sipadiver
Contributor
- Messages
- 169
- Reaction score
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- # of dives
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I went diving in Raja Ampat in late April this year. Came back in May. It started off as a strange dream - in that dream, I dreamt that my scuba diving friends (whom I met in the Maldives) would invite me to go for this trip because one of their number had pulled out.
Then what do you know? I got a call a few weeks later - one of their divers had abruptly cancelled last minute - and I was asked whether I could fill his spot (and help pay his share, discounted).
Initially I turned it down because I was busy at the time and it was too weird and sudden. I was asked on Saturday, and the trip was leaving next Thursday. (I also had to book my flight to Jakarta and the organizer had to try and arrange the connecting flight to Sorong which was very iffy; the airline also refused to replace the cancelled passenger with my name).
But the project that I was working on got suddenly put on hold - so with nothing to do - I decided to go to Raja Ampat.
(Meanwhile, the organizer managed to arrange for another ticket for me to fly to Sorong)
Besides they offered me a discount. It cost AUD$1700 for a week of scuba diving 24 dives - including food/accomodation etc.. (Flight was separate but the Sorong flight was not cheap)
I knew some of the divers - but the rest were strangers to me. But in the end, I ended up spending most of the time alone on the top deck - I didn't want to watch TV, smoke, or drink in the dinning room lounge.
I just wanted to spend all my time on the top deck or mast staring at the beautiful blue sea with that gorgeous cloud formations and, at night, the endless starry heavens. In my normal day outside of scuba diving, I see four walls, computer screens, TVs, etc.. I didn't see the point in spending my time at Raja Ampat doing the same thing, not when the natural scenery was that awesome.
We were on the Sea Safari 8. This is it.
Bali Cruises Sea Safari - Sunset Dinner, Charter Vessels, Day Cruise
I liked it. Its a large wooden sailing boat. But they rely on their diesel engines now to run the ship. It wasn't too noisy but the rattle of the anchor being hoisted up woke me up at daybreak, 5.00 - 6am. Actually I didn't mind it because diving began at 7am. So it was an unusual wakeup.
Overall the crew were good. The Indonesian captain, dive guides - the technician who did our air tanks were fabulous. Sometime went wrong with my (own old) regulator and he took the time to fix and tune it for me. However some of the boat boys were rather clueless and sat around staring at the dive team fumble with their gear.
However, the place had cockroaches. Initially there weren't any to be seen. But midway through our journey, and esp. on the last few days, they were crawling all over the dining area. I had to open the Medical cabinet near the kitchen to grab a bandage and bugger me, there were a dozen of the brown bugs in there.
But hey! I'm an optimist - I didn't see any rats or mice. And the cockroaches kept mainly to the dining room kitchen area and not the sleeping quarters.
Food wise was ok. The cooks knew their stuff. The fish meals were rather tough though. And there was plenty of fresh fruit, mainly watermelon and papaya. My IBS problems were totally cured! Scuba Diving + fresh tropical food + no fried/oily food (which caused reflux during the dive) solved all my stomach aliments and helped me lose weight too!!!
All the rooms had ensuite bathrooms. I was given the end bedroom near the engine which had double bunk beds. I liked it. It wasn't too noisy and I had extra space. One bed for me. One for my equipment. And I also get the bathroom all to myself. (No cockroaches in the bedroom, well, maybe 1 or 2). I took photos of the room which you can see here:
The Gentle Knight - The Call of the Kings: Raja Ampat
OK! I found the diving to be excellent. Superb. AMAZING. Maybe its because we had a very experienced Dive Guide leader (there were 3), his name was Seno. He got us to all the great diving spots.
We saw manta rays, sharks (esp the funny "woe be gone"
wobbegong shark. and tons and tons of marine fish. Right on that first dive, the whole sea seemed covered with this massive school of red fins. On subsequent dives, esp. near Sorong, the fish life was less however - and there was one or two dives where we saw massive amounts of corals, including the gorgonian fans where there were few fish.
I didn't like the 2nd day of diving near one of the islands near Sorong. The water was very murky - like the waters off Manado. But the further we got from the main port, the better the diving was.
