UW photo in Raja Ampat
- Thread starter Vigfus
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
bvanant
Contributor
Raja is a big place but there are probably 10 liveaboards that go there at least part of the year. The diving is quite good, check out
http://www.blueviews.net/assets/videos/indo10_mantastopygmies_640x360.mov
for some more video from Raja. I don't know the best times but the liveaboards certainly do. Pricing is not cheap but the diving is fantastic.
Bill
http://www.blueviews.net/assets/videos/indo10_mantastopygmies_640x360.mov
for some more video from Raja. I don't know the best times but the liveaboards certainly do. Pricing is not cheap but the diving is fantastic.
Bill
I posted this reply on the other forum too...
For the past 12 years I've done both still photography and video in Raja Ampat. It is the place where one can come home with the most variety of images/footage in one single trip.
I run small group trips targeted at photos & video with a lot of freedom for our guests. Unlimited dive times, the option to get out and back in, multiple dives on the same sites, etc. We separate the 12 divers into groups of 3 or 4 to eliminate B&B (butts and bubbles) in wide angle scenes.
-----------------
Raja Ampat is fabulous for video and for still photography too. I'm making my 30 something trip with a small group there this Oct/Nov. To be honest I've lost count of how many trips I've made since '99. I've dived all over Indonesia and Raja Ampat is by far my favorite.
Where Raja Ampat excels is in variety. It's the best area for colorful corals and fishes, the density, diversity is incredible. But there are wonderful critters. And great manta experiences too. Reefs, walls, piers, jetties, black sand muck critters, "vertical muck", mushroom shaped islands, swim throughs, caves..... it's all there along with beautiful topside scenery.
I've narrowed in on mid-October to mid-December as being the most likely time to have little rain or wind. Over the past 12 years, trips during that time period usually get 1/2 day of rain in the daytime during the trip and we've had only a couple of times when wind was a factor (chop makes it more difficult to load dive tenders and can make us alter plans).
There are of course, awesome dive sites and ordinary dive sites in Raja Ampat. Much of the awesome vs ordinariness depends on diving a site during best conditions for it (current, time of day, visibility). Diving the wrong side of the reef, when current is the wrong direction or strength, or hopping into the wrong area is why I believe some divers go there and don't think Raja Ampat is anything special.
But do note that Raja Ampat is not high-voltage shark diving.. don't expect Cocos or Galapagos if you go to Raja Ampat. Plus if you want only muck/macro there are better choices for that limited range of special critters.
Since 2004 I've chartered a liveaboard for my trips, before that we went land-based. I always line up my own team of cruise director and guides who have a lot of experience working in Raja Ampat. I usually hire them myself but sometimes the LOB owner helps with this arrangement . The crew on ships changes quite frequently and they often have inexperienced divemasters who don't know the area. I won't rely on them to support my trips, which are mostly full of very experienced and well traveled divers with many photographer / videographers. I choose the itinerary and sites based on the group aboard and could guide the dives myself (over 2000 dives in Raja Ampat now) but don't (well.. not generally).
In my opinion a Sorong-Sorong liveaboard trip of 11-14 days is the best. A round trip gives the group a chance to move around Raja Ampat based on conditions. If vis or currents aren't right in the north, the ship can go south and return later. If vis & current direction in the daytime is good in the north, we'd stay there and put off the macro dives until later. We can't always know the conditions exactly, but from the previous trip and conversing with others operating in the area, we can get a pretty good idea of where we need to go to get the best diving at the time.
On a round trip we can also, and do, stay at sites that are really hot. Often we stay the entire day and allow everyone to dive when and as much as they like. This is a real hit with photographers. I've literally had mantas flying over my head and a Flamboyant Cuttlefish under my elbow. Fortunately my video port allowed me to shoot both :>) And finished up the dive with scenes of a beautiful bommie covered in a cloud of golden sweepers with a stop for a Ponthoi Pygmy Seahorse on my way out. The photographers really loved a chance to go change their lens.
You can't do that on a one-way trip that has a schedule to keep. It seems like one would see more on a one-way cruise, but that isn't the case. A one-way covers more territory and has longer cruises.
Checking Dom's prices for LOB's (note other thread), I see that my $358/night price is comparable or on the low end of the LOB scale. This for cabins with ensuite bath, individual A/C, indoor dive deck and the following:
All the trips I offer are limited to 12 guest divers with from 2-4 extra guides hired in addition to the ship's standard crew. We have a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of guide per divers. Plus we usually manage 3 dives on departure day, 2-3 on the last day of the trip and offer 5 dives almost every other day. I've started calling them "Value Added" trips.
