Raja Ampat Liveaboard Recommendations

[LimitedSlip7]

If you had to pick a liveaboard/itinerary for a once in a lifetime trip to Raja Ampat, which would it be? I'd like to go ahead and book a trip for later this year. May be the only chance I get to go so I'd like to hit the best parts if I can...

I will likely be traveling solo and would probably have to share a cabin.

Thanks!

 

[Darnold9999]

Longer the better. My preference would be Misool area but a very marginal preference as there are so many good places in the other areas.

In 4 trips I have had nothing but good trips.
The factors that make the diving better are number of guides, quality of guides, and experience level of the other guests. (One trip had a group of beginner divers so sites were chosen with that in mind)

Which liveaboard to choose will depend on budget. The more you spend the better the amenities - the diving is pretty much the same for all the upper end boats.

 

[drrich2]

Budget is relative and we're talking a Raja Ampat trip, but...are you looking at lower budget, mid.-range or higher end boats? All other things being equal, would you pay several hundred bucks for an otherwise similar experience, but a more beautiful boat, a more luxurious vibe, etc...?

One factor of potential interest to some people is the availability of larger tanks. Haven't been there; doing some research on the destination recently, I learned the Samambaia has some big tanks (15-liter) one can rent; the Indo Siren has some, also, and no extra charge per my dive travel agent Tim Yeo with Blue Water Dive Travel, but they may switch them around depending on needs (in other words, you might have to give it up if there's a bigger air hog than you onboard, so you might not want to routinely get back on the boat with too much ending tank pressure). He recommended a minimum 10-night trip, so as to have time to dive south, north and far north Raja Ampat.

Those Phinisi boats are a regional thing in Indonesia, from what I understand; they look beautiful. Some boats (e.g.: Indo Siren) look to be Phinisi, and some (e.g.: Raja Ampat Aggressor) do not.

Those of you who've been to Indonesia and tried the Phinisi boats, is that a factor in your preferences? Can you tell us the pro.s & con.s of the two?

Since your thread hasn't picked up much steam yet, I'll shoot a shout out to @Dan - he's been to that part of the world, and done some live-aboards.

 

[Dan]

If you had to pick a liveaboard/itinerary for a once in a lifetime trip to Raja Ampat, which would it be? I'd like to go ahead and book a trip for later this year. May be the only chance I get to go so I'd like to hit the best parts if I can...

I will likely be traveling solo and would probably have to share a cabin.

Thanks!

I’ve been in Raja Ampat 8 times (5 on liveaboards & 3 in resorts). A good Phinisi boat to experience in diving there with delicious Indonesian food, great guides is Amira. I like wooden boat for quietness and artistic look. Raja Ampat tends to have flat seas, so wooden boat is fine to be on. Check out my trip report:

Raja Ampat Jan 2020 Trip Report

Another boat, that I plan to be back in Raja Ampat on in Feb 2022, is Blue Manta. It’s a huge & luxury metal boat. l was on it when I went to Banda Sea. I like their huge cabin space. It’s like a floating hotel.

Another good metal boat is Mermaid 1. I was on it for Bali-Komodo-Bali liveaboard trip. It has the best chefs among 20 liveaboards I have been on.

 

[AdivingBel]

I learned the Samambaia has some big tanks (15-liter) one can rent...

I don't remember about the big tanks, but the Samambaia is an absolutely gorgeous boat and a great experience. It was my last big trip in January before the rest of 2020 happened. Seems like a long time ago.

 

[Darnold9999]

I am scheduled to go on Samambia in March. Sadly I doubt it is going to happen.

 

[Dan]

I don't remember about the big tanks, but the Samambia is an absolutely gorgeous boat and a great experience. It was my last big trip in January before the rest of 2020 happened. Seems like a long time ago.

Walking up & down the side stairs from the liveaboard to skiff in full dive gears, 4x/day for 10 days are OK with your knees?

 

[Blackcrusader]

Just saw this today also seen some others... fire sales will come if Indonesia and other countries cannot open up for tourism and I think we are looking at 2022 in reality

Phinisi Boat for sale (GT55), located in Labuan Bajo Indonesia, PM for more info and photos. Price 130.000€
Di jual kapal Pinisi GT 55, lokasi Labuan Bajo, pm utk info lebih langkap dan foto. Harga 2.2 M

 

[drrich2]

I like wooden boat for quietness and artistic look. Raja Ampat tends to have flat seas, so wooden boat is fine to be on.

Good to know. Some people who see this thread may also be researching Komodo, or trying to decide between Raja Ampat and Komodo. With Komodo's reputation as a current/drift diving destination, I'm guessing seas are more spirited? Do you prefer metal boats there? What's a Phinisi boat like when seas are a bit rougher?

 

[Dan]

Good to know. Some people who see this thread may also be researching Komodo, or trying to decide between Raja Ampat and Komodo. With Komodo's reputation as a current/drift diving destination, I'm guessing seas are more spirited? Do you prefer metal boats there? What's a Phinisi boat like when seas are a bit rougher?

Current is not a problem with boats. Huge waves do. Komodo island is surrounded by many smaller islands, so the waves are not big enough to toss around smaller wooden boats.

The problem there is getting to Komodo from Bali passing the Indonesian Throughflow - Wikipedia around Lombok strait where flow from Indian Ocean passing through to Western Pacific Ocean or vice versa. Quite a few of wooden boats sank there. On my trip with Mermaid1 in August 2014, we rescued a few people from sinking wooden boat.

You see on the map that thorough flow is also passing Banda Sea. I was once on a wooden boat then attempted to sail from Ambon to Banda, had a bad luck of stormy day. The boat was swinging pretty badly, being tossed around by the big waves. I was tossed out of bed in the upper deck cabin. We had to turn around to Seram & skipped Banda and headed out to Raja Ampat. My 2nd try with huge metal boat (Blue Manta) went through similar stormy weather condition to Banda Sea with some minor problem, one of the skiff punctured a hole & sank, but they were able to drag it up to the liveaboard & repaired it.