Trip Report Raja Ampat [10 weeks diving with 9 different operators]

[carono6333]

My wife and I had the good fortune to have 10 weeks of diving in Raja Ampat, starting end of October 2023 with our last dive on the 3rd January 2024. We did approx 100 dives with nine diving operators, consisting two liveaboards, two dive centers, and five diving homestays:

• Liveaboards: You know the score - lots of diving and live onboard
• Dive Centres: Dive Centre offering diving and diving courses. The more established ones will generally have better boats and take out more divers than the homestays.
• Diving Homestays: Homestay accommodation that offers diving facilities, often a few sets of rental equipment and provision of ‘local style’ boat with guide. Caters for qualified divers only (no courses). Do not expect a slick and fancy operation. Make sure you complete all your checks including air quality.

We dived southern, central, and northern Raja Ampat, with the majority of our dives concentrated in the central area.

We are two PADI Instructors and ex dive centre owners with a few thousand dives between us. We take our own equipment. We are quite happy with ‘simple style’ places, and tend to avoid luxury or top end service. My wife speaks Indonesian, which helps us a lot where no English is spoken. Our favorite operators tend to be the smaller places that are friendly and well-organised, and who put thought into their service.

A brief summary of our Raja Ampat experiences below, in the order in which we dived. Happy to answer questions as the trip report is not highly detailed.

1. Big Blue Indonesia (Liveaboard)

Big Blue Indonesia runs a budget liveaboard vessel, the Gaya Baru Indah. They operate from Waisai (Raja Ampat), whereas many other liveaboards make their way over from Komodo on their off-season. It worked out around US$300 per person per day. The last few days of this liveaboard were spent diving Misool (southern Raja Ampat).

As a traditional Indonesian pinisi boat with just eight customers and free nitrox, this one seemed just right for us. As with all budget boats, there are a few quirks. For example, the cabins are quite small and space was quite limited for dunking cameras and for charging devices. Did it matter? Not to us. We had really great dive guides, good food, good company, and a comfortable night’s sleep, at a competitive price.

We were impressed that Ralph (owner and course director) accompanied us on dives so we could stay longer/dive differently to the other two in our group of four, particularly when they ran low on air and went up with our guide. We did some long dives!

Would we return? YES! Big Blue Indonesia provide adventurous liveaboard diving at a budget cost. And we definitely want to return to the Misool area as we only had a couple of days here and there is definitely more to see!

2. Tarzan Dive Centre (Gam Island, near Kri)

We did ten dives over five days with Tarzan. It’s a German/Papuan run centre and they know what they are doing. Both of their speedboat boats are covered, set up for divers, and get you there quickly. The new speedboat with twin 150hp engines is probably the best in Raja Ampat at the moment. Their diving equipment also looked to be in good condition. Tarzan’s focus is on the well known sites particularly around the central Raja Ampat area, although they frequently go further afield on ‘adventure trips’ at additional cost. They do maximum group sizes of four customers, and the team were unpretentious and really good fun.

We had four different dive guides over our five days, and were sometimes paired with more novice divers. This could have been problematic but it didn’t impede our diving. Heide (the German owner) said they are improving their systems and processes so that this is reduced.

Of note is that Tarzan don’t do any clean-ups or environmental work. At Mioskon Island the customers decided to conduct a beach clean. Although Tarzan agreed to take the plastic back to Gam, the staff did not participate. This is something they can improve on.

Would we return? YES! It’s a well run and friendly centre with great boat and equipment. They are also striving for continuous improvement so I expect it will get even better.


3. Dayan Dive Homestay (Batanta Island)

This was our first Diving Homestay. Diving Homestays typically offer a ‘no frills’ service for qualified divers. Dayan fits this description: They have a few sets of equipment and provide fun diving with local guides (limited English spoken, although owner is fluent). Transport is by ‘local-style’ small open boat which can hold four customers.

