Hintermann
Contributor
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- Location
- Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, UK
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
This is a trip report following my recent trip to Raja Ampat, where I did a 11-day liveaboard cruise on the MSY Seahorse, my longest ever trip to date. We did a whopping 37 dives during the cruise and overall it was an excellent trip.
Getting There: One of the problems with going to Raja Ampat is the remoteness of the archipelago, being located off the Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua, the Indonesian part of New Guinea island. From the UK, I used Garuda airlines all the way and despite some misgivings, all flights went well with no significant delays either way. I flew from London Gatwick via Amsterdam to Jakarta and connected via Makassar. On arrival in Sorong at 06:30 hours in the morning, I was met by the Seahorse crew and immediately transferred to the boat where I was able to get several hours of much-needed sleep and thus be fully ready to get orientated by the evening.
The Boat: MSY Seahorse is a Phinisi, ie a proper 2-masted wooden sailing ship complete with a sloping foredeck. It has a lot more character than the usual fibreglass jobs with reasonably spacious cabins with plenty of storage space. It felt much larger than its 33 metres and was so steady during the long crossing that we did not feel the movement at all. The engines were the quietest that I have ever come across on a liveaboard boat. The Camera Room is large with plenty of table space and electrical outlets, both 110V and 220V. The “dive deck”, a large area where the kit was stored and briefings held was very spacious and convenient to kit-up etc. We only had to suit-up on the boat because the crew carried the BCD-Reg-Tanks ensemble to the tenders, where they kept the fins and helped us to fully suit-up. Of course, we had the choice of suiting-up completely on the boat and walking to the tender, an option that I preferred for night dives.
There was a spacious sun-deck for those inclined to burn their skins to lounge about. It was also convenient, with the full length couches provided, to sleep outdoors if preferred.
The Tenders: All diving in Raja Ampat is through dinghies or tenders and here MSY Seahorse scored over almost all the other ‘rival’ boats that we came across. Instead of using the cramped and awkward zodiacs, we had two long speedboats complete with pits for the tanks and loads of room. They were not quite the Dhonis of Maldives but close; we had to backflip into the water. Getting back using one of the two proper ladders fully kitted was easy.
The Crew: Another major scoring point was the excellent Indonesian crew (well, one was a Spanish Instructor). The boat operating crew were friendly and efficient, always keeping the decks clean and uncluttered. They also helped to carry the kit to the tenders and to help in any other way requested. There were 5 Divemasters – 4 Indonesians and a Spaniard who was actually an instructor. The senior divemaster usually stayed on board while the other 4 dived, 2 per tender. Since we were 11 guest divers, we were in 2 groups of 5 and 6 respectively with 2 divemasters per group.They knew the sites well and pointed out nudibranchs and other macro stuff on request.
On a more personal note, the crew collectively made my own trip memorable for a completely different reason, which I will outline further down the report.
The Itinerary: Originally this was supposed to be a combined North-South RA trip but when we arrived local weather reports indicated some rough weather around Weigo. Therefore, the DMs decided to make it mostly an all-Sothern trip to Misool, Batanta, Gam and Dampier Strait. We had excellent diving conditions throughout with only spots of rain at night and mostly sunny periods during the day. The visibility was 30 metres plus for 70% of the dives and at least 20m for the rest. As mentioned before, the crossings were extremely smooth and no one needed sea-sickness pills. The water temperature was around 28* to 29*C, fine for a 3mm full suit or even a shorty.
The Food: Perhaps the only so-so part of the trip but it may well be me. Meals were a la carte and from several cusines and while I do not recall a single bad meal, it was nothing to rave about either. A slight drawback after the excellent fare on Mermaid I during my Komodo trip earlier in the year.
The Divers: There were 11 of us, 5 Americans, 5 Australians and me as the lone Brit. The 5 Aussies comprised of 4 doctors and a nurse travelling as a ‘team’ and so were grouped together. I joined up with the Americans, who were composed of 4 lawyers and an Egyptian-American businessman. I shared my cabin with the latter and although he was nominally my buddy, I mostly hung out with one of two Indonesian guides during the dives.