I particularly loved the dives at Misool Islands, Boo, and at Airborei, Manta Ridge where we saw the big huge Manta Rays, majestic winged creatures, who came on cue like actors on a stage. They came on our flanks, circled around the cleaning station then either swam off or went to the opposite side of where they entered. The area was filled with such amazing natural pristine beauty. There were underwater caverns the size of (small) cathedrals. Sunlight streamed down from some gaps in the limestone bathing the caverns in a blue surreal glow. We even saw dolphins but they were shy and kept their distance but I swear they were following us when we went diving.
I took a video of the Manta Rays. You can see it on Youtube if you like.
‪Manta Ridge, Raja Ampat, West Papua‬‏ - YouTube
Unfortunately the visibility was bit murky at times on account of the storms. But not so bad. I think it got to around 10m.
Apparently in the Northern Islands near Sorong there are WW2 plane wrecks including a Thunderbolt fighter plane? which is intact. The Kodak gun camera is still attached. I didn't see it but one of the Indonesian divers told me about it.
We did a fair bit of deep sea diving - where we would hover above undersea mountains/canyons where the drop seems to go on forever. Again, I liked it. But would have been better if the water was clearer.
The dive guides did bring us to more shallow spots for the macro photography. But with 20 divers crowding around a small area, it felt like being in a shopping mall on Christmas Day eve, esp. for the night dives.
The water temperature was quite warm 32-26C; so warm in fact that I didn't bother wearing a wetsuit during some of the dives during the day. However, to avoid being stung by jelly fish, which were numerous at one particular site, you may want to wear a full suit. If we were going to a new site, I'd wear my full suit and if I didn't see any jelly fish, I'd just take it off for the subsequent dives. I often got by with just a rashy and a pair of swimming trunks.
There are also limestone caves and islands - we went to one sizable bat cave (filled with slippery bat dung) and the floor was covered with old and very large conical sea shells. There are also mangrove inlets where you can swim /snorkel in. Very pretty. But crocodiles are said to prowl the area. Didn't see one.
I took some photos - you can check them out here:
The Gentle Knight - The Call of the Kings: Raja Ampat
no password is required.
We dived 4 times a day. 2 in the morning (7am and 10am). One in the afternoon 3pm. And one at 6pm. 6 days of diving. 24 dives. I didn't miss a single one. And every night I slept soundly.
Then what do you know? I got a call a few weeks later - one of their divers had abruptly cancelled last minute - and I was asked whether I could fill his spot (and help pay his share, discounted).
Initially I turned it down because I was busy at the time and it was too weird and sudden. I was asked on Saturday, and the trip was leaving next Thursday. (I also had to book my flight to Jakarta and the organizer had to try and arrange the connecting flight to Sorong which was very iffy; the airline also refused to replace the cancelled passenger with my name).
But the project that I was working on got suddenly put on hold - so with nothing to do - I decided to go to Raja Ampat.
(Meanwhile, the organizer managed to arrange for another ticket for me to fly to Sorong)
Besides they offered me a discount. It cost AUD$1700 for a week of scuba diving 24 dives - including food/accomodation etc.. (Flight was separate but the Sorong flight was not cheap)
I knew some of the divers - but the rest were strangers to me. But in the end, I ended up spending most of the time alone on the top deck - I didn't want to watch TV, smoke, or drink in the dinning room lounge.
I just wanted to spend all my time on the top deck or mast staring at the beautiful blue sea with that gorgeous cloud formations and, at night, the endless starry heavens. In my normal day outside of scuba diving, I see four walls, computer screens, TVs, etc.. I didn't see the point in spending my time at Raja Ampat doing the same thing, not when the natural scenery was that awesome.
We were on the Sea Safari 8. This is it.
Bali Cruises Sea Safari - Sunset Dinner, Charter Vessels, Day Cruise
I liked it. Its a large wooden sailing boat. But they rely on their diesel engines now to run the ship. It wasn't too noisy but the rattle of the anchor being hoisted up woke me up at daybreak, 5.00 - 6am. Actually I didn't mind it because diving began at 7am. So it was an unusual wakeup.
Overall the crew were good. The Indonesian captain, dive guides - the technician who did our air tanks were fabulous. Sometime went wrong with my (own old) regulator and he took the time to fix and tune it for me. However some of the boat boys were rather clueless and sat around staring at the dive team fumble with their gear.
