Ever since I started on underwater macro-photography 3 years ago, I have decided that Irian Jaya to be on my list of must-visit destinations and I had always been anticipating a visit to this mythical land. ‘Raja Ampat’ translates as four kings from Bahasa Indonesia, comprises an archipelago of over 600 islands off the western tip of the Indonesian half of New Guinea. Studies show that the exotic and mysterious islands of Irian Jaya to be the epicenter of global marine biodiversity. Dec 15th 2007…. FINALLY the day has arrived and I’m on my way to discover this paradise on Earth and diving the last frontiers.
Getting there
To get to Raja Ampat, we have to fly into the town of Sorong, located on the North West of New Guniea’s Bird’s Head Peninsular. We flew first from Singapore to Manado via a 3 hours 15 minutes Silk Air flight and then another 2 hours on a domestic Indonesian airline, Merpati. The flight schedule of the local airline, connecting Manado to Sorong was incompatible, so we had to stay one night in Manado. Both flights were uneventful with some minor delays. Upon arrival at Sorong Airport, we were met and greeted by representatives from Grand Komodo. They promptly collected our bags, and a 20 minutes taxi to the dock; we were ferried out to our floating home for the next 8 days, MV Raja Ampat by dinghies.
MV Raja Ampat (Liveaboards Dive Cruises Bali Komodo Sulawesi Flores Alor Papua Raja Ampat Indonesia) is a beautiful wooden yacht, extensively re-fitted and furnished in 2006, with 14 en-suite private cabins, an air-conditioned lounge and dining area, and two camera tables with enough sockets for every photographers. The dive platform is well organized; each diver was assigned a basket for our equipments and tanks are fully secured and tagged. There are also a huge table and two big rinse tanks for cameras ONLY. The sundeck is sheltered and sun-chairs available for those who wants to chill-out in the breeze during surface interval. Aili and I were assigned to the double cabin on the upper deck, Room 1314 meaning “Eternity” in Chinese.
After we have got our gears stowed and camera equipments set-up, Herry, our DM and coordinator for the trip gave us a short orientation and introduced us to the ten crew on the boat. We were also briefed on the dive sites that he has planned for the next 8 days. We were divided into 3 groups: Raja 1- the non-photographers: Patricia, Josephine, Kylie, Michael and Fabian and were christened “Rock & Roll” divers due to their love for drift currents, Raja 2- 1st group of photographers: Goh Siang, Eve, Jo, Yen and Conan or “Canon” whom Herry mistakenly referred to and Raja 3- 2nd group of photographers: Phua, Philip, Aili and myself. Dive masters: Herry, Johny and Noak will rotated among the three groups but the “Rock & Roll” divers definitely prefer Noak as he is like a fish in the water and can spot stuffs from macro pygmy seahorse to eagle rays from a distance.
We did our check out dive at Matan Island in Sorong to ensure that our equipments are functioning and weighting was correct. I have got a new 3mm ScubaPro wetsuit and felt negative buoyant using my usual two kilos weights… the aluminum tank was unusually heavy. Despite that, I was happy to be breathing underwater again and saw my first Wobbegong shark, few nudibranchs, anemone shrimps and an orang utan crab. The boat set sail for Raja Ampat after lunch. It will take about 5 hours to get there and all of us were feeling tired so off we went to slumberland. The boat anchored near Mansuar Reef for our first night dive in Raja Ampat. Night creatures like gobies, shrimps and crabs, barramundi cods and nudibranchs kept me busy throughout the 64 minutes dive. After a delightful dinner, we have a little surprise installed for Aili; we requested the chef to bake her a birthday cake and she celebrated her 33rd year on the high seas. Sweet!
Diving Memories- Day 3 to 8
I did another 26 dives covering Fam Island (Barracuda Point, Fam Channel, West Fam Wall, Mandarin Point, Barracuda Reef, Melisa’s Garden, Anita’s Garden, Penemu Wall, Air Borei (Manta Point), Mansuar (Mike’s Point, Batu Lima/Five Rocks, Mioskon, Chicken Reef, Sardine Reef, Crossover, Cape Kri), Waigeo (The Passage, Nudi Rock) and Wai Island (P-47 D Thunderbolt “Razorback” WWII wreck ditched in the area on 21st Oct 1944 after having ran out of fuel). Dive briefing with detailed map was given before each dive and each group took turns to go first. The sites were usually about 5-10 minutes away and entry into the water was via back-roll. Water temperature ranged from 28-30 degree Celsius. The water was not gin-clear, with visibility averaging 8-12 meters, due to an abundance of nutrients, which in turn make the sea life so prolific.