We only did one partial dive with Dayan, choosing to abort due to bad air. Of note was the rental BCD of another diver was faulty, meaning she couldn’t inflate. This caused a little panic on the surface as she couldn’t pump up and float after backroll. [A good lesson for proper buddy checks!]

We discussed the issues with Konstantinus, who is the (local) owner/operator, and inspected the compressor/tank refill area with him. We pointed out the cause of the issues and provided advice. He took the matter very seriously and was arranging for several improvements to be made when we departed.

Would we return? MAYBE! Yes, it was a negative experience and we left early to dive elsewhere. However, Dayan have only recently started their diving service and Konstantinos understands the need for clean air and safety. I would expect the necessary improvements have been made. If we were to return we would make sure we had the option to move on if the air was bad again. Certainly many other customers have had a positive experience with Dayan Dive Homestay. And we enjoyed our stay there.

4. Arborek Dive Centre (Arborek Island)

We did eight dives over four days. It’s a busy little dive centre! Because we had our own equipment, Githa (owner) was able to book us in at very short notice, guiding us herself. We really enjoyed diving with Githa. Her enthusiasm can literally be heard underwater. She took us for very long dives (no clock-watching) and showed us the best the sites could offer. The speedboats are covered and set up for divers and get you to the site quickly.

Of note is Githa’s community and environmental work. She is certainly a leader and instigator of change. We were impressed. Well done!

Would we return? YES! We loved diving with Arborek Dive Centre. It’s fun and friendly, and provides a great diving experience.

 

[carono6333]

5.La Galigo Liveaboard

This was our second Raja Ampat liveaboard. It had almost 30 dives scheduled over an eight day trip. We booked on the ‘Raja Ampat North’ tour, which focused on northern sites that were out of reach of the dive centers and dive homestays located more centrally.

La Galigo is not a budget boat. It cost around US$150 per day more than Big Blue Indonesia (including the fuel surcharge, which was required to be paid in full). We also paid an additional US$150 per person to have Nitrox.

Communication was excellent and the boat and staff were mostly superb. The land excursions were also very good.Our dive guide did not do well in finding small critters, but pointed out lots of big stuff. The exception was the night dive, where he found a lot of wonderful tiny creatures over the sand. We also were quite puzzled at the way some sites were dived. For example, dropping in at the wrong place in respect to the current, or not fully exploring the best areas. When we dived the same sites with local dive centres/diving homestays it was clear that the La Galigo dive guide did not have as good site knowledge as the locals, probably because he was from Komodo and his time in Raja Ampat is more limited.

The big problem we had with La Galigo was that they made a very significant change to the itinerary from the one we booked on, meaning the main focus of the diving was in the central area of Raja Ampat and the northern sites were dramatically reduced. We were not consulted or informed. We noticed of course and pointed out to the Cruise Director that the northern dive sites were being largely omitted, and that the boat was traveling back to the central Raja Ampat area when it should remain in the north. He told us that the itinerary had been changed some weeks ago, and deduced we had booked on the itinerary that was replaced. We stated that the tour we had booked was called ‘Raja Ampat North’, and we wanted to dive the area we had paid for. We also stated we did not want to do additional diving in the central area, where we had already dived over the previous weeks. He seemed genuinely surprised that we had not been consulted or informed of the significant change.

We decided to make the most of it and accept the company had made a mistake, although we were of course incredibly disappointed that we were diving sites we had already dived, and were missing out on many of the northern sites that the tour had advertised.

I wrote to the owner of La Galigo. I had expected an apology and was just going to accept it and move on. However, he instead decided to explain that the northern diving was substandard, had poor conditions, and the tour now focuses on the more central area. Well firstly, they hadn’t informed us. And secondly, we managed to dive some northern sites and they were not substandard at all. And the conditions were great! He’s talking crap. In fact, the conditions had declined in the central area, so La Galigo went to worse diving. One central dive site had such bad visibility that they couldn’t even find it, and had to relocate to a different one! We paid over US$7,000 for a tour titled ‘Raja Ampat North’ but received a tour should have been called ‘Raja Ampat Central’. They even chased me to pay $10 for a torch I borrowed when my torch battery died, despite knowing we’d been incredibly disappointed we were.