However, the place had cockroaches. Initially there weren't any to be seen. But midway through our journey, and esp. on the last few days, they were crawling all over the dining area. I had to open the Medical cabinet near the kitchen to grab a bandage and bugger me, there were a dozen of the brown bugs in there.
But hey! I'm an optimist - I didn't see any rats or mice. And the cockroaches kept mainly to the dining room kitchen area and not the sleeping quarters.
Food wise was ok. The cooks knew their stuff. The fish meals were rather tough though. And there was plenty of fresh fruit, mainly watermelon and papaya. My IBS problems were totally cured! Scuba Diving + fresh tropical food + no fried/oily food (which caused reflux during the dive) solved all my stomach aliments and helped me lose weight too!!!
All the rooms had ensuite bathrooms. I was given the end bedroom near the engine which had double bunk beds. I liked it. It wasn't too noisy and I had extra space. One bed for me. One for my equipment. And I also get the bathroom all to myself. (No cockroaches in the bedroom, well, maybe 1 or 2). I took photos of the room which you can see here:
The Gentle Knight - The Call of the Kings: Raja Ampat
OK! I found the diving to be excellent. Superb. AMAZING. Maybe its because we had a very experienced Dive Guide leader (there were 3), his name was Seno. He got us to all the great diving spots.
We saw manta rays, sharks (esp the funny "woe be gone"
wobbegong shark. and tons and tons of marine fish. Right on that first dive, the whole sea seemed covered with this massive school of red fins. On subsequent dives, esp. near Sorong, the fish life was less however - and there was one or two dives where we saw massive amounts of corals, including the gorgonian fans where there were few fish.I didn't like the 2nd day of diving near one of the islands near Sorong. The water was very murky - like the waters off Manado. But the further we got from the main port, the better the diving was.
I particularly loved the dives at Misool Islands, Boo, and at Airborei, Manta Ridge where we saw the big huge Manta Rays, majestic winged creatures, who came on cue like actors on a stage. They came on our flanks, circled around the cleaning station then either swam off or went to the opposite side of where they entered. The area was filled with such amazing natural pristine beauty. There were underwater caverns the size of (small) cathedrals. Sunlight streamed down from some gaps in the limestone bathing the caverns in a blue surreal glow. We even saw dolphins but they were shy and kept their distance but I swear they were following us when we went diving.
I took a video of the Manta Rays. You can see it on Youtube if you like.
‪Manta Ridge, Raja Ampat, West Papua‬‏ - YouTube
Unfortunately the visibility was bit murky at times on account of the storms. But not so bad. I think it got to around 10m.
Apparently in the Northern Islands near Sorong there are WW2 plane wrecks including a Thunderbolt fighter plane? which is intact. The Kodak gun camera is still attached. I didn't see it but one of the Indonesian divers told me about it.
We did a fair bit of deep sea diving - where we would hover above undersea mountains/canyons where the drop seems to go on forever. Again, I liked it. But would have been better if the water was clearer.
The dive guides did bring us to more shallow spots for the macro photography. But with 20 divers crowding around a small area, it felt like being in a shopping mall on Christmas Day eve, esp. for the night dives.
The water temperature was quite warm 32-26C; so warm in fact that I didn't bother wearing a wetsuit during some of the dives during the day. However, to avoid being stung by jelly fish, which were numerous at one particular site, you may want to wear a full suit. If we were going to a new site, I'd wear my full suit and if I didn't see any jelly fish, I'd just take it off for the subsequent dives. I often got by with just a rashy and a pair of swimming trunks.
There are also limestone caves and islands - we went to one sizable bat cave (filled with slippery bat dung) and the floor was covered with old and very large conical sea shells. There are also mangrove inlets where you can swim /snorkel in. Very pretty. But crocodiles are said to prowl the area. Didn't see one.
I took some photos - you can check them out here:
The Gentle Knight - The Call of the Kings: Raja Ampat
no password is required.
We dived 4 times a day. 2 in the morning (7am and 10am). One in the afternoon 3pm. And one at 6pm. 6 days of diving. 24 dives. I didn't miss a single one. And every night I slept soundly.
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