Disappointed from Raja Ampat

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Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Location
Germany
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi Forum members,

i just wanted to share my impression of Raja Ampat from which I just returned. We stayed at Kri Eco Resort. The Resort itself is basic, but clean and functional. Food was also very good considering the remote location.
The staff is very friendly and in general everything was nice.

Not for the diving.
We have been to Komodo, several times to Bali (Menjangan, Tulamben, Padang Bai, Nusa Penida + Lembongan) to Sulawesi ( Bunaken, Lembeh, Sahaung) and Egypt (SES and Hurghada), Palau and other places. In total around 350 dives.

We hoped to see some impressive Underwater life, but this was not really what happened.

we had lots of current on some divesites, and very beautiful corals, sometimes nice big school of fish, but nothing real special.

During a 10 day stay we saw no walking shark and only one hidden wobbegong inside a cave. A summary, let it be 1 or 2 more species we saw, but concerning the pictures I took:

2 small lionfish, 2 Scorpionfish. 1 Flathead crocodilefish.
about 3 -5 nudibranchs, nothing special. 2 Mantisshrimp.
2 mooray eels. 2 bargibanti pygmies.1 octopus, 3 squid and 5 Mantas (which compensated a lot ...) and 3 sharks and 3 Turtles.

what i expected, but did not see (nor did the the other guests):
- no Ghostpipefish
- no Frogfishes (the guide also had never seen one in 18 years!)
- no exotic nudibranchs
- no exotic mooray eels (honeycomb or other)
- no pontohi, no denise nor other pygmies except 2 bargibanti
- no Rhinopia
- no blue ring octopus or other interesting
- no macro stuff that might have been worth a picture

For me the most disappointing thing was the "world record reef" Cap Kri with 374 counted species during one dive. Only at the End where the Fish comes together in the current you had some nice photo scenery, otherwise it was a quite boring divesite.

Often we also encountered a lot of liveaboards that made some dives a terrible experience. More divers on the reef than fish.

i draw the conclusion, that this part of Raja Ampat has almost no macro stuff and is heavy marketed in magazines etc. - For me I had much better and impressing dives in other places and i feel somehow betrayed...or dissapointed.

This thread might help some people that want to travel there and pay big €$ for the last divers paradise - for me (us) and other guests it was not what we expected.
 
Well I would be drawn to the conclusions that :
1- you maynot be a very good photographer to shoot only lionfish and scorpionfish
2- You didn't have a very good dive guide, in Mayhem dive site since it is typical to spot anything from 3 to 5 wobbegongs
3- You woud need some appropriate goggles since just on the right handside of Kri Eco resort house reef wall there are LOTS of severnsi pygmies, plus you missed the probably unique Raja Ampat seahorse specie on the gorgonians down Cape Kri
4- probably you would have been better off nightdiving than indulging on peanuts and beer, Mansuar reefs are for instance a great place to spot blue rings.

But anyway, let's agree with your conclusion if that can scare away hords of unexperienced or bored divers from the place and leave more place for us the mundane spot divers.

Pls accept the red nose award for this magnificent post, tied with the one that stated "Bali diving is not very good" . Thanks for the laugh, so funny.
 
+1 with Luko, was on a 10 days dive trip on a liveboard operated by Wallacea. On the boat: all divers very happy with their cruise. One exception: one guy that wanted to see big stuff. For this, Rajah Ampat is not the best place, I agree. :)
 
I am sorry that you did not have a good experience in RA. We have been 3x and loved it EVERY time!!! The macro was incredible! I would have to say " What did we Not see?" On one night dive our dive guide spotted a twin spot frog fish with eggs! Nothing but good memories for RA!
 
We hoped to see some impressive Underwater life, but this was not really what happened.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think everyone should go elsewhere for good diving. Yup. Cancel all those LOB trips. But ... I might just go back there for the third time, just to experience all those lousy dive sites. I mean, somebody's gotta do it, right? :wink:
 
Sad to hear the diving sucked
 
Wow! Can i share some videos or photos of our trip of the pipefish & frogfish my buddy took during our stay at Kri?

I dont have 20/20 vision & barely finished AOW there so i didnt see those either. Also, we found "more" fishes when there are currents. The trouble is fighting currents & trying to keep the dive long enough.

At high tide, even the Kri house reef was teaming with lots of action for snorkeling alone.

During my AOW, I was greeted with a young reef shark for the Deep dive; had trouble focusing during the peak performance buoyancy cuz all the little bottom dwellers came to spectate; schools of barracuda, giant Napoleon Wrass, school of bumphead parrots crusing around the Drift dive was an extra treat!
 
I was at Raja a few weeks ago and saw everything and more on your list other than Rhinopias. We had wobbegongs everywhere including an almost white one. Mayhem was awesome.

I guess sometimes it goes like this - the ocean isnt a tv where you punch in what channel you want and get whats scheduled - I did 6 trips to North Sulawesi before I found mating mandarin fish. I found many of my want to see list and a heap more from winged pipefish to my own personal wishlist item persian carpet flatworms and walking sharks to napoleans. Perhaps your guide's eyes were a bit off or perhaps you weren't spotting things that were there. Give Raja another go, to me it certainly beats hell out of Bali.
 
We also had a wonderful time in RA last year. It may have just been a case where you might have been better doing a liveaboard. On Christmas Day we were just around the bay from Kri Eco and well the three dives there were so good that I was beginning to think that mabey Father Christmas did exist after all.

Try a LOB next time and so sorry that you were disappointed with what should have been a trip of a lifetime.
 
Let's not be too tough on the OP. He is just stating his opinion and if he was disappointed with his trip, I'm sorry to hear that. There are lots of reasons, however, why his experience would not be the same as everyone's else. He may have had exceedingly high expectations, a very poor dive guide, a limited variety of dive sites because he was at a resort or just really bad luck. Sometimes it happens. He is not the first person to ever say they were disappointed with RA but he is definitely in a tiny minority. I've head another person say that they thought Komodo was not as good as the Caribbean. Strange but it happens.
 
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