NOTE: This is a lengthy report detailing our experiences aboard a boat six weeks ago, with very little discussion of our actual diving experiences. You've all probably read about Raja Ampat diving elsewhere, so it's not necessary for me to repeat it. Nonetheless, this report was a good exercise, if not for you, then at least for me to put my thoughts together.
First a little background ...
In October of 2009, my wife and I, and another Colorado friend, did a North Sulawesi trip. It began at a resort on Bunaken, then we boarded a boat in Bitung for a 12-day trip out of Lembeh, up through the Sangihe Archipelago, down through Bunaken to Poopoh, and back to Lembeh. The trip went smoothly, we had some great diving, and the boat, Paisabatu II, filled our needs ... the right level of service for us, well done, at a reasonable price.
Back home, I was surfing the 'net for future dive trips, and discovered that the boat from the above trip had begun Raja Ampat itineraries. Ah hah! Having previously been to RA, and wanting to return, I started a series of email exchanges with Jerome, the boat's owner ...
Indonesia: Wallacea Liveaboard Dive Safaris in Central Sulawesi - Our boat M/V Paisabatu
I told him that since our prior trip aboard his boat had gone so well, we'd like to go to RA on it, but we had concerns about any boat taking up an unfamiliar itinerary. He assured me that between all of the new information that had been published about RA dive sites, plus the fact that he would have local guides aboard, would guarantee a good experience. We decided to give them a few years to learn the sites, and boarded the boat this February.
More background ...
In the interim between our two trips aboard this boat, a number of things transpired. Jerome began building a new, larger boat, the MV Ambai, now launched and being fitted out. As a former naval architect/designer/engineer for a custom yacht builder, I can attest to the building of a custom boat being an all-consuming task, requiring one's constant, total attention. Almost invariably, it takes longer, and costs more, than anticipated. There is the strong likelihood that such an experience can take the owner's attention away from other things ... like their existing boat.
A series of events were also occurring aboard the Paisabatu II during this period. The cruise director we had previously known left the boat for another job. Then his replacement left after a short stint. Then a third cruise director left the boat a month before our trip, to be replaced by yet another person not familiar with Raja Ampat. Dive site selection was now up to the guides, but somewhere around the same time, one of Jerome's best dive guides, whom he had worked with for years, left for a job on another boat. Luckily, another former, very good dive guide from his boat was brought back on board on a short term contract. The dive boat business is a bit of a revolving door as jobs go, so these things aren't "necessarily" a red flag if taken alone, but repeated desertions could mean something else ... if one knows they're happening.
Back to this February ...
We boarded the boat and headed to Misool, where my wife and I remembered a series of excellent dive sites from our previous trip there. But with a few exceptions, this experience was different, featuring a number of repetitive, mundane sites that didn't exhibit the stunning underwater topography and life that we remembered. Since we don't carry our past log books, and had only been through the area once three years before, we weren't in a position to do much else than say, "That's not what I remember from before." This is the kind of experience repeated throughout the trip.
About the dive guides ...
On our first trip on this boat (10 passengers), Anto and Obe (Robert), were the guides, both experienced and familiar with the sites. Alain, cruise director, acted as a third guide for most dives. On the recent trip, Robert (Obe) was the "head guide", along with Dani, and a Papuan local, who shall remain unnamed. We had nine divers in 3 equal groups. The guides rotated among the groups on every dive.
Robert aka Obe was quite good, generally gave very clear briefings, and seemed familiar with the sites we dived, going at a nice pace and finding plenty of "good stuff". He would be a good addition to any boat, and I hope we meet again in the future.
Dani was the "class clown" ... beaming smile, always a laugh, inquisitive. But in an area with very diverse diving, Dani, having done a stint in Lembeh, was stuck in "muck mode" ... he would go straight to the bottom, put his head down, and start excavating for little critters, even if the site was known for schooling reef life on a shallow, current-swept plateau. He would often start fairly deep, 80-90+ feet, and he would forget that he had divers of varying SAC rates and tank sizes, and he had a dive site to get through. This led to some very frustrating dives.
The Papuan guide was a nice guy, but IMHO, not any kind of a dive guide. On one night dive, he led his group away from the solid terrain and off into the blue (the black ... night dive) with no explanation. The following day, he splashed with his group and missed the site, swimming around in the blue until one of the group surfaced, took a compass reading, then led the guide to the intended objective. At this point we insisted that the cruise director dive every remaining dive with this guide who was, at best, simply going along with his group, never leading, and at worst creating a possibly dangerous situation. There were actual arguments at briefings, seeing which group got the "short straw" and had to dive with this guy.