Would I return? DEFINITELY NO! La Galigo was meant to be the highlight of our Raja Ampat holiday. Instead we felt conned and fobbed off.

6.Aibef Pam Dive Homestay (Pam Islands)

After the disappointment of La Galigo, we went back to Homestay diving in the Pam Islands. We did ten dives with Aibef Pam Dive Homestay [formerly Bau Homestay]. Most of these were whilst we stayed with them. Also, after moving to a neighboring island for a few nights they agreed to pick us up from there for more diving.

We loved staying here. Manta rays are passing past the front of the Homestay as they feed. You can sit in the restaurant and watch them. You can swim out to them but need to be a good swimmer due to the currents. For safety the staff will watch out for you and can take you out in a boat if you prefer (for a fee). On one day I had 15 mantas swim past me as I snorkeled, and more were still coming! That was insane.

Aibef Pam had just started as a dive operator. The guide is from a nearby island, as Feliks (the local owner) isn’t a diver. Initially they wanted dive a distance away where there are known dive sites. When we asked to dive more locally they said they had only just set up and hadn’t looked for dive sites nearby. Of course we offered to help find some.

Wow this was so much fun. We went to locations that we chose over google maps or from local knowledge in discussion with Feliks, and found some great dive sites! We gave the new sites local names. The exception was for ‘Two Tuna Reef’, a name we chose as we saw two tuna, each the size of a large couch, on our descent.

Aibef Pam have a brand new compressor and brand new gear. The boat is local style open boat, which can take two customers. What we loved is there is no one around, so you are certainly feeling like you are the early underwater explorers of the area. They don’t speak much English but the guide (Jonas) spoke reasonable English.

Would we return? YES! We loved this adventurous style of diving and it felt like we were the only people in the area.

7.Lagoon Dive Homestay (north of Pam)

We decided to move north again, to Lagoon Dive Homestay, and did four dives over two days. This place has a very bad review from a previous customer who we actually met later in our holiday. The review heavily criticizes the diving operator for various practices including provision of bad air.

We, however, had a good experience and this was another homestay we enjoyed diving with. The guide didn’t speak much English so there was very little in the way of a briefing. However, he had amazing eyes and found tiny critters that we hadn’t seen yet in previous dives. We also clocked up our longest dive, coming up actually within the lagoon after starting the dive 90 minutes on a nearby reef. Our guide was enthusiastic in giving us the best dives he could. Of note was his really good knowledge of the dive sites. The boat is not well maintained - very shabby - but it did the job. It had a cover and was bigger than the open style local boats used by other diving homestays. They had addressed any issues they may have previously had with bad air, and we had no serious complaints.

Would we return? YES! We loved this adventurous style of diving and it felt like we were the only people in the area. Virtually no English is spoken though, which can make things tricky. Use Google Translate if needed.

8.Soul Scuba (Kri Island)

We did five dives over four days - including Christmas Day - with Soul Scuba (french owned). It is probably the most well-known dive centre in Raja Ampat we expected a well-run dive centre. We dived with these guys as we knew they would be busy and we wanted to have fun over Christmas. As Soul Scuba are a very busy centre we had to book all the dives in advance to ensure a place on the boat. They dive around the Kri area but frequently go further afield on ‘adventure trips’ at additional cost.

We got what we came for! Soul Scuba are friendly, professional, and have a good boats. There was a great mood in the dive centre and going out to dive. Although they run in quite a laid-back way, they are organised and efficient where it counts. We particularly liked the great chill-out area, where you can hang around to drink coffee and chat; this is something that is missing at other places in Raja Ampat. The only grumble was minor - they kept setting up my gear, including adjusting tank straps then then needed readjusting back to my preferred settings. They lost my regulator but managed to find it (I think it was on another customer’s tank). This was a little annoying as I was repeatedly stating I want to set up my own gear. I solved this by taking the regulator back to my cabin after each dive. In their defense, it was their busiest time of year and they were flat out.

