ArizonaSusana
Registered
When I read scuba diving trip reports I like some context regarding the other travel diving experiences the author has had. This allows me to determine if the places described are ones I would also enjoy. My husband (dive buddy) and I are physically fit older divers (81 and 71 respectively) who enjoy warm water diving on coral reefs with the occasional muck dive as well. We have been diving for 18 years and have just over 1400 dives each. We take a couple of scuba diving trips a year and rarely travel with groups. Ultimate Dive Travel (www.ultimatedivetravel.com) arranges our trips and we are very pleased with their service. We have been to most of the Caribbean as well as Palau, Yap, Chuuk (Truk Lagoon), Thailand (Andaman Sea), Philippines (Moalboal, Dumaguete), and Indonesia (North Sulawesi, Bunaken, Lembeh, Raja Ampat, Ambon, Banda Sea). This trip, among the best we have ever taken, was a month-long adventure to Raja Ampat and the Forgotten Islands in the southern Banda Sea.
Comment about excess baggage fees. We try to travel light but do like to take our own scuba gear and my husband’s camera gear takes up most of both of our carry-ons. So, we each had a dive bag (circa 18 kg, 40 lb. each) and one bag for clothes, toiletries, etc. (circa 15 kg, 33 lb.); no problem for international portions of the trip. Domestic airlines in Indonesia have a 20-22 kg per passenger policy BUT Garuda Airlines waives excess baggage fees for scuba divers. Only one of our domestic flights was on Lion air where we were charged 338,000 Rupiah ($22.24 USD) for our 14 kg (30.8 lb.) of excess weight.
Travel to Raja Ampat from our home in Phoenix, AZ took a few days. We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco on Friday afternoon, spent the night near the airport and took the Saturday morning Singapore Air direct flight from SFO to Singapore. We arrived in Singapore Sunday late afternoon and spent the night in the Changi Airport Ambassador Transit Hotel (very quiet, clean, and comfortable). Our flight to Manado was mid-morning on Monday – meaning we arrived too late in the day to connect with a flight to Sorong. We spent the night in Manado at the Novatel Manado Golf Resort & Convention Center quite near the airport. This hotel has beautiful grounds, nice rooms, and very good food. The staff is friendly and helpful. We took a Tuesday morning flight to Sorong where we were met by the Papua Paradise Eco Resort representative Romi. He took us to the Hotel Belagri where we had lunch (food was good, hotel looked okay) and waited until it was time to take the boat to the resort. The resort is on Birie Island about an hour or so boat ride from Sorong. Romi also met us at the end of our trip and, once again, we spent a couple of hours at the Belagri; much nicer than being dropped at the airport hours before a flight.
Papua Paradise Eco Resort (www.papuaparadise.com) was an amazing awesome, wonderful experience! All 26 bungalows, as well as the restaurant, bar, office, spa, and all common areas, except the dive shop, are built over the water. One morning we saw 17 juvenile black tip sharks, as well as juvenile stingrays and other fishes, as we walked down the boardwalk from our room. The bush (jungle) comes right up to the water’s edge and amazing jungle sounds (mostly exotic, to us, birds) were a wonderful backdrop for our entire stay (the bush is not quiet).
All meals were served buffet style in a lovely dining area over the water. Food was excellent with both western and Asian choices. I particularly liked the fish options and was very pleased with the various soups and salads. The bar was well-stocked and the bartenders (Rio and Chris) made excellent mixed drinks – I think their mojito (they grow their own mint) was my favorite. The bar was located near the restaurant in a large area with various seating arrangements, fish identification books, a library of books left by previous guests, and access to wi-fi. This was a very comfortable place to relax and chat with the other guests. The resort was full while we were there, but it never felt crowded.
The bungalows were large, clean, and comfortable. Each bungalow has a deck facing the ocean with lounges and chairs. There was eco-friendly insect repellent and mosquito netting for the bed and sitting area. We were not bothered by mosquitos (I only saw one) or other bugs but did note that the insectivore birds were active all day long – and into the night. The Willie Wagtails were often vociferous as they swooped around.