Now a jump forward ...
Late in the trip, we were near Kri Eco Resort, and some of our group went ashore to tour it. A Belgian diver aboard our boat met the resort's Belgian manager, and in the ensuing conversation, our guy suggested that we may not be diving the right sites, or possibly not be diving the right sites correctly. The manager replied that most boats in RA don't know the sites. It's worth noting that Max Ammer, who created the resort, practically "discovered" Raja Ampat diving. He's reputed to have flown over many dive sites in the area in his ultralight, noting that while a boat might be "at" a particular site, they weren't diving it properly.
After my lengthy rant, I'm not saying this trip was a bust. We did have some great dives, and Raja Ampat is beautiful, and the diverse group aboard the boat worked together pretty well. The crew was generally uniformly cheerful and helpful (with the exception of the dive guide shortcomings expressed earlier). The cruise director was dropped into the middle of a very difficult situation, and did a reasonable job of executing. I think Jerome, the boat's owner, is a decent, well-intentioned person, who became so buried by the "boatyard blues" experience with his new boat that his existing boat was left largely to fend for itself. In the end, we enjoyed this trip, but it could have been, and IMHO should have been, more than it was.
Lessons learned ...
- Things change. We did the second trip aboard the boat because of a much better experience on the first trip. If the first trip had been operated as the second one was, there would not have been a second trip, and I certainly would not have advertised it on Scubaboard (sorry, folks).
- Local knowledge means everything, unless you have knowingly signed aboard an "exploratory" liveaboard trip. Three seasons' experience, even with "local" guides, does not necessarily mean you'll have the local knowledge aboard that you really need. Just because you dived "XYZ Site", that does not mean you actually experienced the important feature(s) of the site.
- You are where you are, so deal with it. On a twelve-day liveaboard in the middle of nowhere, if the trip is not meeting your expectations, there is not much you can quantitatively change. You can have a lousy trip, or adapt and get the best possible return out of it ... and make a mental note not to repeat the experience in the future.
Clearly, the YMMV (your mileage may vary) rule is in effect on any dive trip. Here's to making the best decisions up front to give you the best trip for your buck.
First a little background ...
In October of 2009, my wife and I, and another Colorado friend, did a North Sulawesi trip. It began at a resort on Bunaken, then we boarded a boat in Bitung for a 12-day trip out of Lembeh, up through the Sangihe Archipelago, down through Bunaken to Poopoh, and back to Lembeh. The trip went smoothly, we had some great diving, and the boat, Paisabatu II, filled our needs ... the right level of service for us, well done, at a reasonable price.
Back home, I was surfing the 'net for future dive trips, and discovered that the boat from the above trip had begun Raja Ampat itineraries. Ah hah! Having previously been to RA, and wanting to return, I started a series of email exchanges with Jerome, the boat's owner ...
Indonesia: Wallacea Liveaboard Dive Safaris in Central Sulawesi - Our boat M/V Paisabatu
I told him that since our prior trip aboard his boat had gone so well, we'd like to go to RA on it, but we had concerns about any boat taking up an unfamiliar itinerary. He assured me that between all of the new information that had been published about RA dive sites, plus the fact that he would have local guides aboard, would guarantee a good experience. We decided to give them a few years to learn the sites, and boarded the boat this February.
More background ...
In the interim between our two trips aboard this boat, a number of things transpired. Jerome began building a new, larger boat, the MV Ambai, now launched and being fitted out. As a former naval architect/designer/engineer for a custom yacht builder, I can attest to the building of a custom boat being an all-consuming task, requiring one's constant, total attention. Almost invariably, it takes longer, and costs more, than anticipated. There is the strong likelihood that such an experience can take the owner's attention away from other things ... like their existing boat.
A series of events were also occurring aboard the Paisabatu II during this period. The cruise director we had previously known left the boat for another job. Then his replacement left after a short stint. Then a third cruise director left the boat a month before our trip, to be replaced by yet another person not familiar with Raja Ampat. Dive site selection was now up to the guides, but somewhere around the same time, one of Jerome's best dive guides, whom he had worked with for years, left for a job on another boat. Luckily, another former, very good dive guide from his boat was brought back on board on a short term contract. The dive boat business is a bit of a revolving door as jobs go, so these things aren't "necessarily" a red flag if taken alone, but repeated desertions could mean something else ... if one knows they're happening.