Of note is they care about the environment, particularly plastic pollution. The owner told us that they are buying a compactor for island use so that rubbish can be compressed and bundled, to be taken to the mainland. Environmental care was mentioned in briefings.

Would we return? YES, if we wanted to enjoy a busy Christmas vibe again. It would not be our usual choice as we personally prefer diving away from the busiest part of Raja Ampat. Soul Scuba is perfect for those who want to dive around the Kri area, but may not be suited to those who want a highly personalized trip (e.g. specific sites) during their busiest periods. They will definitely try to keep you happy though and are a very good operator.

 

[carono6333]

9.Tabari Homestay (Merpati Island)

We did ten dives over five days with these guys. Their Homestay is double the price of other homestays so this was our New Year treat to ourselves, and the last operator we dived with before heading home.

Tabari are French-owned, so things are done differently. Of note are the nicer accommodation and the much-better-than-average food. Electricity is also available in the morning, which is longer than at other places (typically from dusk to around midnight). Tabari have two guides and Jeff (owner) will also guide sometimes.

What we liked was that each evening they talk to the divers in the restaurant and have a discussion about where you want to go. Diving is more expensive at Tabari than elsewhere, but there are no fuel surcharges for standard sites so it works out around the same. We loved going to sites that are not dived frequently by others, including some without names. The speedboats are covered and more comfortable that the open-style local boats that are sometimes used in diving homestays.

One thing we didn’t like was the continual heavy prodding of animals by the dive guides. They are just too rough with their pointers. For example, flipping over sea cucumbers and manoeuvring shrimp to a more photogenic position. Or moving crabs, nudibraches to adjacent areas for photography. On more than one occasion we said we did not like seeing them roughly moving sea-life, but it did not stop.

Another issue was there was no fresh water at the homestay except for drinking water brought in from Waisai. Showers and rinsing equipment was therefore with salty water, Jeff said this was because there hadn’t been sufficient rain to replenish the well, and at other times of year there was fresh water available.

Would we return? PROBABLY NOT. Whilst we enjoyed staying and diving with Tabari, we thought the prices were a bit too steep for what was provided. However, it was certainly nice to stay at a Homestay that is more comfortable and has great food. They have great reviews and most people love staying and diving with Tabari.

CONCUSION:

Wow, Raja Ampat certainly is amazing. Part of the charm is the sheer abundance of dive sites, including some that are rarely dived, and the opportunity to stay with local homestays. Diving with local dive centres and/or homestays adds an extra element to the holiday, and if you restrict yourselves to purely a liveaboard then you will not be getting the most of our Raja Ampat. We will visit Raja Ampat again and recommend you do too.

 

[fantarara]

Wow thanks for this very comprehensive review. Should be very useful for many planning the trip.

Interesting to me that you didn't dive with Papua Diving at all, considered the pioneer for R4 diving. Any particular reason?

 

[carono6333]

Wow thanks for this very comprehensive review. Should be very useful for many planning the trip.

Interesting to me that you didn't dive with Papua Diving at all, considered the pioneer for R4 diving. Any particular reason?

We actually planned to avoid staying on Kri initially. However, when someone recommended Soul Scuba to us we changed our mind and decided to stay a few days on Kri over Christmas. It was a spur of the moment decision and we didn’t look at Papua Diving as a Kri option… just booked in to the homestay next to Soul Scuba and that was it. No further research was done

 

[bubblemonkey2]

Nice well arranged info
Busy place, so many styles!

Re: "bad air,"
While reportedly not uncommon, it seems like most of us have limited technical understanding of this--aside from "I feel off" or "the air smells different" (both valid...)

Are we talking carbon monoxide? Carbon dioxide? Other?

CO2 seems relevant. Air with a very plausible 500 ppm is going to feel like 2000 ppm at 30 meters depth--added on top of exertion. Symptoms of excess CO2 include headaches, fatigue, etc, sounds very familiar to what many divers experience!

