If you’re keen on scuba diving, then Raja Ampat is the last word vacation spot for you. Located in Indonesia’s West Papua province, diving in Raja Ampat is an expertise like no different. With its crystal-clear waters and numerous marine life, this area has earned a fame as one of many world’s prime diving locations. In this weblog put up, we are going to take a more in-depth take a look at the ten greatest dive websites in Raja Ampat. Whether you’re a newbie or an skilled diver, there’s something for everybody on this tropical paradise. So, let’s dive proper in!
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO DIVING IN RAJA AMPAT
In this text, I’ll share with you my expertise of the greatest Raja Ampat diving websites, focus on whether or not a liveaboard or a resort/homestay is greatest for you and likewise give some recommendations on wonderful viewpoints within the area.
Choosing a Raja Ampat Liveaboard
With over 1500 islands making up Raja Ampat one of the best ways to see as a lot as you possibly can throughout your go to is to remain on a Raja Ampat Liveaboard. You can discover a higher number of areas and dive spots when you’ve gotten the pliability of staying in several areas every night time.
Liveaboards vary from luxurious vessels to price range sailboats however nearly all the time come outfitted with personal rooms and a chef. When you might be deciding between a liveaboard or a resort it would be best to take into account the next factors:
- Price: A Raja Ampat liveaboard is often costlier than a resort per night time. However, it consists of all meals, a dive information, lodging on board, and snacks. Usually, the one additional expense is the diving gear, alcohol, and ideas. In comparability, a dive resort might solely cost in your room after which every dive is added to your package deal.
- Experience: What sleeping circumstances are you comfy with? Do you favor to get onto dry land and the consolation of a villa at night time or are you up for the journey of crusing the seas for every week aboard a Raja Ampat liveaboard? I’ve personally had each the liveaboard and dive resort expertise and they’re each superior. I’ve all the time had a extra memorable general expertise aboard the liveaboard.
To e book a liveaboard you possibly can go to an internet site like Liveaboard.com and which lists all the completely different boats and journeys obtainable. They present you the cabins on every boat and likewise the checklist of actions and dives every journey consists of. They are usually probably the most dependable website moderately and are a worldwide model with a great fame.
Check charges and availability: Raja Ampat Liveaboards
How to get to Raja Ampat
Raja Ampat has a small airport referred to as Waisai and there’s one other airport close by referred to as Sorong. These are the 2 choices for attending to Raja Ampat.
I flew from Bali (Denpasar DPS) to Makassar to Sorong. This is the commonest path to get to Sorong.
- There are not any worldwide flights into Sorong
- There are not any direct (nonstop) flights from Bali to Sorong
Once I reached Sorong I then took another flight to Waisai airport in Raja Ampat. It is vital to notice you possibly can take a 2-hour ferry from Sorong to Raja Ampat.
Once at Waisai airport or the ferry terminal your liveaboard organizer or lodge workers ought to have organized to fulfill you and arrange the transit to your resort. For me, it was a brief bus and a non-public boat to the Raja Ampat Dive Resort. For a full breakdown of journey choices, ferry instances, and transit routes.
Best Raja Ampat Scuba Diving Sites
Raja Ampat is heaven for scuba divers and is usually rated as the perfect scuba dive vacation spot on the planet and among the finest locations to go to in Indonesia. The laborious and mushy coral is buzzing with marine life. You come throughout turtles, sharks, large mantas, and extra on nearly each dive! The Raja Ampat islands are an amazing spot to catch a number of the large creatures underwater however are additionally dwelling to some enthralling macro life.
Giant Trevally, Dogtooth Tuna, and different pelagic fish are identified to frequent the area. Blacktip and Whitetip reef sharks are extremely frequent in Raja Ampat and I nearly turned accustomed to sharing the water with them. Raja Ampat can be how because the well-known Wobbegong Shark.
Encounters with Manta Rays and Dolphins are frequent within the heat waters of Raja Ampat. I additionally noticed Mantas earlier than arriving in Raja Ampat for an epic week of scuba diving in Komodo.