Back to this February ...
We boarded the boat and headed to Misool, where my wife and I remembered a series of excellent dive sites from our previous trip there. But with a few exceptions, this experience was different, featuring a number of repetitive, mundane sites that didn't exhibit the stunning underwater topography and life that we remembered. Since we don't carry our past log books, and had only been through the area once three years before, we weren't in a position to do much else than say, "That's not what I remember from before." This is the kind of experience repeated throughout the trip.
About the dive guides ...
On our first trip on this boat (10 passengers), Anto and Obe (Robert), were the guides, both experienced and familiar with the sites. Alain, cruise director, acted as a third guide for most dives. On the recent trip, Robert (Obe) was the "head guide", along with Dani, and a Papuan local, who shall remain unnamed. We had nine divers in 3 equal groups. The guides rotated among the groups on every dive.
Robert aka Obe was quite good, generally gave very clear briefings, and seemed familiar with the sites we dived, going at a nice pace and finding plenty of "good stuff". He would be a good addition to any boat, and I hope we meet again in the future.
Dani was the "class clown" ... beaming smile, always a laugh, inquisitive. But in an area with very diverse diving, Dani, having done a stint in Lembeh, was stuck in "muck mode" ... he would go straight to the bottom, put his head down, and start excavating for little critters, even if the site was known for schooling reef life on a shallow, current-swept plateau. He would often start fairly deep, 80-90+ feet, and he would forget that he had divers of varying SAC rates and tank sizes, and he had a dive site to get through. This led to some very frustrating dives.
The Papuan guide was a nice guy, but IMHO, not any kind of a dive guide. On one night dive, he led his group away from the solid terrain and off into the blue (the black ... night dive) with no explanation. The following day, he splashed with his group and missed the site, swimming around in the blue until one of the group surfaced, took a compass reading, then led the guide to the intended objective. At this point we insisted that the cruise director dive every remaining dive with this guide who was, at best, simply going along with his group, never leading, and at worst creating a possibly dangerous situation. There were actual arguments at briefings, seeing which group got the "short straw" and had to dive with this guy.
Now a jump forward ...
Late in the trip, we were near Kri Eco Resort, and some of our group went ashore to tour it. A Belgian diver aboard our boat met the resort's Belgian manager, and in the ensuing conversation, our guy suggested that we may not be diving the right sites, or possibly not be diving the right sites correctly. The manager replied that most boats in RA don't know the sites. It's worth noting that Max Ammer, who created the resort, practically "discovered" Raja Ampat diving. He's reputed to have flown over many dive sites in the area in his ultralight, noting that while a boat might be "at" a particular site, they weren't diving it properly.
After my lengthy rant, I'm not saying this trip was a bust. We did have some great dives, and Raja Ampat is beautiful, and the diverse group aboard the boat worked together pretty well. The crew was generally uniformly cheerful and helpful (with the exception of the dive guide shortcomings expressed earlier). The cruise director was dropped into the middle of a very difficult situation, and did a reasonable job of executing. I think Jerome, the boat's owner, is a decent, well-intentioned person, who became so buried by the "boatyard blues" experience with his new boat that his existing boat was left largely to fend for itself. In the end, we enjoyed this trip, but it could have been, and IMHO should have been, more than it was.
Lessons learned ...
- Things change. We did the second trip aboard the boat because of a much better experience on the first trip. If the first trip had been operated as the second one was, there would not have been a second trip, and I certainly would not have advertised it on Scubaboard (sorry, folks).
- Local knowledge means everything, unless you have knowingly signed aboard an "exploratory" liveaboard trip. Three seasons' experience, even with "local" guides, does not necessarily mean you'll have the local knowledge aboard that you really need. Just because you dived "XYZ Site", that does not mean you actually experienced the important feature(s) of the site.
- You are where you are, so deal with it. On a twelve-day liveaboard in the middle of nowhere, if the trip is not meeting your expectations, there is not much you can quantitatively change. You can have a lousy trip, or adapt and get the best possible return out of it ... and make a mental note not to repeat the experience in the future.
Clearly, the YMMV (your mileage may vary) rule is in effect on any dive trip. Here's to making the best decisions up front to give you the best trip for your buck.
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