The reefs of Fam Island were plastered with brightly colored soft corals. There are healthy colonies of yellow, pink, purple and red corals at virtually every depth, to within 3 meters of the surface. Aili named these reefs the LAND of hydroids…I guess I need not explain why? At the correct tide, the vicinity pumps with activity. Large schools of surgeonfish, fusiliers and anthias block out the sunlight as they shoal down the length of the reef. At times, huge trevallies and jacks circled and attacked the fusiliers and it was always delightful watching the action but at the same time, I was too engrossed on photographing macro objects like blennies, gobies, nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses that I hoped for longer time underwater.
The diving highlight for most of us will be at Manta Point where giant manta rays congregate to perform their graceful somersaults; feeding on plankton while their wings and gills were preened by cleaner wrasses. I counted eight of them, some were white with dark markings, others were black on white and two were plain black. An absolutely magical sight to watch. This was also a macro site where I saw a pair of sea moths, a cute looking pipefish, anemone shrimps, nudibranchs and flatworms.
The Passage, as it is known resembles a river between two islands. The journey took us through thickly forested limestone islands, very similar to Palau’s topside landscape. The shallower slope is a good spot for flatworms, nudibranchs and shrimp gobies. As I drifted with the currents, I saw an abundance of soft corals, sea fans and sponges growing from the sides and floor of the channel. When sunlight penetrates and illuminates the cave, the effect is just WOW as proven in Conan’s pictures.
Diving at Cape Kri ROCKS, one of the most famous dive sites at Raja Ampat as claimed by many dive magazines and it is no surprise why. In the current, divers here can look forward to being literally engulfed by fish, huge swirling schools of jacks, giant trevallies and chevron barracuda. In addition to these expect to see large napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and reef sharks as you drift along with the fish. At the shallow reefs, there is a profusion of corals growth. Among them live many species of smaller reef fish such as colorful anthias, hawk fish, gobies and numerous invertebrates including shrimps and crabs, pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, and an occasional octopus.
One of my favorite dives was the night dive at Penemu Wall. Here, the sea sparkled at the shone of my torch and strange looking crabs and shrimps were littering all over the corals and sea floor. Another great but scary night dive was at Mioskon Reef where I found the Holy Grail of Diving- the blue-ringed octopus but it was no fun to be photographing this little poisonous creature at night. I was all alone and took a few shots when suddenly I just lost sight of it from my view finder. I kind of freaked out and decided to shorten my dive. Nice but Bummer!
Topside Memories
The topside stuff is almost as exciting as what is found underneath the water. As the boat cruised through the waters of Raja Ampat Islands surrounded by karst limestone formations, I found myself having these Déjà vu feelings that I was back in Palau. Sunsets, when visible, were always spectacular, sending streaks of impossible colors (red, orange, blue) across the sky, in five dimensions.
We visited a Papuan village during surface interval on Day 6. When we arrived at the jetty, I approached a group of smiling kids, looking shy but ready to be photographed. Their eyes sparkled and there were endless giggles when I showed them their faces taken on my viewfinder. As I walked on, the villagers stopped to say “Hello” and I took many more photographs of plentiful kids in the village and there were laughers everywhere. The village was very well kept and most houses had small garden of flowers in front of their house. We were impressed by its orderliness and cleanliness.
The Crew
The crew consisted of ten hardworking Indonesians who stuck to their specialties, from kitchen work to engine room work to working the tender boats, to sailing the mother ship. The chef, in particular has our votes, as he is the master of creation. In 8 days onboard the ship, there was never a duplicate lunch or dinner. He made the best soups and baked the most delightful cakes. Yummy!!
GS’s Dive Group
Some are old and some are new but what a fun loving bunch! Aili and I are new to the group and Goh Siang; the organizer interviewed her for a cool 20 minutes before we secured our places on the boat. There are the “Rock & Roll” divers who fought currents to seek adrenaline rush; Phua, the “O” ring fetish who spent 20 minutes cleaning his “O” ring after each dive and will soon be “O” ringed on Facebook. The bizarre "Foursome" relationship among Goh Siang, Michael, Fabian and Conan provided endless jokes. Aili, my Dear or lesbian dive buddy, who shares and talks about any topics under the sun. And then, there is Me, christened the Poker machine or Gambling Queen so guess you all know what I excel best besides diving. All in all, I enjoyed everyone’s company and have a wonderful time onboard and I hope you all do too J
Raja Reigns Supreme…
Both above and below the water’s surface the Raja Ampat islands of Irian Jaya are teeming with the diversity of life and this will be an experience I’ll long to remember.