We went for the diving and were able to do 29 dives during our 11-night stay. With 8 boats and quite a few guides, they were able to keep the maximum number of divers to a guide at four, but most of the time there were just two of us with our guide, Rhevqi. He was able to customize each dive for us and our preferences. Morning dives were 2-tanks and generally about 20-30 minutes from the resort. Surface intervals were at isolated beaches or village piers and included coffee, tea, baked doughnuts, and fruit. We were welcome to wander around the villages. All-day (3-tank) dives were also available to sites that were further away. These included lunch – which was large and delicious.
Birie Island is located just off Batanta Island (one of the “four kings” of Raja Ampat). Every dive featured the various critters for which Raja Ampat is famous – woebegone sharks, manta rays, healthy soft and hard corals, and large schools of fish. Dives were about 60 minutes in length and rarely deeper than 75 feet. Almost every dive had beautiful coral in shallow (20 feet or less) water to end the dive. Our visit was in late October and we had stellar conditions – good visibility, flat seas, and warm water (82-84° F).
Our last evening, we took the hornbill cruise. This was a short boat ride around the island with binoculars and a guide for bird watching – we saw herons, an eagle, a white cockatoo, and 101 hornbills coming in from various island to roost (we didn’t count them, Julens, our guide did). Another bird watching trip to see the Wilson’s Bird of Paradise (very rare) was also available but it required missing the morning dives (I do like fish watching more than bird watching) and a walk through the jungle so we didn’t go. Guests who did go thought the trip was worth it.
Papua Paradise Eco Resort is in a fantastic location and I love their focus on caring for their environment, but what makes it special is the staff. Everyone was friendly, helpful, and service-oriented. We were sad to leave. We transitioned to Ambon for the second half of our trip – with flights from Sorong to Makassar and Makassar to Ambon. In order to do this, we had to spend the night in Makassar. We stayed at the Novatel Makassar Grand Shayla, a new and very beautiful hotel with excellent staff.
For the second half of our trip we joined a charter on the Damai I organized by Jack Connick owner of Optical Ocean Sales (an underwater camera store in Seattle, WA). We boarded the Damai in Ambon and traveled about 800 nautical miles (920 miles) around the edge of the Banda Sea to Alor and then Maumere where we disembarked for our flight home, which only included 1 overnight (FM7 Hotel near the Jakarta Airport – good hotel for Jakarta overnight).
To read about the Forgotten Islands, please see part 2 of this trip report.
Comment about excess baggage fees. We try to travel light but do like to take our own scuba gear and my husband’s camera gear takes up most of both of our carry-ons. So, we each had a dive bag (circa 18 kg, 40 lb. each) and one bag for clothes, toiletries, etc. (circa 15 kg, 33 lb.); no problem for international portions of the trip. Domestic airlines in Indonesia have a 20-22 kg per passenger policy BUT Garuda Airlines waives excess baggage fees for scuba divers. Only one of our domestic flights was on Lion air where we were charged 338,000 Rupiah ($22.24 USD) for our 14 kg (30.8 lb.) of excess weight.
Travel to Raja Ampat from our home in Phoenix, AZ took a few days. We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco on Friday afternoon, spent the night near the airport and took the Saturday morning Singapore Air direct flight from SFO to Singapore. We arrived in Singapore Sunday late afternoon and spent the night in the Changi Airport Ambassador Transit Hotel (very quiet, clean, and comfortable). Our flight to Manado was mid-morning on Monday – meaning we arrived too late in the day to connect with a flight to Sorong. We spent the night in Manado at the Novatel Manado Golf Resort & Convention Center quite near the airport. This hotel has beautiful grounds, nice rooms, and very good food. The staff is friendly and helpful. We took a Tuesday morning flight to Sorong where we were met by the Papua Paradise Eco Resort representative Romi. He took us to the Hotel Belagri where we had lunch (food was good, hotel looked okay) and waited until it was time to take the boat to the resort. The resort is on Birie Island about an hour or so boat ride from Sorong. Romi also met us at the end of our trip and, once again, we spent a couple of hours at the Belagri; much nicer than being dropped at the airport hours before a flight.
