Misool or Triton Bay?

[calliejlong]

Ok, I have narrowed down my next Indonesia dive destination. It is now between Misool or Triton Bay. Is there much of a difference between the two? Anyone who would recommend one over the other? Or is there a better place in the Raja Ampat area? I love different unusual types of nudis, rhinopias, pygmy seahorses, and other small odd critters. Wouldn't mind seeing a wobeggong shark or whale shark either. Would love to hear thoughts and any good info. about both places. Thanks in advance!

 

[paolobl65]

Hello Callie , I was in Triton Bay last Cristhmas for 14 days and I had a very good time , I cannot compare to Misool ( never been there ) , anyway the resort ( Triton bay divers : Home ) is friendly and well organized . Very nice beach in front the bungalow . The food also is very very good .
Diving : one on my best dive trip ! From pigmy seahorse to whale shark . I was very surprised about the quality and quantity of macro subject , epecially pigmy seahorse , In one dive you can easily fine : denise , pontoi and bargibanti ( and when I left they told me satomi as well ) . And not only one kind of denise ....many !!!
If you like you can see my macro album in flickr ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/paolobl65/albums/72157677301099011 ) . Very interesting the dedicated dive to see the flasher wrasse ( not easy to shot anyway ) .
Reefscape is also very nice , untouched , gorgeus , full of fish and some great wide angle opportunity is possible because the reef and the forest seem to mix each others !
The only down size is visibility sometime poor and a little green color cast ,
Again if you like some wide angle picture are here : https://www.flickr.com/photos/paolobl65/albums/72157679783634576 .
Every week is organized a dive with whale shark ( 50" - 1 h boat ride , btw all other dive is 10 - 30 boat ride away ) to the fish platform . Very nice and exiting experience ( my 1 time in over 800 dive ) and very good photo oppurtunity . Again : visibility not so good that time ( grrrrr.... ! )
Above the water is also one of the best place I visit : every day we spent the surface interval in one desert beach ( some photo in the gallery ) and i seem to be like Robinson Crosue.

hope this can help
Paolo Isgro

 

[Adelaar Cruises]

Greeting from Indonesia calliejlong,

Misool is seasonal when do you plan on going?

There are liveavoards in the area that will leave from Sorong and end in Kaimana, this would give you the opportunity to see both.

As Dr. Mark Erdmann (Vice President of Conservation International Asia-Pacific) said, "If Raja Ampat Is Paradise, Triton Bay Is the Temple in Paradise".

Tough choice!

 

[billt4sf]

Hi calliejlong

I have been to Misool twice and it was f'ing awesome both times. the diving was great and the resort was fantastic. They do a lot of good environmental work, too. AWESOME location built around a lagoon with baby sharks, and they are well-organized and a high price tag to go with it. Totally worth it if you can afford it.

I can't say anything specific about Triton Bay, having never been there, but it seems from their website they may be in an earlier stage of development than Misool -- just guessing here, but their website says they do not have 24-hour electric which is a non-starter for me.

At the same time, if this is your one trip to Raja Ampat and you want more diving than you do resort you might want to go with a liveaboard as Adelaar suggests. Misool works very well if you have non-divers in your party as they have great snorkeling and a couple beaches. And what a location!

As far as seeing "small, odd critters" I think that RA is not the BEST place for that -- RA is more about beautiful corals and huge school of fish, sharks including wobbegong, etc. and yes, those damn pygmy seahorses are plentiful.

If you want "small, odd critters" I would think you want to go to Lembeh but others would have more to say about that since that is not my thing.

- Bill

 

[calliejlong]

Paolo - thanks so much for the information. Your pictures were amazing. My son and I really enjoyed looking them over. Can you tell me if there is much to see on land in this area? How good did you feel the nudibranch selection was there? The flasher wrasse looks so pretty to see. Is it true that the resort there does not have 24 hour electric?

Adelaar - I am planning a trip in October. I would have considered a liveaboard however I am bringing along my father and he would not enjoy being stuck on a liveaboard since he no longer dives and gets very seasick. Also, we were hoping to stay someplace that had possibly birds to watch or a little bit of stuff on land to see.

Bill - I thought that RA might not be the best spot for macro but some of the other odd things that we would like to see like the wobbegongs and pygmy seahorses. I have been to Lembeh but have to admit that I was just not that impressed. I wasn't real happy with my dive guide there. Still wondering if I should give it another chance and stay somewhere else in Lembeh but then again I like to try new places too. Besides, Lembeh we have already been to Talumben, Nusa Lembongan, Komodo and Ambon (might go back to Ambon though for a few days if we are headed towards Misool or Triton Bay).

 

[billt4sf]

Bill - I thought that RA might not be the best spot for macro but some of the other odd things that we would like to see like the wobbegongs and pygmy seahorses. I have been to Lembeh but have to admit that I was just not that impressed. I wasn't real happy with my dive guide there. Still wondering if I should give it another chance and stay somewhere else in Lembeh but then again I like to try new places too. Besides, Lembeh we have already been to Talumben, Nusa Lembongan, Komodo and Ambon (might go back to Ambon though for a few days if we are headed towards Misool or Triton Bay).

You'd have to ask someone else whether RA is a "good spot for macro" as I am not a "photographer". I know many photogs on the boat and at Misool were always talking about "which lens to use".

If you can afford Misool, you won't be disappointed.

