Raja Ampat

[PAShark]

Four of us want to go to Raga Ampat next May or June. We're all over 60 but range from experienced to expert divers. We've been on the Pelagian which was great. We were on a liveaboard in the Maldives; the ship was great but the diving wasn't. We're all photographers and there was too much fast drift diving in the Maldives to take many pics. I'm looking for suggestions about were to go and how to go in Raja Ampat. A land resort has more flexibility in that you can dive when you want and as many times as you want. A liveaboard obviously gives you a greater variety of places to see. I should mention that we've all dived in Bali, Tasik Ria and Lembah. So, suggestions?

 

[scorpiofish]

First you need to find a boat you like that has four openings. Despite good reviews, I would recommend a live-aboard over the land based resorts in Raja. I've been on the Pelagian plus four other live-aboards in Raja. Of the 40 or so boats plying the waters of Raja Ampat, there are less than 10 that would be in the same category as the Pelagian. I'm not a huge Pelagian fan anyway.

If you don't use an agent, you will need to go to each boat's website and see if there is availability. Many only do full charters, but you can contact them and they will let you know if the party that charter holder (often a travel agent or dive shop) has openings. The boats usually help out the charterers in this manner. It will take some work. Every high end boat will likely be full by now for next May. There are no boats in Raja in June due the windy season. If there are, it's still an iffy proposition. You might want to consider booking for April/May of 2014. Some of the land based ops stay open, but again it is iffy that time of year.

High end boats:

1. Arenui (my fav)
2. The Seven Seas.
3. Damai I or II
4. dewi nusantara
5. Amira
6. Waow
7. Pindito (not luxurious, but solid boat)

Again, most have moved from Raja by May. If they are still around in May, they have often begun the transition to Komodo or North Sulawesi, so you need to look at fall or spring of 2014.

Getting there is easy. From WA you can fly from Seattle to Bali on several airlines such as Korean, EVA, China Airlines (I think). From Bali, your boat will make flight arrangements and get you the tickets.

Did I mention I love the Arenui.

I just looked up a trip list by a travel list 2013 Scuba Diving Charters - Liveaboard Adventures

She has a Damai trip in May that starts in Sorong.

 

[Darnold9999]

scorpiofish said pretty much what I would say. I prefer Damai over Arenui because of the low number of divers on the boat, but that is a marginal preference. With 4 divers you would be half the boat and given the level of service on the boat you could pretty much do what you wanted in terms of diving. Good luck finding a spot this year however.

Three ways to get there I am aware of. Seattle - Singapore then Silk Air to Monado and then a local Indonesian carrier to Sorong. Seattle - Jakarta then local to Sorong. Seattle - Denpasar then local to Sorong.

It is virtually impossible to book the local Indonesian flights from outside of the country so typically the boats will arrange that portion of the trip for you once you have the international flight arranged.

 

[DiveExploreIndonesia]

Yes it is true when you say that a dive resort is more flexible in organization , and if you are 4 friends , all photographers, the resort might even be able to organize a dive boat for you only so you can chose the dive sites according to your wishes….May/June is time when the live aboards are moving ( some even start earlier ) from Raja Ampat to Komodo so my suggestion is not to go too late if you want to profit from the optimum condition . Raja 4 divers, Sorido bay are quite flexible regarding the dive organization not sure about Kri as it is more busy.

 

[scorpiofish]

With 4 divers you would be half the boat and given the level of service on the boat you could pretty much do what you wanted in terms of diving.

This is no longer the case. The rooms have been reconfigured. There will be up to 12 divers when you add trip leaders.

 

[Liveaboard Adventures]

Scorpiofish thank you for sharing our the link to our group trips! PAShark we have actually changed our May 2013 trips to be Cenderawasih Bay/Raja Ampat trips. After our latest trip to visit the whale sharks of Cenderawasih Bay in September we decided to go back again. We have space available for 4 on either our May 10-22, 2013 or May 23-June 04, 2013 trips, but they're going fast! You can see a video and photos of our last trip to this area by clicking on either of these links (http://www.liveaboardadventures.com/wordpress/cenderawasih-bay-2012/ AND Cenderawasih Bay 2012 - Liveaboard Adventures) and email us if you have questions at info@liveaboardadventures.com.

 

[jbb]

Three ways to get there I am aware of. Seattle - Singapore then Silk Air to Monado and then a local Indonesian carrier to Sorong. Seattle - Jakarta then local to Sorong. Seattle - Denpasar then local to Sorong.

It is virtually impossible to book the local Indonesian flights from outside of the country so typically the boats will arrange that portion of the trip for you once you have the international flight arranged.

I am trying to plan a trip to Raja Ampat and Lembeh. From Seattle I was planning to fly to Bali then Manado then Sorong to dive Raja aboard a Grand Komodo boat then return to Manado and dive Lembeh. I looked at the boats you that were listed above and I just don't have the high end budget for this trip. I am also traveling alone. Is it advisable to arrive in Sorong a day early? I've heard it isn't the best of towns. I would probably return back to Bali 1-2 days before my flight to do a little sight seeing. It seems like a lot of people go thru Singapore but i'm not sure of the reasoning. All this in early March are the conditions good then or should I try for later in the season? thanks in advance.

 

[highdesert]

All this in early March are the conditions good then or should I try for later in the season?

In late February/early March, we had one day of wind and waves, 10 days of nearly glassy calm. Lots of sun.

 

[Heg]

Scorpiofish thank you for sharing our the link to our group trips! PAShark we have actually changed our May 2013 trips to be Cenderawasih Bay/Raja Ampat trips. After our latest trip to visit the whale sharks of Cenderawasih Bay in September we decided to go back again. We have space available for 4 on either our May 10-22, 2013 or May 23-June 04, 2013 trips, but they're going fast! You can see a video and photos of our last trip to this area by clicking on either of these links (http://www.liveaboardadventures.com/wordpress/cenderawasih-bay-2012/ AND Cenderawasih Bay 2012 - Liveaboard Adventures) and email us if you have questions at info@liveaboardadventures.com.

Hi
What is the itinerary for this trip? Are you just diving in Cenderawasih Bay?