feel more sluggish/nappish with nx than on air - I know it's weird - so nx would mostly be for the NDL - and yes: traveling that far (and leaving our daughter at home) we do want to dive our brains out.

 

[Luko]

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?

That's 3 dives, usually further away : Fam (Melissa's, Fam wall, Rufas), Passage or West Gam area (Citrus ridge, Mangroves, Gam reefs).

 

[reubencahn]

Since the 90s, I've pretty much refused to dive air. But pre-pandemic, I committed to a trip with friends not realizing that the boat did not offer nitrox. The trip finally went forward this past January, and the lack of nitrox ended up a non-issue. I found that I naturally adjusted my profiles without even thinking about it. Instead of standard depths in the 80 foot range, most dives were in the 60-65 foot range--occasionally dipping deeper. I didn't find myself more tired after dives. I wasn't bumping up against NDLs. And I didn't feel I was missing anything since life and light are usually better a bit shallower. The trip was to have been Sorong-Kaimana, but winds and weather kept us from crossing, so we the we spent the entire trip in South Raja. I can see the lack of nitrox being a bigger problem in other locations, for instance, Lembeh in certain months with warmer water and creatures staying deeper. But on this trip, I didn't miss nitrox or feel less safe.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Thanks. Spot on - going for 9/10 days at one place and 7/8 at another is now my plan. But hate to miss out on the different night dives of a LOB.
Strangely enough I feel more sluggish/nappish with nx than on air - I know it's weird - so nx would mostly be for the NDL - and yes: traveling that far (and leaving our daughter at home) we do want to dive our brains out.

Apropos night dives maybe check with the land based places and see if they always do the same night dive or whether they’ll go further afield. The place I stayed (PapEx) just dive the house reef at night but perhaps others are different.

I found the night dives on the LOB (Coralia) just off the hook.

 

[SaltyWombat]

I only considered land-based dive ops which had nitrox when I planned a Raja4 trip in November 2022. I went with RADL.

However, I was not able to actually get nitrox while there. I joined a group of 6 other divers. It's possible they could have used partial pressure blending to fill a few nitrox cylinders, but they were not able to accommodate the entire group. So, no nitrox all week.

The dives were mostly in the 65 - 75 ft range. Nitrox would have been nice, but I ended up not worrying about it.

The RADL lodging exceeded my expectations. The bungalows are quite nice. AC was great. View was outstanding.

Food at RADL was not delicious. I'm not a picky eater, but I lost weight there.

I think WiFi only worked in the lobby. Fine with me since I wanted to be offline anyhow. Other guests were grumpy about this.

I also stayed at Meridian Adventure Dive, but since we're talking about RADL I won't go into details.

I heard things about a place called Biodiversity.

 

[diveUAE]

I only considered land-based dive ops which had nitrox when I planned a Raja4 trip in November 2022. I went with RADL.

However, I was not able to actually get nitrox while there. I joined a group of 6 other divers. It's possible they could have used partial pressure blending to fill a few nitrox cylinders, but they were not able to accommodate the entire group. So, no nitrox all week.

The dives were mostly in the 65 - 75 ft range. Nitrox would have been nice, but I ended up not worrying about it.

The RADL lodging exceeded my expectations. The bungalows are quite nice. AC was great. View was outstanding.

Food at RADL was not delicious. I'm not a picky eater, but I lost weight there.

I think WiFi only worked in the lobby. Fine with me since I wanted to be offline anyhow. Other guests were grumpy about this.

I also stayed at Meridian Adventure Dive, but since we're talking about RADL I won't go into details.

I heard things about a place called Biodiversity.

Very, very helpful! Thanks. How long ago was this? Bummer about the food - and actually also the nx - if I pay to stay at a resort, where they claim to have it I expect it to be available on the dives I need it for. What time of year did you travel - I'm now leaning towards the LOB and 1 resort, as I've read in the slow season it's harder to get to the best sites if there's not enough divers, who want to go.

Please do share about Meridian Adventure - currently I'm looking at staying a few days on/close to Waisai to make the most of our days and flights (would rather stay and dive, than just stay in Sorong).

 

[diveUAE]

Since the 90s, I've pretty much refused to dive air. But pre-pandemic, I committed to a trip with friends not realizing that the boat did not offer nitrox. The trip finally went forward this past January, and the lack of nitrox ended up a non-issue. I found that I naturally adjusted my profiles without even thinking about it. Instead of standard depths in the 80 foot range, most dives were in the 60-65 foot range--occasionally dipping deeper. I didn't find myself more tired after dives. I wasn't bumping up against NDLs. And I didn't feel I was missing anything since life and light are usually better a bit shallower. The trip was to have been Sorong-Kaimana, but winds and weather kept us from crossing, so we the we spent the entire trip in South Raja. I can see the lack of nitrox being a bigger problem in other locations, for instance, Lembeh in certain months with warmer water and creatures staying deeper. But on this trip, I didn't miss nitrox or feel less safe.

Thanks a lot, great to know. Maybe we would be fine without nx as well.

Apropos night dives maybe check with the land based places and see if they always do the same night dive or whether they’ll go further afield. The place I stayed (PapEx) just dive the house reef at night but perhaps others are different.

I found the night dives on the LOB (Coralia) just off the hook.

I think you're right about most resorts only having one place for night dives - and I think some maybe even 3rd dive as well. Hence I'm leaning towards doing the LOB - just a bit worried about the weather/choppy seas in July, but assuming the LOB would try to avoid the worst.

 

[LI-er]

Strangely enough I feel more sluggish/nappish with nx than on air -

No, you only think you do.

 

[rlh739]

No, you only think you do.

Recently dove air in Raja Ampat. Typically 60' max depth.

I missed my Nitrox, and could certainly feel the difference in body fatigue (I'm 67).

 

[Benjamin Lloyd]

I did 3 weeks in Raja this July. 1 at Cove, 1 w/ Soul Scuba on Kri, 1 w/ Tarzan on Gam. I've been meaning to write a trip report but haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe this helps...

1. We loved Cove. We did 4 dives per day and they were very flexible about dive sites. Returning from the morning dives the guide would ask what we wanted for the afternoon. I thought the night dive on the jetty was a little underwhelming so we only did it once. Instead they would take our group of 3 out for 2 afternoon dives at some of the local sites. On the last afternoon they even took us back to Gam for a 2nd dive at Mayhem and then Mangrove Ridge. Be prepared for rough weather though. The wind was blowing the whole week and we were usually absolutely soaked on the boat rides out and back. Visibility was pretty poor but we still really enjoyed our dives. Boat crew and guide were great.

2. The wind died down after the 1st day at Soul Scuba and visibility reached 50m on Cape Kri & Chicken Reef. Absolutely stunning dives. Thibault at SS said it was the best time for the Kri sites. No mantas but still fishy af and you could see forever. 2 morning dives and 1 afternoon. The sites are really close so the afternoon dive changed every day. No Nitrox but with the incredible vis and fishy reef slopes it wasn't an issue. Their team is hugely experienced. Our guide had been diving Raja for 20+ years.

3. Tarzan dived the same sites as Soul Scuba but they were worth repeating. Lao Lao and Mioskun were pretty meh the 1st time but fantastic the 2nd. Tarzan's big boat is the nicest dive boat in the area and the crew was very accommodating on choosing dive sites (no more Friwen). They weren't as busy as Soul Scuba but I liked the vibe better at SS. I did 1 night dive from the boat at Saporkren, very good muck diving. They usually just do the house reef but with 4+ they'll take the boat out.