After three years of searching for my next adventure and a destination that would live up to my trip to the Cook Islands, one afternoon it leapt out of my computer screen. ‘Raja Ampat, The last paradise’. Now that sounded like the place for me.
I’ve always been a lover of remote, off the beaten track places and whilst being drawn to the underwater world I never went as far as learning to dive. Until now. If there was anywhere in the world deserving of this, it had to be Raja Ampat; one of the most biodiverse places still in existence.
A few weeks and PADI courses later, my brother and I were at London Heathrow packed and ready to go. The delay of our first flight caused us to get stuck in Dubai for 24 hours, all resolved by the wonderful team at Diverse Travel; we cannot thank them enough so we decided to make the most of our time with a tour of the city, the Burj Khalifa, dune bashing through the desert, camel riding and a traditional dinner and show; it’s amazing what you can cram into a day!
Two more days, a couple of flights and boat transfers later we arrived at our dive resort Papua Explorers on Gam Island. WOW! There are few moments in my 29 years of life that will stand out quite like my first few steps onto that jetty. What a paradise. Friendly staff greeted us with traditional song and guitar and as we made our way up the wooden walkway the sounds of birds of paradise filled the tropical air. Either side of the jetty was the bluest, most beautiful water I’d ever seen, teeming with countless coloured fish and coral imaginable. Large parrot fish darted between the rocks and clownfish hovered in their vibrant anemones. We were given a much-needed welcome drink and shown to our fantastic water bungalow. The room was light and airy and spotlessly clean, full of traditional wooden touches and outside a wonderful balcony with large hammock and our very own steps down to the sea. Few things beat a morning snorkel straight from your own balcony out over the stunning house reef.
After an afternoon dive centre briefing and some time to explore, we made our way to dinner. The restaurant, also on stilts over the water, was in the most wonderful location with views of the setting sun. The traditional Indonesian cuisine was delicious.
The following morning, we were up early and ready for our first dive with our lovely dive guide Mario, who really was fantastic. We all had so much fun together and felt in very safe hands as we gathered our kit and excitedly boarded the boat. When we watch the videos back home and hear the stories of the reefs in Raja, you can hardly believe them to be real. When I say that the pristine beauty will literally take your breath away, there are hardly words to describe by just how much. The reefs are bursting with life and, unlike so many parts of the world, the marine life is more abundant now than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Sharks are back in large numbers; manta rays glide overhead and the colours and variety of corals and fish are just mind blowing. Tiny pygmy seahorses make their homes in giant swaying fan corals, in pinks, reds and oranges.
On Otdima reef, one of my favourites, huge shoals of blue and yellow fusilier surround you whilst schools of large barracuda watch from a distance with their beady eyes. There are so many varieties of fish on this reef. On one dive we were joined by a group of mobula rays, appearing like ghosts from the blue, curious and elegant; they seemed as interested in us as we were in them. Turtles like to make friends too, with one swimming right up to my mask on a dive at Mike’s Point. It was such a magical moment that I froze and couldn’t even take out my camera … I think sometimes, moments like these are almost too special to capture anyway.
I have been fortunate enough to travel quite a lot in my life, but I can honestly say a place has never quite stolen my heart in the way Raja Ampat did. I was so very sad to leave. From the stunning marine life, the beautiful palm covered islands and white sandy beaches to the local people, who are the nicest I have ever met, I completely fell in love with the place. It truly does deserve its ‘Last paradise’ status and I admire all the people working so hard to protect it and keep it that way.
I can only hope to join them in my next quest … to become a dive-master in Raja Ampat!
Kayleigh Salter, December 2019
When to go?
The very best time to dive Raja Ampat is October to April. This is when the liveaboards come in to explore the different areas of this spectacular destination. This is when there is much less wind and rain and incredible visibility. This is also the best time to see mantas in the area! If you choose a resort stay, you can dive all year round. Daily dive sites will be chosen with the weather in mind. You can truly dive here for weeks on end and never dive the same site.
What else is there to do?
A visit to Raja Ampat is not complete without spending time exploring the beautiful local islands. Hike through the mangroves, swim in the waterfalls and enjoy spending time with the friendly locals. If you are a keen birdwatcher, this is definitely the place for you! There are more than 800 species of birds here. Find your spot, lean back and watch the birds come and go.
