Trip Report - Misool Eco Resort

[Laval]

Interesting report and nice video.


Tends to be the way in that part of the world, so I wonder why you didn't have any?

4.5 hours travel by boat is a long trip, fine if the weather is good but a rough journey wouldn't be much fun in a small boat.

My credit card blocked cash withdrowal because of the security concerns; but, in any case, this is not what I expected from a luxury resort. In comparison, on our last trip to Sorido Bay Resort, at Sorong they took us to a hotel and gave us a free breakfast while we were waiting for a boat.

 

[Laval]

Last day is pretty much always a write-off anyway because of no-fly limits (and flights out of Sorong are usually fairly early in the morning). I'd rather relax in the resort during no-fly then sticking it out in Sorong. Maybe you can do a dive or two in the morning after you have checked out ?

Diving was not an option on the departure day. Plus you would have your wetsuit and BCD wet.

 

[Laval]

Interesting... which sites didn't you like?

For example, the following sites I rated as 3 stars: House Reef, Boo West, Sixth Sense, Salat 3
The best were Whale Rock, Jolotia, Tank Rock, Magic Mountain, Nudi Rock
I should note, that the above rating is personal and time-specific, and, as you know, dive conditions could change dramatically from date to date, and time of the day.

 

[Laval]

I would much rather overnight where my International flight will be departing. Too much can go wrong with flights out of Sorong. This would probably add on another overnight in Jakarta or Bali for those of us that have to fly back to the States or such. That and it's So-Wrong ...

I agree that I would rather get out of Sorong as soon as possible. In our case, with arriving to Sorong so late, we had to stay a night in Sorong (paid by resort) and another night in Jakarta because of flight connections.

During our last trip to Sorido Bay Resort, because they are only 1.5 - 2 hrs away from Sorong, we had a good last night at the resort, took a 1.5-hr boat ride to Sorong after breakfast, got to the airport by 11 am, and took a 14:50 flight from Sorong to Jakarta.

 

[Cali_diver]

I kind of know what you mean... we just did a liveaboard in Raja (my sixth time to Raja) and the boat spent more time in Misool than past previous trips to avoid crowds. Which is why I usually really love LOBs, because they move to other areas. Changing times... with more and more boats showing up in Raja.

 

[Laval]

I agree about LOB, but my wife does not dive, so accommodations and grounds are important consideration for us.
My recollection that at Misool they followed the schedule and did not change it much based on conditions.
With Papua Diving (Sorido Bay Resort), they were very flexible and changed sites quite often depending on conditions. If there was no current (meaning not much fish), we would move to another site. A few times (at a remote site) we were waiting for current for several hours just to be sure that mantas would arrive (and it was spectacular!)

 

[billt4sf]

I have been to Misool three times and Sorido Bay twice, and on Mermaid I & II a few times. Not to disagree with anything that Lavar or anyone else has said, but here is my take on the comparison:

Misool:
Fantastic location with that lagoon right there and great snorkeling / paddling
Fantastic environmental awareness and commitment
Less currenty sites and therefore GREAT for divers that want that
GREAT place to relax, take days off, etc.
Good to great diving -- magic Mountain is a great site - one thing that keeps it great is that they limit the number & time of divers, thus the mantas get their own time there, too.
Misool resort has first dibs on Magic Mountain. They can (and sometimes do) prioritize themselves over LOBs if their guests want to repeat MM


Sorido Bay:
Has more currenty sites, as they are in Dampier Strait
At the same time, the DMs really are hesitant to take divers to currenty sites including (and especially) Cape Kri. Been there twice and had a really hard time getting them to take us there when the currents are running. Seems like the DMs just are not comfortable with it. Other sites same result -- they want to go at slack tide or on the lee side only. (And we asked, multiple times, on both visits, to go to high-current sites).
No diving on Saturdays. Internet often off on Saturdays, too (SURPRISE!)
A forced day off on Sat means that if you arrive on a Thursday, (one of two days you can arrive, the other is Sunday) you will have ONE day of diving, then a forced day off.
An 11 days trip arriving on Thursday, leaving Sunday 11 days later, means 7 days of diving.
Good internet in the cottages (except Saturdays)
Many of the "guests" you will meet at Sorido are actually there to do work on Max Ammer's airplane projects, not for diving. It seems that many come from various Christian communities. There were a few days there in our last trip where no one except Emily and I spoke English at dinner.

Mermaid I & II:
More willing to take us to currenty sites, in fact they often do, and DMs seem more comfortable with them, esp. MM I
More Western-style food which suits my tastes
Great staff and more English is spoken by the staff on MM I or II that at Sorido or Misool (Sorido is espec bad for staff English in my experience)
MM I is better than MMII in a couple ways. Choose MM I if you can.


Personally if / when we return to the area we would choose (1) Mermaid I, (2) Mermaid 2, (3) other resorts, maybe Raja Ampat Dive Lodge as Luko keeps telling us, (4) Misool, (5) Sorido Bay.

TBH, the religious thing at Sorido left a bad taste in my mouth from this last visit. YMMV.

Hope this helps.

- Bill & Emily

 

[Dan]

@Laval thanks for posting the trip report. I've been to Raja Ampat seven times, including Misool four times and in Misool Eco Resort one time. Never been to Sorindo Bay Resort (SBR). Your comment makes me want to check it out someday.

Thanks to @billt4sf for the no diving on Saturday in SBR. If I ever want to go there, I'll make sure to come on Sunday & leave on Saturday.

