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

[Richard Dayan]

What about massage? And how much do dives cost?

 

[JustinJRL]

Enjoyed your review. It's helpful for those of us that have a hard time picking a place! I'm thinking of giving Tarzan divers a try instead of Soul next time I'm in Raja. Cheers.

 

[carono6333]

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?

Thanks. No we’re not going to open another dive centre. Prefer to be customers these days

 

[Indah]

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?

The pioneers are of course Max Ammer, owner of Sorido and Kri Eco Resort. And the Pendito.

 

[vangogh]

I'd also love to know what you identified and what the corrective actions your were that you recommended. I'm assuming it was a confined space and exhaust was being drawn back into the intake.

 

[carono6333]

I'd also love to know what you identified and what the corrective actions your were that you recommended. I'm assuming it was a confined space and exhaust was being drawn back into the intake.

You assume correctly! That, and incorrect filter change frequency

 

[Indah]

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.

How do hydrocarbons taste?

 

[carono6333]

How do hydrocarbons taste?

The opposite of strawberries

 

[Centrals]

How do hydrocarbons taste?

Give it a try yourself they are readily available eg diesel, paraffin, petrol, turpintine etc etc.

 

[Chris Underwater]

5.La Galigo Liveaboard
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.

First of all, great overall write-ups, thanks for that!

I would like to comment specifically on the part I quoted regarding La Galigo; I did three back to back trips with them earlier this season, including the 'Raja North' trip you did, so I was on the boat a couple of weeks before you.
Here are my remarks:
- I'm not sure when you booked your trip; when I booked mine last year in January, the trip plan for the 'North' trip clearly showed that most of the diving would be in the central area.
- it was and is also clearly stated on their website that their trip plans are sample plans that can and will change depending on circumstances like weather, conditions, etc. This is a completely normal and reasonable thing that pretty much every operator does.
- based on my personal experience, and on the assessment of several other people I know and trust (with years to decades of experience diving in Raja), the conditions in the northern area are indeed on average worse than in the central area. So to do only a short part of the trip in the northern area makes perfect sense; and no, the owner wasn't 'talking crap'.

I'm sorry for you that this part of your trip didn't meet your (very specific) expectations, but your overall feeling of being 'conned and fobbed off' by them is extremely unreasonable and unfair.