I have a few spaces still available this fall on one trip. Plus I just announced trips for 2012.
Raja Ampat Limited Participation Dive Trips
Go to Raja Ampat. It's worth it. You'll get amazing photos and/or video. The problem is you'll want to go back. I have people coming back on their 7th, 8th trips to Raja Ampat in as many years.
For the past 12 years I've done both still photography and video in Raja Ampat. It is the place where one can come home with the most variety of images/footage in one single trip.
I run small group trips targeted at photos & video with a lot of freedom for our guests. Unlimited dive times, the option to get out and back in, multiple dives on the same sites, etc. We separate the 12 divers into groups of 3 or 4 to eliminate B&B (butts and bubbles) in wide angle scenes.
-----------------
Raja Ampat is fabulous for video and for still photography too. I'm making my 30 something trip with a small group there this Oct/Nov. To be honest I've lost count of how many trips I've made since '99. I've dived all over Indonesia and Raja Ampat is by far my favorite.
Where Raja Ampat excels is in variety. It's the best area for colorful corals and fishes, the density, diversity is incredible. But there are wonderful critters. And great manta experiences too. Reefs, walls, piers, jetties, black sand muck critters, "vertical muck", mushroom shaped islands, swim throughs, caves..... it's all there along with beautiful topside scenery.
I've narrowed in on mid-October to mid-December as being the most likely time to have little rain or wind. Over the past 12 years, trips during that time period usually get 1/2 day of rain in the daytime during the trip and we've had only a couple of times when wind was a factor (chop makes it more difficult to load dive tenders and can make us alter plans).
There are of course, awesome dive sites and ordinary dive sites in Raja Ampat. Much of the awesome vs ordinariness depends on diving a site during best conditions for it (current, time of day, visibility). Diving the wrong side of the reef, when current is the wrong direction or strength, or hopping into the wrong area is why I believe some divers go there and don't think Raja Ampat is anything special.
But do note that Raja Ampat is not high-voltage shark diving.. don't expect Cocos or Galapagos if you go to Raja Ampat. Plus if you want only muck/macro there are better choices for that limited range of special critters.
Since 2004 I've chartered a liveaboard for my trips, before that we went land-based. I always line up my own team of cruise director and guides who have a lot of experience working in Raja Ampat. I usually hire them myself but sometimes the LOB owner helps with this arrangement . The crew on ships changes quite frequently and they often have inexperienced divemasters who don't know the area. I won't rely on them to support my trips, which are mostly full of very experienced and well traveled divers with many photographer / videographers. I choose the itinerary and sites based on the group aboard and could guide the dives myself (over 2000 dives in Raja Ampat now) but don't (well.. not generally).
In my opinion a Sorong-Sorong liveaboard trip of 11-14 days is the best. A round trip gives the group a chance to move around Raja Ampat based on conditions. If vis or currents aren't right in the north, the ship can go south and return later. If vis & current direction in the daytime is good in the north, we'd stay there and put off the macro dives until later. We can't always know the conditions exactly, but from the previous trip and conversing with others operating in the area, we can get a pretty good idea of where we need to go to get the best diving at the time.
On a round trip we can also, and do, stay at sites that are really hot. Often we stay the entire day and allow everyone to dive when and as much as they like. This is a real hit with photographers. I've literally had mantas flying over my head and a Flamboyant Cuttlefish under my elbow. Fortunately my video port allowed me to shoot both :>) And finished up the dive with scenes of a beautiful bommie covered in a cloud of golden sweepers with a stop for a Ponthoi Pygmy Seahorse on my way out. The photographers really loved a chance to go change their lens.
You can't do that on a one-way trip that has a schedule to keep. It seems like one would see more on a one-way cruise, but that isn't the case. A one-way covers more territory and has longer cruises.
Checking Dom's prices for LOB's (note other thread), I see that my $358/night price is comparable or on the low end of the LOB scale. This for cabins with ensuite bath, individual A/C, indoor dive deck and the following:
All the trips I offer are limited to 12 guest divers with from 2-4 extra guides hired in addition to the ship's standard crew. We have a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of guide per divers. Plus we usually manage 3 dives on departure day, 2-3 on the last day of the trip and offer 5 dives almost every other day. I've started calling them "Value Added" trips.
I have a few spaces still available this fall on one trip. Plus I just announced trips for 2012.
Raja Ampat Limited Participation Dive Trips
Go to Raja Ampat. It's worth it. You'll get amazing photos and/or video. The problem is you'll want to go back. I have people coming back on their 7th, 8th trips to Raja Ampat in as many years.
Similar threads