Cape Kri
Cape Kri is probably the most well-known website at Raja Ampat and is mostly ranked the perfect. This dive website holds the document for the very best variety of species on one website, in a single single dive. The function of this Raja Ampat dive website is the pure variety of species and colours. You actually don’t know what you could come throughout at Cape Kri, which makes it one of the crucial thrilling dives in Raja Ampat.
Mioskun
This is without doubt one of the greatest Raja Ampat diving websites to identify the well-known Wobbegong, which is a big carpet shark. The corals right here are literally fairly distinctive as a result of they kind a 25m column, which is the right depth for many divers. I discovered this to be one of the crucial lively locations for diving in Raja Ampat.
Melissa’s Garden
This is without doubt one of the greatest Raja Ampat diving websites for freshmen. There is never a lot of a present. Soft corals and sponges cowl the ocean ground, which makes it an ideal location for a macro search. If you’ve gotten been diving in Raja Ampat and didn’t but discover the Wobbegong you’ll certainly be capable of spot him right here at Melissa’s Garden and you could even be fortunate sufficient to return throughout a large Manta!
Blue Magic
An underwater pinnacle that begins out at about 7m and heads down all the way in which to 30 meters the place you possibly can meet large fish. This can be an amazing spot for macro pictures and discovering small critters. It is without doubt one of the most well-known dive websites in Raja Ampat, which says quite a bit contemplating the standard on this area. Keep a watch out right here for predator fish, pygmy seahorses, and even a large manta ray.
R4DR Housereef
The Raja Ampat Dive Resort home reef is definitely the one spot on our journey we noticed the endemic strolling shark identified regionally as, Kalabia. This can be an amazing Raja Ampat diving website to snorkel in the course of the day and night time.
Manta Sandy
This is a superb spot to fulfill the swish Manta Ray. These majestic creatures will be noticed year-round at Manta Sandy. It’s not unusual to fulfill greater than ten in a single dive and also you may even be fortunate sufficient to return throughout the uncommon ‘Black Manta’.
Chicken Reef
With a sandy ground of 20m, this can be a great place to search out some backyard eels, large colleges of black snappers, fusiliers, and butterfly fish.
Arborek
Aroborek is a small island village with a brief pier. Below this pier are huge colleges of mackerel. We dove and acquired out and in of the colleges of 1000’s of Mackerel for the perfect a part of an hour. In this space, we additionally discovered large clams. This is without doubt one of the most enjoyable free-diving websites in Raja Ampat.
Raja Ampat Dive Resort (Where I stayed)
The lodging typically makes or breaks the holiday and on this case, Raja Ampat Dive Resort was one of many highlights of the journey. From the second our boat pulled in in direction of the lengthy wood pier, I knew this was going to be one of the crucial unbelievable resorts I’ve ever stayed in.
Raja Ampat Dive Resort is a luxurious dive resort centered round creating the last word Raja Ampat diving expertise whereas having fun with the comforts of scorching showers, air-conditioning, sundown drinks on the seaside, buffet meals, and a well-organized resort.
Check charges and availability: Raja Ampat Dive Resort
Best time for diving in Raja Ampat
Raja Ampat Diving is one thing you possibly can take pleasure in all 12 months spherical. The water is so heat, I typically went diving in simply shorts and I’m somebody who will get chilly simply. From May to September there’s extra rain however the temperature and humidity stay excessive all 12 months spherical.
Because Raja Ampat is a little more costly, tougher to succeed in, and remoted than different diving hotspots the excessive and off-season is much less noticeable. Dive Resort house owners talked about there’s a pickup in guests on the finish of the 12 months however visiting Raja Ampat all 12 months spherical is a peaceable getaway.
Raja Ampat Scuba Diving Conditions
I already talked about that the water could be very heat, the truth is, it’s within the excessive 20’s all 12 months spherical.
You can count on the visibility to be anyplace from 10-30 meters relying on which dive website you might be at.
