Raja ampat Liveaboard

[Lorenzoid]

One word of advice on hotels, @drrich2 , is don't cheap out--and I don't get the impression you are the type to do that. For a long time I refused to admit to myself I had outgrown the "backpacker" mode of travel and stayed in some places I regretted, all to save a few dollars--thousands of rupiah but literally just a few US dollars. In Labuanbajo (okay, not relevant to Raja Ampat) I booked a room with no A/C and a toilet that I can best describe as "Western toilet, Eastern flush"--meaning, it was an ordinary ceramic toilet but with a bucket next to it that you pour into the toilet to "flush." Never mind the toilet--the lack of A/C made it one of the worst nights of sleep I ever got. This was the night before a liveaboard. The same hotel offered rooms with A/C and probably also proper Western-style toilets, but I didn't want to be a westerner wuss. These days I'm happy to admit I'm a wuss. As for toilet paper, a savvy western traveler always brings toilet paper.

In Russia I remember encountering a hole-in-the-floor "toilet" of the type Centrals mentions. That is the worst I have ever seen (and smelled).

 

[Dan]

@drrich2 if you get to Sorong a day before boarding the liveaboard, stay in Swiss-Belhotel Sorong - Guest Reservations

 

[Dan]

One word of advice on hotels, @drrich2 , is don't cheap out--and I don't get the impression you are the type to do that. For a long time I refused to admit to myself I had outgrown the "backpacker" mode of travel and stayed in some places I regretted, all to save a few dollars--thousands of rupiah but literally just a few US dollars. In Labuanbajo (okay, not relevant to Raja Ampat) I booked a room with no A/C and a toilet that I can best describe as "Western toilet, Eastern flush"--meaning, it was an ordinary ceramic toilet but with a bucket next to it that you pour into the toilet to "flush." Never mind the toilet--the lack of A/C made it one of the worst nights of sleep I ever got. This was the night before a liveaboard. The same hotel offered rooms with A/C and probably also proper Western-style toilets, but I didn't want to be a westerner wuss. These days I'm happy to admit I'm a wuss. As for toilet paper, a savvy western traveler always brings toilet paper.

In Russia I remember encountering a hole-in-the-floor "toilet" of the type Centrals mentions. That is the worst I have ever seen (and smelled).

Words of the wise.

Even though I grew up in Indonesia, I’m also becoming a wuss as I get older and living in USA for 40+ years. My backpacking days are also long gone.

Unless I’m tracking 6000+ feet above sea level, I need AC room to sleep in tropical country like Indonesia.

 

[dirtfarmer]

I agree with Dan that no TP is unlikely. The toilet itself, however, could be just a concrete open hole that is as you can imagine. The airport in Sorong has such a "bathroom" for the departure lounge. And no aircon so bring water for your wait. Looking at the locals with their coats (no joke, I was dying in shorts and tanktop and they literally had coats on). But heck you are in Raja Ampat and had an unforgettable trip up to that so no problem. Once you are on the plane out, you enjoy the KFC they serve on the plane and cool down.

When is the last time you were in the Sorong airport? In 2019 they were building a new terminal so they might have decent A/C now if thats been finnished. Yup when i was there it was blazing hot even when I was sitting infront of the small A/C units they had. I skipped a bathroom trip.
I would still go back in a heartbeat even with the old terminal.

 

[Dan]

When is the last time you were in the Sorong airport? In 2019 they were building a new terminal so they might have decent A/C now if thats been finnished. Yup when i was there it was blazing hot even when I was sitting infront of the small A/C units they had. I skipped a bathroom trip.
I would still go back in a heartbeat even with the old terminal.

I was there in January last year. The new airport has been operating with nice western toilets. Like I said earlier, if you just flying in to Sorong for the liveaboard trip & flying out to home after the liveaboard, staying in Swisbel hotel the night before boarding the liveaboard, you won’t need to squat on hole on the floor for doing #2.

I’ve been to Raja Ampat about 8 times.