Suppose the compressor is running hot enough to oxidize oil, or the intake is drawing in some of the exhaust from the engines or generators. That is both a CO AND a CO2 risk (efficient combustion can be low in CO, but still high in CO2).

If you are also diving nitrox, how do you know whether a membrane system is removing vs. also concentrating other impurities that, like O2, are all bigger/heavier molecules than N2? (CO, CO2, argon, etc?) This too can happen.

As far as carbon monoxide,
Is anyone carrying a carbon monoxide meter along on their trips?

I have been experimenting with this one, which can be found on various online stores:


We want to see "0 ppm" CO, but what is the no-dive cutoff? A consistent <10 ppm reading?

On my last trip to Raja Ampat, I never got a consistent reading over 0 ppm CO from a tank, but I didn't test every tank.

Nevertheless, there were days that I felt "off" symptoms consistent with CO, CO2, or perhaps even something else entirely.

A compressor operator told me they were replacing the filter 'correctly--every 500 hours.' There was no moisture indicator on the cartridge, and it was rated for about ~100-200 hours in tropical conditions. I'm sure this is fairly typical.

 

[carono6333]

Nice well arranged info
Busy place, so many styles!

Re: "bad air,"
While reportedly not uncommon, it seems like most of us have limited technical understanding of this--aside from "I feel off" or "the air smells different" (both valid...)

Are we talking carbon monoxide? Carbon dioxide? Other?

CO2 seems relevant. Air with a very plausible 500 ppm is going to feel like 2000 ppm at 30 meters depth--added on top of exertion. Symptoms of excess CO2 include headaches, fatigue, etc, sounds very familiar to what many divers experience!

Suppose the compressor is running hot enough to oxidize oil, or the intake is drawing in some of the exhaust from the engines or generators. That is both a CO AND a CO2 risk (efficient combustion can be low in CO, but still high in CO2).

If you are also diving nitrox, how do you know whether a membrane system is removing vs. also concentrating other impurities that, like O2, are all bigger/heavier molecules than N2? (CO, CO2, argon, etc?) This too can happen.

As far as carbon monoxide,
Is anyone carrying a carbon monoxide meter along on their trips?

I have been experimenting with this one, which can be found on various online stores:
View attachment 825068

We want to see "0 ppm" CO, but what is the no-dive cutoff? A consistent <10 ppm reading?

On my last trip to Raja Ampat, I never got a consistent reading over 0 ppm CO from a tank, but I didn't test every tank.

Nevertheless, there were days that I felt "off" symptoms consistent with CO, CO2, or perhaps even something else entirely.

A compressor operator told me they were replacing the filter 'correctly--every 500 hours.' There was no moisture indicator on the cartridge, and it was rated for about ~100-200 hours in tropical conditions. I'm sure this is fairly typical.

Thanks. I’m talking about air that has a noticeable odour and has a taste of hydrocarbons. We identified why it happened and corrective actions, which the operator said he was going to address.

 

[Tippytoes12]

WoW, congratulations on organisons your lives so well that you have been able to do and enjoy this fantastic trip.

And thanks for sharing such an excellent trip report.

 

[bubblemonkey2]

Thanks. I’m talking about air that has a noticeable odour and has a taste of hydrocarbons. We identified why it happened and corrective actions, which the operator said he was going to address.

You were able to identify oil or fumes passing through the filter? Do you know how many hours were on the filter(s), vs. its rated hours for ~28°C+ & 80%+ humidity? Are we talking compressor seals, filter seals, or filter duration?

Most filtration in small ops & adventure zone is a single filter that is only a small part activated carbon--if any--and no hopcalite, routinely run well beyond its expected lifetime.

 

[Rat Diver]

Thanks for sharing. Lots of great tips for different options to dive Raja Ampat. Sounds like a wonderful experience in addition to the time underwater. Now that you know things can be done better, are you going to open a dive op?