I hope it is not too late but just saw your request about this.
I did this dive safari with Scuba Republic last January (2023). I'd been to Raja Ampat (Gam) 3 weeks in total before that trip, so I knew how nice diving Dampier straight is. I had booked a Jaya LoB in April 2019 which was canceled due to COVID and my January 2023 safari trip was the only option for the days I wanted (Jaya was fully booked) to use the voucer I was given.
Good things about the safari:
- You see/dive more areas than land based (eg sites near Pyainemo like Melissa's garden etc)
- You don't have to worry about moving from island to island, homestay to homestay as you would do if you had arranged a similar itinerary by yourself
- Flexible schedule
- You see parts of local culture (stay in villages etc)
Things I didn't like:
- The boat we used last year was not fit for this kind of trip. Zero protection from the elements and zero comfort while the route is kind of long. This for several days (I think our trip was 5N/6D or so) became too much discomfort for all of us. Their "good" boat is grounded, rotting in the jungle next to their base camp near Waisai.
- Too small compressor for the trip. We were 5 divers on board (4 customers, 1 guide) planning to do 3 dives a day. That's 15 AL80 tanks to be filled daily (or actually overnight). The compressor developed some issues at some point and we had to delay some dives. Luckily we were near Arborek so we finally filled the tanks there for the day and next day another compressor came (I think from Epica that just happened to finish her trip on that day).
- To match the money we had paid for Jaya we stayed few more days for diving to their base camp. Their boat there was even worst. It is a huge boat, with very small engine, hence very slow. They tend to dive only the nearby sites (to save time/fuel). We had to ask them to dive Blue Magic and Kri (which they did for our last day) but still having to request these sites while you are supposed to dive Dampier Straight for days is strange.
So overall for the safari it was nice diving remote sites that I couldn’t dive in my previous visits, but next time I will definitely prefer a proper LoB (even a budget one) over it.
I hope these help
