Raja Ampat Liveaboard Help!

[billt4sf]

I was on the Mermaid in November I have obly been on that one trip so I cannot compare to others but I had a great experience, in that: (1) the dive guides were very good; (2) the dive briefings were excellent (3) they treated us VERY well and the food was very good. It's worth it to get a cabin on the main deck versus the budget cabin.

 

[AlMitch]

According to their website the Indo Siren seems to have availability only from mid December.
BUT if you call them up they may have a few vacancies.
It is a great boat, not Dewi great but also not Dewi $$$'s.

 

[nudisusie]

Indo Siren would also get my vote - great team and lovely boat (been on her 3 times in the last 18 months). As AlMitch said not Dewi great but still its not the same cost.

Damai would be my preference over Arenui- partly as i know the cruise managers from Arenui left (1 of whom is now managing Blue Manta!) plus the owner of Damai puts a huge amount of thought and effort into keeping his boats top notch.

Regarding "Ocean Rover" the new RA Aggressor. One of the dive guides, Dince, used to work on Indo Siren. I've always found her to be an exceptional spotter and really look after people - she has several years experience of diving in RA so don't let the newness of the boat's new operation put you off, they still have experienced crew aboard. Though the boat would not be my pick for a lux cruise.

Friends just came off the Dewi trip 04-14 Dec and raved about the diving, had great weather with plenty of manta action and so on - so would definitely say December is still a good time

My husband is in RA right now, diving Arborek Jetty they've seen blue ring octopus, harlequin shrimp and epaulette sharks - some people have all the luck!
Enjoy the trip

 

[scorpiofish]

Nudisusie. Are you talking about Jerry and Debbie or the cruise directors after them that have left?

I have spent many hours diving the Arborek Jetty. I would even get the boat to drop me there while the rest of the boat went to Manta Sandy to sit around. It's the only place I've seen blue rings. Seeing the epaulette is also pretty common. I've never seen harlequin shrimp there, darn it.

They started doing homestays on the island and the site is getting beat up, but is on my top 10 list. The guy who wrote the book on Raja diving laughs when I tell him it's one of my favorites.

Here's an image from the "old" days when it had a regular school of scad.

 

[Zippsy]

Indo Siren would also get my vote - great team and lovely boat (been on her 3 times in the last 18 months). As AlMitch said not Dewi great but still its not the same cost.

Damai would be my preference over Arenui- partly as i know the cruise managers from Arenui left (1 of whom is now managing Blue Manta!) plus the owner of Damai puts a huge amount of thought and effort into keeping his boats top notch.

Regarding "Ocean Rover" the new RA Aggressor. One of the dive guides, Dince, used to work on Indo Siren. I've always found her to be an exceptional spotter and really look after people - she has several years experience of diving in RA so don't let the newness of the boat's new operation put you off, they still have experienced crew aboard. Though the boat would not be my pick for a lux cruise.

Friends just came off the Dewi trip 04-14 Dec and raved about the diving, had great weather with plenty of manta action and so on - so would definitely say December is still a good time

My husband is in RA right now, diving Arborek Jetty they've seen blue ring octopus, harlequin shrimp and epaulette sharks - some people have all the luck!
Enjoy the trip

 

[Zippsy]

Damai would be my preference over Arenui- partly as i know the cruise managers from Arenui left (1 of whom is now managing Blue Manta!)...

I'm on the Blue Manta now. It's huge but I have checked the whole ship and I can't find Jerry, Debbie or anyone from the Arenui. I think Jerry & Debbie now work in the Arenui office. Cedric, who has many years experience in Indonesia, most recently as Cruise Director on the Black Manta is now in charge of the new Blue Manta.

 

[nudisusie]

I'm on the Blue Manta now. It's huge but I have checked the whole ship and I can't find Jerry, Debbie or anyone from the Arenui. I think Jerry & Debbie now work in the Arenui office. Cedric, who has many years experience in Indonesia, most recently as Cruise Director on the Black Manta is now in charge of the new Blue Manta.

Hi Zippsy

I was meaning Nicole and Edu who were cruise managers on the Arenui, but Nicole now works in Bali for Blue Manta ( not on the boat as she and Edu recently had their first child!) Not sure what Edu is up to....

Hope Blue Manta was fun!

 

[nudisusie]

Nudisusie. Are you talking about Jerry and Debbie or the cruise directors after them that have left?

Nicole and Edu (previous from Indo Siren also) who were CDs on board Arenui in 2014. They came off last year and Nicole now works in the office for Blue Manta.

 

[Zippsy]

Hi Zippsy

I was meaning Nicole and Edu who were cruise managers on the Arenui, but Nicole now works in Bali for Blue Manta ( not on the boat as she and Edu recently had their first child!) Not sure what Edu is up to....

Hope Blue Manta was fun!

Ahhhh....gotchya. I've sent you a PM

And the diving, as well as the Blue Manta, has been fantastic. We just climbed out of the water at Magic Mountain a few minutes ago. No mantas but crystal clear waters, huge schools of batfish, jacks, fusiliers, barracuda and at least two dozen friendly Napolean wrasses, and some barramundi, pipefish, ribbon eels, nudis, etc. I'm in heaven.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Ahhhh....gotchya. I've sent you a PM

And the diving, as well as the Blue Manta, has been fantastic. We just climbed out of the water at Magic Mountain a few minutes ago. No mantas but crystal clear waters, huge schools of batfish, jacks, fusiliers, barracuda and at least two dozen friendly Napolean wrasses, and some barramundi, pipefish, ribbon eels, nudis, etc. I'm in heaven.

I saw the Blue Manta at Penemu last week, looks like a nice new boat, quite large and spacious looking