Papua Paradise Eco Resort (www.papuaparadise.com) was an amazing awesome, wonderful experience! All 26 bungalows, as well as the restaurant, bar, office, spa, and all common areas, except the dive shop, are built over the water. One morning we saw 17 juvenile black tip sharks, as well as juvenile stingrays and other fishes, as we walked down the boardwalk from our room. The bush (jungle) comes right up to the water’s edge and amazing jungle sounds (mostly exotic, to us, birds) were a wonderful backdrop for our entire stay (the bush is not quiet).
All meals were served buffet style in a lovely dining area over the water. Food was excellent with both western and Asian choices. I particularly liked the fish options and was very pleased with the various soups and salads. The bar was well-stocked and the bartenders (Rio and Chris) made excellent mixed drinks – I think their mojito (they grow their own mint) was my favorite. The bar was located near the restaurant in a large area with various seating arrangements, fish identification books, a library of books left by previous guests, and access to wi-fi. This was a very comfortable place to relax and chat with the other guests. The resort was full while we were there, but it never felt crowded.
The bungalows were large, clean, and comfortable. Each bungalow has a deck facing the ocean with lounges and chairs. There was eco-friendly insect repellent and mosquito netting for the bed and sitting area. We were not bothered by mosquitos (I only saw one) or other bugs but did note that the insectivore birds were active all day long – and into the night. The Willie Wagtails were often vociferous as they swooped around.
We went for the diving and were able to do 29 dives during our 11-night stay. With 8 boats and quite a few guides, they were able to keep the maximum number of divers to a guide at four, but most of the time there were just two of us with our guide, Rhevqi. He was able to customize each dive for us and our preferences. Morning dives were 2-tanks and generally about 20-30 minutes from the resort. Surface intervals were at isolated beaches or village piers and included coffee, tea, baked doughnuts, and fruit. We were welcome to wander around the villages. All-day (3-tank) dives were also available to sites that were further away. These included lunch – which was large and delicious.
Birie Island is located just off Batanta Island (one of the “four kings” of Raja Ampat). Every dive featured the various critters for which Raja Ampat is famous – woebegone sharks, manta rays, healthy soft and hard corals, and large schools of fish. Dives were about 60 minutes in length and rarely deeper than 75 feet. Almost every dive had beautiful coral in shallow (20 feet or less) water to end the dive. Our visit was in late October and we had stellar conditions – good visibility, flat seas, and warm water (82-84° F).
Our last evening, we took the hornbill cruise. This was a short boat ride around the island with binoculars and a guide for bird watching – we saw herons, an eagle, a white cockatoo, and 101 hornbills coming in from various island to roost (we didn’t count them, Julens, our guide did). Another bird watching trip to see the Wilson’s Bird of Paradise (very rare) was also available but it required missing the morning dives (I do like fish watching more than bird watching) and a walk through the jungle so we didn’t go. Guests who did go thought the trip was worth it.
Papua Paradise Eco Resort is in a fantastic location and I love their focus on caring for their environment, but what makes it special is the staff. Everyone was friendly, helpful, and service-oriented. We were sad to leave. We transitioned to Ambon for the second half of our trip – with flights from Sorong to Makassar and Makassar to Ambon. In order to do this, we had to spend the night in Makassar. We stayed at the Novatel Makassar Grand Shayla, a new and very beautiful hotel with excellent staff.
For the second half of our trip we joined a charter on the Damai I organized by Jack Connick owner of Optical Ocean Sales (an underwater camera store in Seattle, WA). We boarded the Damai in Ambon and traveled about 800 nautical miles (920 miles) around the edge of the Banda Sea to Alor and then Maumere where we disembarked for our flight home, which only included 1 overnight (FM7 Hotel near the Jakarta Airport – good hotel for Jakarta overnight).
To read about the Forgotten Islands, please see part 2 of this trip report.
