Raja Ampat Lodge/Resort Recommendations Please

[ange2014]

Hi there,

I am looking at Raja Ampat for my next 2-week dive vacation. As my buddy and I prefer to be land-based, any recommendations for a well located lodge/resort would be appreciated. Some criteria are:

1. A fantastic house reef for snorkelling and diving.
2. A good number of great dive sites nearby accessible by boat. I'm planning to do about 20 dives and would much prefer dive sites with little currents and great visibility.
3. Clean and quiet rooms with hot shower and AC. Food-wise, I am not fussy.

Thank you in advance for your response.

 

[Trailboss123]

Our dive group is headed here. They have everything you seek, it appears, except AC:

Papua Explorers Resort Raja Ampat - Fine diving and Snorkeling

 

[Dan]

Raja Ampat Dive Lodge – Grand Komodo

It’s in Mansuar island in Dampier strait, 2 hour boat ride from Sorong.

Bungalows have AC.

 

[reubencahn]

I've stayed at both Papua Paradise Welcome to Papua Paradise and Papua Explorers Papua Explorers Resort Raja Ampat - Fine diving and Snorkeling. Both are excellent. Papua Paradise has a more relaxed vibe and I prefer it slightly. It is located on Batanta which has good macro but is slightly farther away from the most famous Dampier Strait sites. Neither have A/C if that's important to you. It's normally a deal breaker for me but I didn't find the bungalows uncomfortable without it.

Sorido also has A/C.

 

[garycrano]

I went to Papua Explorers last year and besides no A/C everything there was perfect.

 

[Luko]

Raja Ampat Dive Lodge has everything, the boon is that usually they're less expensive than their other compettitors and also for some marketing reasons less frequented, which sometimes allows you to dive with very few other divers. They ae very well located on Mansuar, close to Kri, next to all the great Dampier strait's sites.
The downside, because there is always one, was food which was terrible.

That said if you are expecting dives with no current and great visibility you may have selected the wrong area with R4.

 

[tgarvin]

My buddy and I stayed at Biodiversity Eco Resort in December 2018
1. Awesome house reef (unlimited dives) and easy snorkeling from your cottage
2. We asked that all dives were no current for macro photography (most of the dives were just the 2 of us with our dive guide)
3. food was amazing

No air conditioning was needed as there was a constant breeze

 

[judypots]

My husband and I spent 2 weeks in December in Raja Ampat - first at Papua Explorers and next at Misool Eco Resort. In both our opinions, Misool was the superior option. While P. Explorer was certainly fine, the dive sites were 25 - 35 minutes from the resort. At Misool, the dive sites were no more than 5 -10 minutes from the resort, and we returned to the resort for our surface interval and second breakfast. While many of the dives at P. Explorers were excellent, most of the dives at Misool were extraordinary. Magic Mountain near Misool has to be one of the top dive sites in the world. Mantas, gorgeous coral thunderclouds of schooling fish, etc. The food was also better at Misool - not that it was bad at P. Explorers - except for the bread at Papua, which was absolutely horrible, for some reason. Misool also had a small air conditioner over the bed, which made sleeping much more comfortable for us. Misool is more expensive, but not so much more for what we feel is the superior experience. We have already made a reservation for Misool for 2 weeks in 2020. Just saying.

 

[judypots]

The other thing I forgot to mention - While Misool Eco is a 3 1/2 to 4 hour boat ride from Sorong, they have a brand new yacht with indoor, air conditioned seating, as well as outdoor seats, if you prefer, with snacks for the trip. The boat to and from Sorong to Papua Explorers (about 2 hours), is like a slightly larger dive boat, with luggage piled up at the end of the covered seating area, which I was constantly pushing to avoid it crashing down on us.

 

[SSC-uba]

I've stayed at both Papua Paradise Welcome to Papua Paradise and Papua Explorers Papua Explorers Resort Raja Ampat - Fine diving and Snorkeling. Both are excellent. Papua Paradise has a more relaxed vibe and I prefer it slightly. It is located on Batanta which has good macro but is slightly farther away from the most famous Dampier Strait sites. Neither have A/C if that's important to you. It's normally a deal breaker for me but I didn't find the bungalows uncomfortable without it.

Sorido also has A/C.

I would love to hear any additional commentary you have about these two resorts as I am in the process of deciding between the two of them. How does the type of food differ? how does the house reef and proximity to diving sites differ? What about service levels? How do the transfers from Sorong to the respective resorts compare?
Many thanks!!