Trip Report White Manta Liveaboard-March 10-17, 2025

[TostitoBandito]

The Food. Their website says they serve Western and Indonesian food, but it skews more to Indonesian. There was plenty of food for everyone and you certainly won’t go hungry. I don’t eat most seafood because I’d rather dive with those critters than see them on the dinner table. They had what WAS a beautiful coral grouper, octopus, and squid on the buffet, which just made me sad. These liveaboard operations (40 of them in Raja Ampat) are contributing to the overfishing in Indonesia. Add to that how filthy the ocean is in Indonesia, and you can use your imagination as to what you are really eating.

In fairness, it's not like the liveaboards are all longlining their way across RA all day long. I'm sure they obtain and load provisions in Sorong (or wherever) prior to departing. There's no way the tiny amount of seafood they consume, even multiplied across all the liveaboards, makes a dent in any fishery (which are measured in the hundreds/thousands of tons). Especially things like octopus and squid which reproduce quickly and are generally plentiful in most regions.

Everyone obviously has the right to eat or not eat what they like, but I don't think it's fair to bash an operator for serving fresh local seafood/cuisine. Personally, I almost always prefer eating whatever the local food is wherever I'm visiting, so I'd be pretty disappointed if I got on the boat only to discover a boring western menu with zero seafood (in an island nation).