Raja Ampat has a number of dive websites with notoriously robust currents resembling ‘The Passage’. However, many websites have slower or no currents. Depths vary from 10m to 40m.
Raja Ampat Snorkeling Tips
Although Raja Ampat is thought for its wonderful diving websites, there’s some nice snorkeling to be accomplished additionally. There are many shallow coral gardens subsequent to lots of the resorts resembling Raja Ampat Dive Resort, Kri Eco Resort, and Sorido Bay Resort. Many of our dives additionally completed above lovely shallow reefs that had been typically the spotlight of the dive.
Another lovely Raja Ampat snorkeling spot is at Arborek Pier, the place 1000’s of education mackerel cling across the pylons. We snorkeled and went free-diving right here and it was one of many highlights of my time in Raja Ampat.
Things to do in Raja Ampat after diving
Pianemo Island
Pianemo Island is without doubt one of the most epic spots in Indonesia and the world. In reality, I had been ready over two years to tick this spot off my bucket checklist. A set of islets are scattered within the cerulean blue waters. It really is without doubt one of the most lovely spots on the planet.
The water at Pianemo Island was crystal clear and has a tremendous turquoise shade, which jogged my memory of Kawasan Falls within the Philippines. You can swim on the backside within the calm water and discover the islands. When I used to be flying the drone I discovered a number of cool spots with a pier and hidden seashores. We additionally did some small cliff leaping from one of many islets in the course of the lagoon.
If you select the appropriate liveaboard your tour ought to embrace a go to to Pianemo Island. Make certain you test this in your itinerary if you e book.
Full Blog Post: Pianemo Island – What it’s good to know
Sandbar
The sandbar apparently has no title in accordance with the locals who seek advice from it as ‘Pasir Timbul’, which suggests sand surfaced. We stopped right here for our floor interval and it’s actually a sand island in the course of the ocean. It’s fairly an odd feeling to be on a stretch of sand surrounded by water. Definitely, ask your information if you will discover the Pasir Timbul when you are in Raja Ampat.
Arborek Village
Our tour organized a go to to Arborek Village. We boarded alongside the pier, which we might later dive beneath, because the locals ready to carry out a conventional dance for us. After watching the kids carry out a conventional dance on the pier we walked additional into the village.
I used to be someway elected by my group to be our chief rapidly and earlier than I knew it, in entrance of the entire village, I used to be taking up the village chief in a conventional battle-style efficiency. It was a high-energy minute and a loopy second throughout my time in Raja Ampat. We then made an enormous parade by way of the entire village singing and dancing with the lads, ladies,
We then made an enormous parade by way of the entire village singing and dancing with the lads, ladies, elders, and youngsters of the village. After this loopy entrance, we had time to sit down and chat with the locals. Some of the ladies confirmed me the hampers they had been weaving and even introduced out the standard ‘Manta Hat’ solely present in Raja Ampat.
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT DIVING IN RAJA AMPAT
- What is the water temperature like in Raja Ampat? The water temperature in Raja Ampat ranges from 26°C to 29°C, making it comfy to dive in year-round.
- What type of marine life will be seen whereas diving in Raja Ampat? Diving in Raja Ampat gives a chance to see an extremely numerous vary of marine life, together with colleges of colourful fish, manta rays, turtles, sharks, and even whales.
- Do I want any particular certifications for divin Raja Ampat? While no particular certifications are required to dive in Raja Ampat, it is suggested that you’ve a complicated open water certification or increased to totally benefit from the dive websites.
- How many dive websites are there in Raja Ampat? There are over 200 dive websites in Raja Ampat, starting from shallow coral gardens to deep pinnacles, every providing a novel expertise.
- What is one of the best ways to get to Raja Ampat for diving? The best option to get to Raja Ampat is to fly to Sorong after which take a ferry to Waisai. From there, you possibly can be a part of a liveaboard or take a speedboat to your required dive websites.
I hope you loved this information to diving in Raja Ampat. Let me know within the feedback which Raja Ampat dive website you’re looking ahead to probably the most.