 

[Laval]

I have been to Misool three times and Sorido Bay twice, and on Mermaid I & II a few times. Not to disagree with anything that Lavar or anyone else has said, but here is my take on the comparison:

Misool:
Fantastic location with that lagoon right there and great snorkeling / paddling
Fantastic environmental awareness and commitment
Less currenty sites and therefore GREAT for divers that want that
GREAT place to relax, take days off, etc.
Good to great diving -- magic Mountain is a great site - one thing that keeps it great is that they limit the number & time of divers, thus the mantas get their own time there, too.
Misool resort has first dibs on Magic Mountain. They can (and sometimes do) prioritize themselves over LOBs if their guests want to repeat MM


Sorido Bay:
Has more currenty sites, as they are in Dampier Strait
At the same time, the DMs really are hesitant to take divers to currenty sites including (and especially) Cape Kri. Been there twice and had a really hard time getting them to take us there when the currents are running. Seems like the DMs just are not comfortable with it. Other sites same result -- they want to go at slack tide or on the lee side only. (And we asked, multiple times, on both visits, to go to high-current sites).
No diving on Saturdays. Internet often off on Saturdays, too (SURPRISE!)
A forced day off on Sat means that if you arrive on a Thursday, (one of two days you can arrive, the other is Sunday) you will have ONE day of diving, then a forced day off.
An 11 days trip arriving on Thursday, leaving Sunday 11 days later, means 7 days of diving.
Good internet in the cottages (except Saturdays)
Many of the "guests" you will meet at Sorido are actually there to do work on Max Ammer's airplane projects, not for diving. It seems that many come from various Christian communities. There were a few days there in our last trip where no one except Emily and I spoke English at dinner.

Mermaid I & II:
More willing to take us to currenty sites, in fact they often do, and DMs seem more comfortable with them, esp. MM I
More Western-style food which suits my tastes
Great staff and more English is spoken by the staff on MM I or II that at Sorido or Misool (Sorido is espec bad for staff English in my experience)
MM I is better than MMII in a couple ways. Choose MM I if you can.


Personally if / when we return to the area we would choose (1) Mermaid I, (2) Mermaid 2, (3) other resorts, maybe Raja Ampat Dive Lodge as Luko keeps telling us, (4) Misool, (5) Sorido Bay.

TBH, the religious thing at Sorido left a bad taste in my mouth from this last visit. YMMV.

Hope this helps.

- Bill & Emily

Bill, thank you for your tips about Raja Ampat Dive Lodge and M1. I will check them out.

During our 18-day stay last December, there was no 'religious thing' at all, except of a very short mentioning of God during the Christmas celebration. Also, because of our fairly long stay over there, we were with three different groups of people. Most people were from US, Switzerland, Swiden and Australia. In one group there was a couple from Thailand and in another group - 4 people from Hong Kong. All people were very nice and we have not noticed ay religious affiliations.

You made a good point about no dives on Saturdays. At the same time, they offer night dives on Saturdays. In addition, you could dive at the house reef, if you have a buddy, but they charge full price for these dives, which I found strange.

 

[Laval]

I have been to Misool three times and Sorido Bay twice, and on Mermaid I & II a few times. Not to disagree with anything that Lavar or anyone else has said, but here is my take on the comparison:

Misool:
Fantastic location with that lagoon right there and great snorkeling / paddling
Fantastic environmental awareness and commitment
Less currenty sites and therefore GREAT for divers that want that
GREAT place to relax, take days off, etc.
Good to great diving -- magic Mountain is a great site - one thing that keeps it great is that they limit the number & time of divers, thus the mantas get their own time there, too.
Misool resort has first dibs on Magic Mountain. They can (and sometimes do) prioritize themselves over LOBs if their guests want to repeat MM


Sorido Bay:
Has more currenty sites, as they are in Dampier Strait
At the same time, the DMs really are hesitant to take divers to currenty sites including (and especially) Cape Kri. Been there twice and had a really hard time getting them to take us there when the currents are running. Seems like the DMs just are not comfortable with it. Other sites same result -- they want to go at slack tide or on the lee side only. (And we asked, multiple times, on both visits, to go to high-current sites).
No diving on Saturdays. Internet often off on Saturdays, too (SURPRISE!)
A forced day off on Sat means that if you arrive on a Thursday, (one of two days you can arrive, the other is Sunday) you will have ONE day of diving, then a forced day off.
An 11 days trip arriving on Thursday, leaving Sunday 11 days later, means 7 days of diving.
Good internet in the cottages (except Saturdays)
Many of the "guests" you will meet at Sorido are actually there to do work on Max Ammer's airplane projects, not for diving. It seems that many come from various Christian communities. There were a few days there in our last trip where no one except Emily and I spoke English at dinner.

Mermaid I & II:
More willing to take us to currenty sites, in fact they often do, and DMs seem more comfortable with them, esp. MM I
More Western-style food which suits my tastes
Great staff and more English is spoken by the staff on MM I or II that at Sorido or Misool (Sorido is espec bad for staff English in my experience)
MM I is better than MMII in a couple ways. Choose MM I if you can.


Personally if / when we return to the area we would choose (1) Mermaid I, (2) Mermaid 2, (3) other resorts, maybe Raja Ampat Dive Lodge as Luko keeps telling us, (4) Misool, (5) Sorido Bay.

TBH, the religious thing at Sorido left a bad taste in my mouth from this last visit. YMMV.

Hope this helps.

- Bill & Emily

It was strange to hear that DMs avoided currents on your dives. Could it be because some divers in your group were not experienced enough?
In our case, DMs were always looking for currents, which sometimes were very strong, especially at the end of dives.