Trip Report Raja Ampat 11d/10n on Akomo Isseki and highlight video

[Two Nature Junkies]

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This trip was my fiancee and my first real attempt to put together a trip video. With two of us, we were able to split wide and macro duties during the dives. I captured the wide footage with my Panasonic GH5 II and WWL-1 setup, while she captured most of the macro footage, usually with an Olympus TG-6. I know there’s room for us to improve and we’d appreciate any feedback. This is the first of several videos we will put together for the trip, so if you’d like to see more please consider subscribing on Youtube.

Footage was captured during an 11 day/10 night trip on the liveaboard Akomo Isseki. We couldn’t find more than a handful of brief reviews of this boat beforehand, and booked it entirely because of the price (~$2300 USD). We aren’t luxury travelers by any means, and in the end were satisfied with our decision. However, there are some aspects of the boat that may be non-starters for others:

• No AC and little ventilation in the cabins. This was a nuisance on about half the nights. There is a porthole in the ceiling and two very small fans in each room, but they weren’t sufficient on the warmest nights.
• Electricity for charging devices is powered by a generator that is located in the dining area. We were still able to keep our numerous batteries charged by making sure the generator was on whenever possible, but in practice the generator’s location meant that there was no power during meals and overnight.
• Very low ceilings, particularly in the dining area
• We ran into multiple technical issues during the trip. I do believe we were unlucky in this regard, but toilet and shower issues were frequent.

All that said, we don’t regret our decision and would recommend the boat to others who place relatively little value on comfort onboard. On the plus side, food was actually the best we’ve had on a liveaboard (especially considering our request for vegan dishes) and the crew was excellent.

We completed 25 dives over 9 diving days (only 2 dives on days transiting to/from Misool, and 3 dives on the other days), including 6 days in Misool and 3 days across the Dampier Strait. With only 7 of us on board (maximum capacity 8), dives did not feel crowded and we were able to tailor dive plans to our desires. We were worried about visibility in Misool after trip reports in the prior months painted a murky picture, but it does seem to have begun to clear up and only really hampered a few late afternoon dives. The itinerary was also supposed to include afternoon land visits on most days. We made a few beach visits and it was nice to have kayaks (two singles) available for this time as well. However, some visits were either skipped (weather) or impossible (closed hikes). Having also been to on a Raja Ampat liveaboard 4 years earlier, I did appreciate the variety offered by the land visits. Though if night dives are important to you, I wouldn’t recommend this specific boat.

Thanks for looking! We really appreciate any comments, and are happy to field any questions about the vessel, diving, footage, etc.

 

[drrich2]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. On overly warm nights, given no A.C., would sleeping topside on a lounger have been an option?

That sounds pretty 'bare bones' (aside from your report of the great food) for a liveaboard; I wondered how much you saved vs. something more mid-range, and Googled the livaboard name, then clicked a PADI Travel link. Looks like a 10-night Raja Ampat trip is around $2,503, though the fine print below said 'prices shown may be for non-divers.' On a liveaboard?!?!? But then I did a mock booking at a later, shorter duration trip, and while there's a small charge to add transfers, looked like diving was included.

Sounds like people should watch the fine print, but this would be a pretty serious cash savings (albeit fewer dives than I had on the Indo-Siren back in December 2022), which if not for a sale would've been over twice the price I think).

I would think flying out of Hawaii the time and money cost of air travel for you would be less than for mainland U.S. travelers.

Which Raja Ampat liveaboard did you use 4 years earlier?

All that said, we don’t regret our decision and would recommend the boat to others who place relatively little value on comfort onboard.

Like young backpacker types perhaps? Raja Ampat draws budget travelers with homestay options, so good to hear there are also budget liveaboard options.

Out of curiosity, what led you to choose a liveaboard over land based option for this trip?

 

[AlMitch]

Well done guys, great video. I love the team work.
Looks like you had amazing diving conditions and dives in general. I'm pretty sure that influenced your general good natured review of the vessel.
I for one would not be able to handle warm muggy nights down below!

A comment on your video, it is nice a short and sharp and beautiful. Are you planning a longer version which also looks at the LOB and gives your opinion of the LOB? Or are you just sticking to the glossy "Everything is awesome" script?

 

[matts1w]

For many years in my 30s, I worked multiple summer trips in the Caribbean on 60 ft catamarans with no AC and loved it. Ten years later, I did a Wicked Diving (now long gone) Komodo liveaboard with no AC... and it was brutal at night. Land based/big fans are still totally doable, but old wood boats and tiny cabins...no freakin' way. 53 year old me has seen the last of his hardcore backpackin' days.

 

[Two Nature Junkies]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. On overly warm nights, given no A.C., would sleeping topside on a lounger have been an option?

There were large bean bags on the top level, but since the area was not quite fully covered and had a tendency to pool water when it rained, no one tried sleeping up there. It would have been a good idea otherwise, though!

