Getting to Raja Ampat

[SteveM54]

I'm trying to plan a liveaboard trip (10-17 days on the "boats") to the Raja Ampat area for Jan. - Feb or March of '25.
My once in a life time trip !!!!

Starting in St. Louis, Mo.
Going through Seattle - Taipei -Jakarta - then Sorong.
That's 11,873 flight miles over 67 hours in airports - traveling alone.
Kind of "dicey" but do-able.
I'm concerned about being totally worn out from the ride just getting there (just hit 70) & then having to sleep for three days just to recover from the "jet lag".
So if anyone else has had this type of experience, please share your ideas with me as to:
1. Did you stop for a "day or three" somewhere & dive or tour or just rest or ????
2. What liveaboards did you like or not ? Found one that has a 7 day & then the next trip is 10 more days = 17 days back to back.
3. I have the time to add a week on the front end of this trip so ideas & comments would very much be appreciated.

I don't care about on the way home but on the to Raja Ampat - I'm worried about: delayed luggage, lost gear & just being wiped out.
Thanks

 

[Mr. Sunday]

Getting to Raja Ampat can be pretty brutal. I was pretty wrecked for the first few days from all the travel and lag on my last liveaboard in R4. My dive buddy actually skipped the first two days of diving.

While on that trip I made a mental note not to come straight onto an R4 liveaboard again.

On my next trip, I will either do a homestay on one of the islands or make a stop in Ambon for a few days of muck diving prior to a liveaboard.

 

[Indah]

Transnusa Airlines - Transnusa

Transnusa Aviation Mandiri

www.transnusa.co.id

New service.

 

[tarponchik]

Me and wife/buddy are about the same age as you are. We did the Raja Ampat trip in Nov 2022 with good stops for rest everywhere. We flew overnight from IAD to Istanbul and spent 3 nights there. Then off to Jakarta and spent 2 nights there. Then off to Sorong and spent a night there. And only the next afternoon we got onto our liveaboard. So we weren't jetlegged and allowed at least 24 hr time for flight delayed etc.