- Bill

 

[jcclink]

If you're interested in the best macro area I'd consider Ambon with Maluku Divers. Very few divers in the large bay. Good wide angle dives outside the bay are also available. Ambon is on par with Lembeh for critters. I've seen a few more species there than in Lembeh. Another area that is slowly being discovered is Alor. It's a good mix of wide angle & macro. Alami Alor Dive Resort (new in 2015) only takes 8 divers & is a great resort. I only saw 7 of their 10 rhinopias & a different more rare species of wobbygong last Oct.

 

[paolobl65]

Hi Callie , glad to hear you like my shots !

some answer :

Electricty run only from 6,30 AM to 11.00 PM . It was my first time in resort with no 24 h electricity , and I was a little bit worried about that before getting there . Definitly no problem at all , just a little planning to charge all the battery camera , strobe , laptop, and to have little flash light on my bed during the night just in case .
It was very beautiful one night with the perfect sky full of star ... next time I have to plan a nigth shot !
BTW : Triton Bay Divers don't have aircon , but not a problem because the bungalow are well ventilated and the night not so hot . Anyway I can understand for some person this can be an issue . When I was there all other guest ( from australia , USA , Germany ) has no problem as well .

Land escursion and birdwatching : I didn't made any land escursion so I cannot help you , I suggest you to contact Jimmy ( the owner , a very friendly person ) for more detail .
During our boat ride we saw many birds , sometime very big eagle .... but no telephoto available to take a good shot !

Macro : I dove in the best macro place many times ( Tulamben , Anilao , Lembeh , and this year also Alor and Ambon ) and I understand the dive guide make the real difference from an average dive trip to a great dive trip .
This is even more important if you are a photographer .
Triton Bay divers have 3 skilled dive guide from Manado , and this is a very important point . I dove in very small group ( max 3 ) and most of the time even only me and the dive guide !!
About nudi : you can see here ( Anthony's Nudibranchs ) the 250 different nudi discovered during last Diving4images trip . Hope it is enough for you .... !
The dive guide can find very small subjects : some nudi shot in my Flickr gallery are made with Reverse macro ring : the long side frame is only 6 mm wide !
Another good point is the macro dive sites have very little current .
Ah ... I also saw wobbegong 2 times ( even if in Raja Ampat are more frequent ) .

thank you again Callie to give me the possibility to remember the very good time I had in Triton Bay .
I cannot forget the sensation to have been a pioneer in the last dive frontier .

Paolo

 

[calliejlong]

Paolo, thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions. Alor was the other location that I have been going back and forth with as well as Triton Bay. Misool is definitely put to the background for now. Thanks for mentioning to me that you have been to Alor. I have a few questions about that area too...Where did you stay at in Alor? Could you compare Alor to Triton Bay? Maybe tell me what differences between the two places and what place you enjoyed diving more and why? More odd nudis in Alor or Triton Bay? Sorry it sounds like an essay that I'm asking you to write! I appreciate the link to the nudibranch pictures. I had fun looking at all of them. I agree that dive guides make all the difference. Had the best dive guide in Anilao but then was not happy with the one in Lembeh and for that reason I haven't been back to that area. Thanks again for all of your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[paolobl65]

Hi Callie , I'm than happy to give you same info .

I was in Alami Alor Dive Resort 10 days last August .
The resort is very very nice , a little bit more luxury than Triton Bay Divers , with 24h electricity and air con . The food also very good , anyway one point more for Triton Bay that make a wonderful beach barbecue one per week .
Alami Alor has a beautiful sunset , but there is no beach only rock and big stone , IMHO Triton Bay location is much more beautiful ( btw : this shot is made from the door of my room in TritonBay : IMG_8035 )
My only complain about Alami Alor Resort was the Muezzin in the local mosque that every day at 04.30 AM make the prayer with loudspeaker for 30 " ( and you hear very well ) , so really don't happy about this unwanted early wake up .
In Triton Bay the only complain is slow internet access so no mail or facebook ( but Whatapp works ) , hope it will be faster next future .

About diving the two location are different :
Alor has cold water ( some time 21°C outside the bay ) , triton Bay warm ( always 28-29 °C ) , more visibility in Alor more fish in Triton Bay .
Alami Alor Divers has only one boat , so 8 guests + 2 dive guide in that boat was a little crowded , fortunately only 2 guest has big camera otherwise we cannot stay , no toilet on board , and surface interval on the boat .
I prefer much more the Triton Bay Divers operation : 2 boat for the same guest number , much more space and every time the surface interval in a wonderful desert beach .
( btw : I take a cold in Alor after 5 day because even if I had 7,5 mm semidry suit the .... toilet was in the sea ... )
Alor has all the 3 kind of rinophia , but not so much macro as Triton Bay , maybe because the dive guide in Alami Alor were not so skilled : this is my real big complain , and some friend of mine were there in October and they were also very disappointed .
In Alor I didn't make any special wide angle dive because the guide said too much current ( in Alor the current can be dangerous ) , and unfortunately I lost the last days when they went to see the hammerheads ( ... grrr ) .
Interesting in Alor the traps and the sperfishing ( 14082016-IMG_5252 )
In Triton bay wide angle dives I like very much the soft coral ( sometimes it seem to be in Fiji !! ) and the black coral forest . Whale shark on fish platform was also a unique experience .

You can see some picture from Alor here https://www.flickr.com/photos/paolobl65/albums/72157677543892084 , not so many also because I lost 4 day diving because the cold .

In summary I'd not came back to Alor ( or change resort ) and really want to came back to Triton Bay , and what I really like about Triton Bay that I feel really at the edge of the known world !!