Raja Ampat - Liveaboard or Resort

[ScubaJW]

We have been thinking about going to Raja Ampat next year (2024). For those of you that have been to Raja Ampat, where did you stay? Did you use the resort, liveboard, or both? Which do you recommended, and why?

We wanted to do some diving, then go back to the mainland to explore the culture, food, and etc before heading home. Where is the best place to stay on the mainland to taste the culture?

Thank you all!

 

[rhart]

I'm watching this one. I'm just starting to research the same trip! I'm hoping to see some whale sharks as well

 

[Indah]

We have been thinking about going to Raja Ampat next year (2024). For those of you that have been to Raja Ampat, where did you stay? Did you use the resort, liveboard, or both? Which do you recommended, and why?

We wanted to do some diving, then go back to the mainland to explore the culture, food, and etc before heading home. Where is the best place to stay on the mainland to taste the culture?

Thank you all!

What do you expect from: then go back to the mainland to explore the culture, food, and etc ? And where do you think to find this?

 

[Cert1967]

What do you expect from: then go back to the mainland to explore the culture, food, and etc ? And where do you think to find this?

Maybe spend a week in Sorong or Waisai?

Want a touch of the local culture? Take the ferry to Misool from Sorong!

 

[tarponchik]

We did both. 1st, 10 days on Pearl of Papua, then they dropped us off at Kri Resort where we spent another 10 days. Both were good in it's own way. With PoP we were able to dive Misool, at Kri diving was more intense overall. As for "taste and culture", we are not big on that. Hiked to the pagoda in Sorong, and in Jakarta we visited Ragunan Zoo and Istiqlal Mosque.

 

[Dan]

We have been thinking about going to Raja Ampat next year (2024). For those of you that have been to Raja Ampat, where did you stay? Did you use the resort, liveboard, or both? Which do you recommended, and why?

We wanted to do some diving, then go back to the mainland to explore the culture, food, and etc before heading home. Where is the best place to stay on the mainland to taste the culture?

Thank you all!

Raja Ampat (RA) is pretty big area with some bio-diversities. The south RA like Misool, you'll see more colorful soft corals. The west RA like Piaynemo, you will see more hard corals (check out dive site like Melissa's Garden in YouTube to get an idea about the place). In the Central RA, like in Dampier Strait, you might see lots of schooling fishes, place like Cape Kri where its pretty common to see Sweetlips packed like in a giant can of sardines. Since this will be your first time there, I would recommend you to take a 10-day liveaboard trip that cover everything from Misool in the south to Piaynemo in the west, Wayag in the north and central in Dampier Strait. After that trip, you can decide where you would like to spend more time in various resorts there.

As far as liveaboard, I have been on Amira, Blue Manta, White Manta, Mermaid 1 & 2, La Galigo, Pearl of Papua, Temukira . I like them all. Just pick one that suits your budget, schedule, etc.

Make sure to give yourself plenty of time in advance to get what you want. I'm planning to go there in February 2024 with some of my buddies on Blue Manta that we booked back in 2019 for February 2022, but RA was closed until later in 2022. So we rescheduled it to February 2024, as posted here: Just one spot left: Raja Ampat on the Blue Manta, Feb 2024 - $1065 off

As far as RA resorts, I have been to Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, Misool Eco Resort, Raja4 Divers. Love them all.

Thinking of checking out the Sorido Bay Resort before taking crossing trip from Misool to Fakfak & Triton Bay on White Manta in January 2025: $742 off on White Manta, Misool-Triton Bay, 15-24 January 2025

Enjoy diving in Raja Ampat!

 

[Dan]

Maybe spend a week in Sorong or Waisai?

Want a touch of the local culture? Take the ferry to Misool from Sorong!

I rather spend a week in Bali.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I rather spend a week in Bali.

That's what I was thinking, but I'm not the Indo expert that others here are, so I wasn't going to say anything. The OP did not mention if this is his first trip to Indonesia or just his first trip to RA. I haven't been to RA (so always interested in these kinds of questions), but I'm sure there is local culture to be experienced in the region. However, the easiest way to get a taste of Indonesia would be Bali. Sure, there is a tradeoff. I have found the same dilemma in many places: You can spend a lot of time and energy searching for local culture, and if you find it, it's as authentic as can be--sometimes even a little hairy as far as things like sanitation go. Or you can have it handed to you in a place that's accustomed to culture-seeking tourists, and it's still pretty good.

 

[Dan]

I haven't been to RA

Why not? Do it before getting too old to dive.

 

[cetacean]

@Dan

We spent 10 days at Sorido Bay during our last trip to RA, returned just about 5 weeks ago.

Without giving you all the details here's a quick summary:
- The resort (given the location) is nice, comfortable, food was good, etc. AC in the villas; beach front, friendly staff.

- The dive operation: ran efficiently, boats are fast (although the tank layout and securing the tanks is poor - longer trips saw a tank or two come loose, etc.). Very important to let the dive manager know what you are interested in finding/seeing. Our original guide was good at finding the big schools of fish, etc. but did not have a great eye (or interest) in finding the small stuff. The dive manager allocated a 2nd guide midway through our trip, she was phenomenal in finding the small things. It was a bit odd to dive with both of them on the same dive, but we were a family of 4 so it worked out. Some of the local dive sites (Sardines, Cape Kri, Sorido Bay Wall, etc.) are deservedly famous, others are typical for the region. We did see mantas on a couple of dives, as well as wobbegongs, and large schools of fish.

- The house reef (right off the dock) is worth a dive or two. The area forms a natural bowl, with nice hard coral coverage. The hard coral isn't pretty or varied, but it is prolific. There are 6-8 (fairly large) broadclub cuttlefish resident in the area - find 1, and you'll find the rest. You will also occasionally find turtles in the bowl (along with blacktip reef sharks along the flats around the bowl).

- One of the highlights for Sorido Bay are the resident Cuscus that show up in the restaurant in the evenings. They enjoy bananas - and will accept them directly from a human. We also saw a couple of other varieties of Cuscus in the surrounding trees. These are not domesticated, just residents.

We were left with a feeling that the experience was really good, but we felt like we may have missed out on a few things (walking sharks, although easily viewed snorkeling right off the beach, not on any dives, etc.). In the end, for the distance traveled, we likely were looking for a little more (although we couldn't quite name much more of what we thought was missing). We're headed to Triton Bay and Misool next year to see how that differs.

As I'm guessing you're aware, one of the dives they used to do was The Passage (which I did by LOB years ago). Fantastic dive, but the salt water crocs that have taken up residence have prevented anyone from diving this site for the last several years.