Pix link: Jovin's Cool Photos!! :: Beneath MV Raja Ampat
Happy bubbles,
Jovin-
Getting there
To get to Raja Ampat, we have to fly into the town of Sorong, located on the North West of New Guniea’s Bird’s Head Peninsular. We flew first from Singapore to Manado via a 3 hours 15 minutes Silk Air flight and then another 2 hours on a domestic Indonesian airline, Merpati. The flight schedule of the local airline, connecting Manado to Sorong was incompatible, so we had to stay one night in Manado. Both flights were uneventful with some minor delays. Upon arrival at Sorong Airport, we were met and greeted by representatives from Grand Komodo. They promptly collected our bags, and a 20 minutes taxi to the dock; we were ferried out to our floating home for the next 8 days, MV Raja Ampat by dinghies.
MV Raja Ampat (Liveaboards Dive Cruises Bali Komodo Sulawesi Flores Alor Papua Raja Ampat Indonesia) is a beautiful wooden yacht, extensively re-fitted and furnished in 2006, with 14 en-suite private cabins, an air-conditioned lounge and dining area, and two camera tables with enough sockets for every photographers. The dive platform is well organized; each diver was assigned a basket for our equipments and tanks are fully secured and tagged. There are also a huge table and two big rinse tanks for cameras ONLY. The sundeck is sheltered and sun-chairs available for those who wants to chill-out in the breeze during surface interval. Aili and I were assigned to the double cabin on the upper deck, Room 1314 meaning “Eternity” in Chinese.
After we have got our gears stowed and camera equipments set-up, Herry, our DM and coordinator for the trip gave us a short orientation and introduced us to the ten crew on the boat. We were also briefed on the dive sites that he has planned for the next 8 days. We were divided into 3 groups: Raja 1- the non-photographers: Patricia, Josephine, Kylie, Michael and Fabian and were christened “Rock & Roll” divers due to their love for drift currents, Raja 2- 1st group of photographers: Goh Siang, Eve, Jo, Yen and Conan or “Canon” whom Herry mistakenly referred to and Raja 3- 2nd group of photographers: Phua, Philip, Aili and myself. Dive masters: Herry, Johny and Noak will rotated among the three groups but the “Rock & Roll” divers definitely prefer Noak as he is like a fish in the water and can spot stuffs from macro pygmy seahorse to eagle rays from a distance.
We did our check out dive at Matan Island in Sorong to ensure that our equipments are functioning and weighting was correct. I have got a new 3mm ScubaPro wetsuit and felt negative buoyant using my usual two kilos weights… the aluminum tank was unusually heavy. Despite that, I was happy to be breathing underwater again and saw my first Wobbegong shark, few nudibranchs, anemone shrimps and an orang utan crab. The boat set sail for Raja Ampat after lunch. It will take about 5 hours to get there and all of us were feeling tired so off we went to slumberland. The boat anchored near Mansuar Reef for our first night dive in Raja Ampat. Night creatures like gobies, shrimps and crabs, barramundi cods and nudibranchs kept me busy throughout the 64 minutes dive. After a delightful dinner, we have a little surprise installed for Aili; we requested the chef to bake her a birthday cake and she celebrated her 33rd year on the high seas. Sweet!
Diving Memories- Day 3 to 8
I did another 26 dives covering Fam Island (Barracuda Point, Fam Channel, West Fam Wall, Mandarin Point, Barracuda Reef, Melisa’s Garden, Anita’s Garden, Penemu Wall, Air Borei (Manta Point), Mansuar (Mike’s Point, Batu Lima/Five Rocks, Mioskon, Chicken Reef, Sardine Reef, Crossover, Cape Kri), Waigeo (The Passage, Nudi Rock) and Wai Island (P-47 D Thunderbolt “Razorback” WWII wreck ditched in the area on 21st Oct 1944 after having ran out of fuel). Dive briefing with detailed map was given before each dive and each group took turns to go first. The sites were usually about 5-10 minutes away and entry into the water was via back-roll. Water temperature ranged from 28-30 degree Celsius. The water was not gin-clear, with visibility averaging 8-12 meters, due to an abundance of nutrients, which in turn make the sea life so prolific.
