Trip Report Raja Ampat, Live Report, Nov. 7-Dec. 7, 2023

[sefuchs]

Both SBR and Damai have options for dietary needs or lifestyle eating, such as vegan or vegetarian. SBR had more variety in Western offerings than Damai. Both offered a good variety of all dishes with no repetition. However, SBR has a set menu schedule, so if you stay for more than seven days, you'll get repeated dishes. I had never eaten Indonesian food before this trip, so I was experimenting along the way, and I found that I didn't really like it. There were a lot of mystery meat dishes on Damai that I didn't like. I no longer eat octopus, lobster, squid, or crab because I'd rather see them in the ocean than on my dinner table, and there were a few of those dishes on Damai. I didn't like the tempe or the samba. On a dive trip, I really try not to eat spicy food for potential stomach issues.

SBR's efforts at American dishes like pizza, pasta, burgers and fries were of better quality than on the Damai. One night on the Damai we had spaghetti carbonara topped with bacon. The sauce was too thick and the bacon didn't make sense. It was apparent that the chef was a master at Indonesian food.

Hey! Let's take the trip of a lifetime to remote Indonesia and demand burgers and chicken wings. FFS.

I just got back from a month in Indonesia, 2 weeks at Sorido Bay (SBR). I tried lots of local Indo dishes but they didn't do much for me. Although I did enjoy some of the western/Indo fusion meals at SBR.

Two weeks at SBR and we didn't have any western (fast) food like burgers, pizza or pasta. There were 3 kids, all under 10yrs old, which SBR served that kind of food. We didn't have the same meal twice the entire time maybe because several of us were there more than 1 week. One-time SBR served French Fries as a pre-dinner appetizer, you should have seen how quickly they were gobbled up by all the guests (mostly European). Several rounds of french fries were requested and every last one was consumed!

 

[living4experiences]

I just got back from a month in Indonesia, 2 weeks at Sorido Bay (SBR). I tried lots of local Indo dishes but they didn't do much for me. Although I did enjoy some of the western/Indo fusion meals at SBR.

Two weeks at SBR and we didn't have any western (fast) food like burgers, pizza or pasta. There were 3 kids, all under 10yrs old, which SBR served that kind of food. We didn't have the same meal twice the entire time maybe because several of us were there more than 1 week. One-time SBR served French Fries as a pre-dinner appetizer, you should have seen how quickly they were gobbled up by all the guests (mostly European). Several rounds of french fries were requested and every last one was consumed!

We had that too!

 

[living4experiences]

Hey! Let's take the trip of a lifetime to remote Indonesia and demand burgers and chicken wings. FFS.

I was simply answering the question by @drrich and sharing my experience.

 

[living4experiences]

I guess doing this live trip report was a bad idea. I thought trip reports were meant to share experiences from trips taken by SB members and not an invitation to have hypercritical analyses of what I write about. I'm going to take a pause and finish the trip report upon my return home. Please note that this post is not an invitation for comment.

 

[Joneill]

I guess doing this live trip report was a bad idea. I thought trip reports were meant to share experiences from trips taken by SB members and not an invitation to have hypercritical analyses of what I write about. I'm going to take a pause and finish the trip report upon my return home. Please note that this post is not an invitation for comment.

Just ignore the trolls - most here appreciate the time you are taking to share your experiences! Don't let the idiots get to you - they are not worthy of your attention.

 

[JonnieB]

Schools of fish. Schools of bumphead parrotfish. Manta action that I find better than that at Manta Point. Along with nonstop coral life comes nonstop reef life.

Here said better than can I say but certainly my experience:

"Raja Ampat’s reefs are teeming with an abundance of life and colour that can be found nowhere else on the planet. Brilliantly hued soft corals and sea fans, sponges, tunicates, crinoids and hard corals merge to form habitats for mollusks and crustaceans, nudibranchs, giant clams, urchins and sea stars. Schools of brightly coloured reef fish such parrotfish, tangs and rainbow runners roam the coral. Dense schools of snapper, sweetlips and barracuda hang effortlessly in the current, whilst tuna and sharks cruise by. Among the mangroves there are more muted colours, with mangrove roots and corals providing habitats for juvenile fish, sharks and macro invertebrate species such as sea snails, flatworms, crabs and shrimp."

Raja Ampat Marine Park Authority - Kawasan Konservasi Perairan di Raja Ampat

Marine Protected Area in Raja Ampat Sustainable Abundance Raja Ampat is located at the northwestern tip of Southwest Papua, Indonesia, and is part of the Bird’s Head Seascape (BLKB), which is also part of the ‘heart’ of the world’s Coral Triangle. The Raja Ampat region consists of 4.5 million...

rajaampatmarinepark.com

I will agree if you want huge fish balls and tornadoes and schooling sharks then Bali isn't the best place. If you're a marine biologist and want to see lots of every variety of coral then Raja wins. Bali has all these but not in such profusion. I'm more about mucking about in the shallows for macro so Bali suits me fine. If I wanna see a few sharks, I'll just go down to the ledge at 25m at Pyramids in Amed and catch me some White Tips. The coral top and sponge life is crazy at many sites in the Amed to Tulamben corridor and the diving is easy, with usually great vis and little to no current. If I had an unlimited budget I'd head out to Raja, Alor, Helmahera, and Mamuere but I find, for what I like, I get the best bang for my buck in Bali (or the Philippines). For huge baraccuda and jack storms, I can asily go to Richelieu Rock or 8-Mile Rock here in Thailand or Sipadan/Mabul in Malaysia (which I have) much easier than places like Raja.

 

[JonnieB]

Well, I have been diving in Indonesia (and other parts of the world like Socorro, Cocos, Malpelo, Galapagos, Red Sea, Caribbean, Similan, Maldives, Bahamas) for 18 years and keep coming back to Raja Ampat 9 times. The 10th one will be in February next year. You may ask why? It’s hard to describe it in words (at least for me). You just want to see it with your own eyes.

The last time I was there was in December last year on Mermaid 2 and met their excellent videographer, Marcelo Johan Ogata of Bug Dreamer who videoed pretty close to what we saw with our own eyes and better when it came to small animals like Pontohi Pygmy Seahorse or drone scene.

Here’s one of his video of Raja Ampat. You need to see the whole video, not just parts of it to appreciate what Raja Ampat has to offer.

Nice. Yes I'm a big fan of Bug Dreamer's work and it must have been great to meet him in person

 

[JonnieB]

Hey! Let's take the trip of a lifetime to remote Indonesia and demand burgers and chicken wings. FFS.

Maybe someone paying thousands of dollars for a week long trip would like some food that's to their taste...is that too much to ask? Not every tourist feels the need to "go native."

 

[beccaaa]

I guess doing this live trip report was a bad idea. I thought trip reports were meant to share experiences from trips taken by SB members and not an invitation to have hypercritical analyses of what I write about. I'm going to take a pause and finish the trip report upon my return home. Please note that this post is not an invitation for comment.

nooo it's a great idea, it's interesting to see what people think - ignore the trolls. I'd love to hear about your experiences, which may differ from everyone else's but isn't the point to read about all of them and then hopefully draw your own conclusions?

 

[diveUAE]

I guess doing this live trip report was a bad idea. I thought trip reports were meant to share experiences from trips taken by SB members and not an invitation to have hypercritical analyses of what I write about. I'm going to take a pause and finish the trip report upon my return home. Please note that this post is not an invitation for comment.

So sorry you feel like this (don’t blame you).
I’ve really enjoyed reading about your trip, please keep sharing
Thank you!