What are the practicalities?
There are no direct international flights to Sorong. All travellers fly via Jakarta or Manado with a choice of airlines, including Singapore Airlines and Emirates. Domestic flights are available to Sorong and we highly recommend adding an overnight stay in your transit city to avoid any delays or missed connections. Once you are in Sorong, the rest is easy. Resorts and liveaboards will arrange for your boat transfer from Sorong to resort.
What are the costs?
Kayleigh stayed at the Papua Explorer Resort. A stay here would cost from £3195pp and includes :-
7 nights full board in a twin/double Superior Water Bungalow.
6 days diving – 3 boat dives per day and unlimited house reef dives, with air or nitrox, tanks & weights.
International & domestic flights.
Overnight hotels in Jakarta or Manado.
Other hotels are available; for more information please click here Papua Explorers Resort
Find out more
Want to learn more about Kayleigh’s visit to Raja Ampat? Give us a call on 01473 852002.
A question I am often asked is, ‘I’ve done loads of Red Sea liveaboards and a couple in the Maldives, where should I go next?’ Well if you love coral reefs and a mixture of big and small marine life my usual answer is Indonesia and more specifically Komodo. It’s a trip that I had wanted to do for many years and it was great to eventually get a week on Mermaid II. The Mermaid II is a comfortable boat with a very enthusiastic crew who were determined to help make it a memorable week for all the guests on board.
The Komodo liveaboards are an easy introduction to Indonesia as, with the Mermaid boats, the start and finish point is usually Bali, which is easy and relatively inexpensive to get too. The boat leaves Bali in the late afternoon and makes the journey eastwards overnight with a lovely sunset as we passed Lombok, arriving at the first dive site just after breakfast. Quite an easy check dive to start with of course, but still lots to see.
We soon moved on to our first unusual dive, the semi-active Sangeang Volcano. Although not actually erupting, there was still the odd boom and plume of smoke from the visible crater. Of course, the dive sites had volcano related names such as Hot Rocks & Bubbles, the latter due to the bubbles of volcanic gas that emanate from the sea bed. Both sites had a nice mixture of bigger fish like sweetlips and our first look at the macro life, such as pigmy seahorse and orangutan crab, found only with the help of the expert guides.
Then we moved on to dive around the island of Komodo itself. An afternoon and a night dive giving a long list of species seen and photographed. The first dive of the next day was another, much anticipated, highlight. The site is called Shotgun, the reason for this soon becoming obvious. All is very calm when you first drop in the water, descending to a sandy bottom covered in about a dozen big stingrays. We dropped into a shallow pit in the seabed and made sure we were all ready for what was to come. As a group we all ascended until the current caught us and we were riding the shotgun, the strongest current I have ever experienced as the water is squeezed between two islands. It lasts a few minutes and is a truly exhilarating experience, hence why it’s a must do dive in the area.
More day and night dives around Komodo followed with everybody happy with the variety of underwater life encountered. The next morning was a chance to go onto the island and get up close and almost personal with the famous Komodo Dragons. You can get very close but luckily there are rangers on hand to prevent anyone becoming lunch for the world’s largest lizard. An hour long walk on the island also brought other wildlife such as deer and wild boar into view.
We then moved to the slightly colder waters to the south of Komodo and the island of Rinca. Although there was also plenty to keep the macro lover happy, such as hairy shrimp and painted frogfish, the highlight here has to be the big stuff. There were plenty of sharks (blacktips and whitetips) and best of all manta rays. Of course, we have all been to sites called Manta Point and not seen a manta at all but this time it delivered the goods with half a dozen sittings. Another site nearby was the stand-out part of the week for me though. On a drift dive over a relatively uninteresting reef I counted at least 25 mantas coming in to the small coral areas to be cleaned. Although there’s never any guarantees in diving, the guides told me they have never been to that site and not seen mantas.
For this trip the boat carried on to Maumere on Flores as the next week it was making its way up to Raja Ampat for the winter. Probably good timing as it was the start of the rainy season around Bali and on our very last dive we returned to the boat in a downpour with lightning in the distance. The normal routing is back to Bali, nice and convenient for the trip home, not that anyone would want to leave such an amazing place. Recommended? Highly!
John Butland
Sales Manager
Diverse Travel Limited