The reefs of Fam Island were plastered with brightly colored soft corals. There are healthy colonies of yellow, pink, purple and red corals at virtually every depth, to within 3 meters of the surface. Aili named these reefs the LAND of hydroids…I guess I need not explain why? At the correct tide, the vicinity pumps with activity. Large schools of surgeonfish, fusiliers and anthias block out the sunlight as they shoal down the length of the reef. At times, huge trevallies and jacks circled and attacked the fusiliers and it was always delightful watching the action but at the same time, I was too engrossed on photographing macro objects like blennies, gobies, nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses that I hoped for longer time underwater.
The diving highlight for most of us will be at Manta Point where giant manta rays congregate to perform their graceful somersaults; feeding on plankton while their wings and gills were preened by cleaner wrasses. I counted eight of them, some were white with dark markings, others were black on white and two were plain black. An absolutely magical sight to watch. This was also a macro site where I saw a pair of sea moths, a cute looking pipefish, anemone shrimps, nudibranchs and flatworms.
The Passage, as it is known resembles a river between two islands. The journey took us through thickly forested limestone islands, very similar to Palau’s topside landscape. The shallower slope is a good spot for flatworms, nudibranchs and shrimp gobies. As I drifted with the currents, I saw an abundance of soft corals, sea fans and sponges growing from the sides and floor of the channel. When sunlight penetrates and illuminates the cave, the effect is just WOW as proven in Conan’s pictures.
Diving at Cape Kri ROCKS, one of the most famous dive sites at Raja Ampat as claimed by many dive magazines and it is no surprise why. In the current, divers here can look forward to being literally engulfed by fish, huge swirling schools of jacks, giant trevallies and chevron barracuda. In addition to these expect to see large napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and reef sharks as you drift along with the fish. At the shallow reefs, there is a profusion of corals growth. Among them live many species of smaller reef fish such as colorful anthias, hawk fish, gobies and numerous invertebrates including shrimps and crabs, pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, and an occasional octopus.
One of my favorite dives was the night dive at Penemu Wall. Here, the sea sparkled at the shone of my torch and strange looking crabs and shrimps were littering all over the corals and sea floor. Another great but scary night dive was at Mioskon Reef where I found the Holy Grail of Diving- the blue-ringed octopus but it was no fun to be photographing this little poisonous creature at night. I was all alone and took a few shots when suddenly I just lost sight of it from my view finder. I kind of freaked out and decided to shorten my dive. Nice but Bummer!
Topside Memories
The topside stuff is almost as exciting as what is found underneath the water. As the boat cruised through the waters of Raja Ampat Islands surrounded by karst limestone formations, I found myself having these Déjà vu feelings that I was back in Palau. Sunsets, when visible, were always spectacular, sending streaks of impossible colors (red, orange, blue) across the sky, in five dimensions.
We visited a Papuan village during surface interval on Day 6. When we arrived at the jetty, I approached a group of smiling kids, looking shy but ready to be photographed. Their eyes sparkled and there were endless giggles when I showed them their faces taken on my viewfinder. As I walked on, the villagers stopped to say “Hello” and I took many more photographs of plentiful kids in the village and there were laughers everywhere. The village was very well kept and most houses had small garden of flowers in front of their house. We were impressed by its orderliness and cleanliness.
The Crew
The crew consisted of ten hardworking Indonesians who stuck to their specialties, from kitchen work to engine room work to working the tender boats, to sailing the mother ship. The chef, in particular has our votes, as he is the master of creation. In 8 days onboard the ship, there was never a duplicate lunch or dinner. He made the best soups and baked the most delightful cakes. Yummy!!
GS’s Dive Group
Some are old and some are new but what a fun loving bunch! Aili and I are new to the group and Goh Siang; the organizer interviewed her for a cool 20 minutes before we secured our places on the boat. There are the “Rock & Roll” divers who fought currents to seek adrenaline rush; Phua, the “O” ring fetish who spent 20 minutes cleaning his “O” ring after each dive and will soon be “O” ringed on Facebook. The bizarre "Foursome" relationship among Goh Siang, Michael, Fabian and Conan provided endless jokes. Aili, my Dear or lesbian dive buddy, who shares and talks about any topics under the sun. And then, there is Me, christened the Poker machine or Gambling Queen so guess you all know what I excel best besides diving. All in all, I enjoyed everyone’s company and have a wonderful time onboard and I hope you all do too J
Raja Reigns Supreme…
Both above and below the water’s surface the Raja Ampat islands of Irian Jaya are teeming with the diversity of life and this will be an experience I’ll long to remember.
Pix link: Jovin's Cool Photos!! :: Beneath MV Raja Ampat
Happy bubbles,
Jovin-