That sounds pretty 'bare bones' (aside from your report of the great food) for a liveaboard; I wondered how much you saved vs. something more mid-range, and Googled the livaboard name, then clicked a PADI Travel link. Looks like a 10-night Raja Ampat trip is around $2,503, though the fine print below said 'prices shown may be for non-divers.' On a liveaboard?!?!? But then I did a mock booking at a later, shorter duration trip, and while there's a small charge to add transfers, looked like diving was included.

Hmm that's a strange disclaimer. The price did indeed include all dives (minus any rental equipment, and with nitrox not an offered as an added option). The only additional fee was the park fee, as well as the ferry to/from Waisai since the boat departed from there.

Sounds like people should watch the fine print, but this would be a pretty serious cash savings (albeit fewer dives than I had on the Indo-Siren back in December 2022), which if not for a sale would've been over twice the price I think).

I would think flying out of Hawaii the time and money cost of air travel for you would be less than for mainland U.S. travelers.

Which Raja Ampat liveaboard did you use 4 years earlier?

My previous time was on the Pearl of Papua. It was undoubtedly a nicer experience while onboard, but if I was going again and in a similar situation financially, I would actually opt to save ~$1k, have a similar underwater experience, and go with Akomo Isseki again. This is not to say that the decision would be the same for everybody! I gather (both from reactions and the relative dominance of pricier vessels) that I am in the clear minority here.

Like young backpacker types perhaps? Raja Ampat draws budget travelers with homestay options, so good to hear there are also budget liveaboard options.

The guests on my trip were actually a mixed bunch, though skewed younger than the typical liveaboard: one in the 20s, us two 30s, one 40s, one 50s, and two 60s. However, the guests were definitely more "minimalist" travelers than I've seen on prior liveaboards.

Out of curiosity, what led you to choose a liveaboard over land based option for this trip?

I enjoyed the liveaboard experience on my previous visit to Raja Ampat, as otherwise it would have been difficult to dive both the central and southern areas. They are different enough and each worthy enough of a visit that I prefer to experience both.

 

[Two Nature Junkies]

Well done guys, great video. I love the team work.
Looks like you had amazing diving conditions and dives in general. I'm pretty sure that influenced your general good natured review of the vessel.
I for one would not be able to handle warm muggy nights down below!

A comment on your video, it is nice a short and sharp and beautiful. Are you planning a longer version which also looks at the LOB and gives your opinion of the LOB? Or are you just sticking to the glossy "Everything is awesome" script?

Very much appreciated, thank you for viewing! We are going to also make a longer-form, more vlog-style video, in which we'll go over the +/- of the vessel and include some footage of it.

For anyone that comes across this thread when looking for reviews of Akomo Isseki, I want to clarify that the vessel is definitely a compromise. Looking at the boat in a vacuum, it's probably a 2 or 3 out of 10. You'll be giving up several comforts, and if those are valuable to you or irritations stemming from the lack of comfort would make the diving less enjoyable to you, definitely look at other options. However for the more backpacker type, the financial savings by choosing this vessel could definitely exceed the inconveniences.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Wow, fantastic video and what a bargain. Can you share what computer program you used to turn your video clips into this masterpiece ?

 

[drrich2]

My previous time was on the Pearl of Papua. It was undoubtedly a nicer experience while onboard, but if I was going again and in a similar situation financially, I would actually opt to save ~$1k, have a similar underwater experience, and go with Akomo Isseki again. This is not to say that the decision would be the same for everybody! I gather (both from reactions and the relative dominance of pricier vessels) that I am in the clear minority here.

Yes, but a price difference of a couple grand vs. a mid-range liveaboard could be the difference in whether someone gets to go or not. The cheaper liveaboards may compete with some cheaper land-based options rather than mid- and upper-range liveaboards, so perhaps we should keep in mine what market niche they occupy.

It's like in cars...which is nicer, a Toyota Corolla or a Lexus? Okay, does it matter? Are people in the market for the one seriously weighing it against the other?

That said, I like these discussions where people such as you delineate the trade-offs to help others make informed decisions. As long as people know what they're getting into when they book, things should go well. It's when people blunder into nasty surprises and have a rude awakening that it gets ugly.

 

[Two Nature Junkies]

Wow, fantastic video and what a bargain. Can you share what computer program you used to turn your video clips into this masterpiece ?

Thank you very much for your kind comment! I used DaVinci Resolve Studio to make the video. However, the free version (DaVinci Resolve) includes nearly the same capabilities. I only really used the noise reduction in the Studio version.

 

[Snodge]

Wow, that video really caught my eye! The reefs and life look great! Started looking at other posts about RA and dreaming about going. Then I saw this opportunity:

Last minute deal

If anyone is looking for a steep discount and can find a way to get there relatively soon it seems like a great opportunity! Makes me think about cancelling my roatan trip for same dates...