Cond Part 2
Getting There: One of the problems with going to Raja Ampat is the remoteness of the archipelago, being located off the Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua, the Indonesian part of New Guinea island. From the UK, I used Garuda airlines all the way and despite some misgivings, all flights went well with no significant delays either way. I flew from London Gatwick via Amsterdam to Jakarta and connected via Makassar. On arrival in Sorong at 06:30 hours in the morning, I was met by the Seahorse crew and immediately transferred to the boat where I was able to get several hours of much-needed sleep and thus be fully ready to get orientated by the evening.
The Boat: MSY Seahorse is a Phinisi, ie a proper 2-masted wooden sailing ship complete with a sloping foredeck. It has a lot more character than the usual fibreglass jobs with reasonably spacious cabins with plenty of storage space. It felt much larger than its 33 metres and was so steady during the long crossing that we did not feel the movement at all. The engines were the quietest that I have ever come across on a liveaboard boat. The Camera Room is large with plenty of table space and electrical outlets, both 110V and 220V. The “dive deck”, a large area where the kit was stored and briefings held was very spacious and convenient to kit-up etc. We only had to suit-up on the boat because the crew carried the BCD-Reg-Tanks ensemble to the tenders, where they kept the fins and helped us to fully suit-up. Of course, we had the choice of suiting-up completely on the boat and walking to the tender, an option that I preferred for night dives.
There was a spacious sun-deck for those inclined to burn their skins to lounge about. It was also convenient, with the full length couches provided, to sleep outdoors if preferred.
The Tenders: All diving in Raja Ampat is through dinghies or tenders and here MSY Seahorse scored over almost all the other ‘rival’ boats that we came across. Instead of using the cramped and awkward zodiacs, we had two long speedboats complete with pits for the tanks and loads of room. They were not quite the Dhonis of Maldives but close; we had to backflip into the water. Getting back using one of the two proper ladders fully kitted was easy.
The Crew: Another major scoring point was the excellent Indonesian crew (well, one was a Spanish Instructor). The boat operating crew were friendly and efficient, always keeping the decks clean and uncluttered. They also helped to carry the kit to the tenders and to help in any other way requested. There were 5 Divemasters – 4 Indonesians and a Spaniard who was actually an instructor. The senior divemaster usually stayed on board while the other 4 dived, 2 per tender. Since we were 11 guest divers, we were in 2 groups of 5 and 6 respectively with 2 divemasters per group.They knew the sites well and pointed out nudibranchs and other macro stuff on request.
On a more personal note, the crew collectively made my own trip memorable for a completely different reason, which I will outline further down the report.
The Itinerary: Originally this was supposed to be a combined North-South RA trip but when we arrived local weather reports indicated some rough weather around Weigo. Therefore, the DMs decided to make it mostly an all-Sothern trip to Misool, Batanta, Gam and Dampier Strait. We had excellent diving conditions throughout with only spots of rain at night and mostly sunny periods during the day. The visibility was 30 metres plus for 70% of the dives and at least 20m for the rest. As mentioned before, the crossings were extremely smooth and no one needed sea-sickness pills. The water temperature was around 28* to 29*C, fine for a 3mm full suit or even a shorty.
The Food: Perhaps the only so-so part of the trip but it may well be me. Meals were a la carte and from several cusines and while I do not recall a single bad meal, it was nothing to rave about either. A slight drawback after the excellent fare on Mermaid I during my Komodo trip earlier in the year.
The Divers: There were 11 of us, 5 Americans, 5 Australians and me as the lone Brit. The 5 Aussies comprised of 4 doctors and a nurse travelling as a ‘team’ and so were grouped together. I joined up with the Americans, who were composed of 4 lawyers and an Egyptian-American businessman. I shared my cabin with the latter and although he was nominally my buddy, I mostly hung out with one of two Indonesian guides during the dives.
Cond Part 2