Trip Report - Raja Ampat Jan 2020 Trip Report

Summary This is a twelve-day (14-25 January, 2020) liveaboard trip to Raja Ampat on Amira liveaboard. The itinerary, as shown in Table 1, includes 10 days of diving, 4 dives / day, except during long passage and the last dive day for 24-hour surface interval before flying home. Figure 1 shows...

scubaboard.com

 

[jasonrandlett]

I am looking at a trip to Raja Ampat for early Feb 2022. My wife and I have traveled to Bonaire twice this year, so we have the PCR testing down, but Indonesia is a new game. We spent 30 days traveling and diving in Indonesia in 2015, but I was not able to make Raja Ampat work, and now I am turning 50 - so it is on like Donkey Kong! We are triple vaxed, so I just want to get on a darn plane and go. I am looking for any insight I can get because the booking window is closing. Do we need to fly into Jakarata to clear Covid protocols? Best way to get to Sorong? Is it worth spending a few days at a resort in Raja before getting on a boat? Airline recommendations? Flying from the US - departure recommendations? Flying into??? I get it is Sorong, but what is the best option from the US, and then do we have to kill 2-3 days somewhere clearing quarantine? Any info is super appreciated.

 

[Dan]

Feb 2022 to Raja Ampat (RA)? Good luck! Due to these Omicron uncertainties, I just postponed my Feb 2022 on Blue Manta to future date, to sometime in 2024.

To go to RA, in my past experience (been there 8 times), the best way is through Jakarta. Spending a few days in the resort there is a good idea.

Garuda is your best domestic airline to use. In my past trip with them, they let me check in another bag of dive gear at no extra charge (that means 2 of 50lb bags).

 

[Indah]

I am looking at a trip to Raja Ampat for early Feb 2022. My wife and I have traveled to Bonaire twice this year, so we have the PCR testing down, but Indonesia is a new game. We spent 30 days traveling and diving in Indonesia in 2015, but I was not able to make Raja Ampat work, and now I am turning 50 - so it is on like Donkey Kong! We are triple vaxed, so I just want to get on a darn plane and go. I am looking for any insight I can get because the booking window is closing. Do we need to fly into Jakarata to clear Covid protocols? Best way to get to Sorong? Is it worth spending a few days at a resort in Raja before getting on a boat? Airline recommendations? Flying from the US - departure recommendations? Flying into??? I get it is Sorong, but what is the best option from the US, and then do we have to kill 2-3 days somewhere clearing quarantine? Any info is super appreciated.

All there info there is here: most I do not know and cannot know.
Garuda is in deep financial problems. Their schedules can be changed overnight.
At the moment there are no visa upon arrival and everybody has to stay in a designated quarantine hotel in Jakarta or Manado for 10 days upon arrival. An true or false positive test during your quarantine would cause some real adventure.
Looking at what is happening in the rest of the world, East Indonesia will be fully hit the Omicron wave in February . Vaccination rates there are below 50%. And except from some doctors nobody had a third shot yet. Even the mildest symptoms of an Omicron infection would make diving impossible.

 

[Centrals]

LoB to R4 in Feb 2022! Miracle does happen! What is the odd?
Plenty of time to recover from the jet lag because of the required 10 days quarantine(at your own expenses). Bali/Lombok or Northern Sulawesi(Bangka, Bunaken and Lembeh).

Lombok and Bali Trip Oct - Nov 2021

Part 1 - the journey. Our last trip to Indonesia was in February 2020. Due to prolong pandemic, no chance to visit again until this October although we managed to visit other countries - not for diving though. Our last dive trip was Liveaboard in red sea, September 2020. Assuming I'm not lazy...

scubaboard.com

 

[jasonrandlett]

Thank you all for showering a little reason on my wild expectations. I will hold off on RA until travel becomes a little more reasonable. Any insight on Thailand or Palau as an option for Feb 2022? I read the threads about the king dying in Palau, so that seemed like a no-go. I am open to any ideas. Thank you all for the help, I love scubaboard for researching dive ideas.