Darnold9999
Contributor
This was my third trip to Raja Ampat and second to Lembeh. Flew from Vancouver to Jakarta, overnighted in a hotel close by and then on to Sorong via Makassar. Stayed a night in Sorong before boarding the boat. Could have skipped the overnight in Sorong, but a bad experience with domestic flights within Indonesia has made me cautious. I added a week at Black Sands Dive Retreat at the end of the trip on Ondina to dive Lembeh.
The Ondina is not as nice a boat as the two previous boats I have been on, however it is not as expensive either. Paradise Dancer and Damai are one of the two most expensive options for the region so I was not expecting the same level of service or accommodation and I was not disappointed. The accommodations and service are not at the same level as either PD or Damai.
The Ondina is a good size and comfortable to dive from. Cabins are small but functional with a double wide lower bed and a second single upper. Lots of storage for bags under the bed. No hanging space but four three foot wide shelves for clothes in each cabin. Enough storage, but barely. The bathroom has a marine toilet and a sink with cold water. There is no shower in the room – a hand held sprayer could be used for a cold shower if you really wanted one. The two hot showers are on the main deck in the wetsuit storage area. This works as you can take your wetsuit off and step into a hot shower immediately, but for those who value a private shower this arrangement is not going to work.
The dive deck is well thought out with a bench for tanks and a space under the bench for fins, mask, etc. The dive deck is inside which is nice when it is raining, but not really necessary. A nice touch is a cupboard with a slot for each diver for charging batteries etc. and storing your dive towel and small bits and pieces.
The camera table is at the back of the boat over the stern. Covered but open to the air and subject to weather and the sun. It was not large enough to hold all our cameras on this trip, but with 14 of 16 divers with cameras and the vast majority of those DSLR’s or video I doubt that any camera room would have been large enough.
The food was more than acceptable, but not as good as PD or Damai. Asian dishes mostly with a salad, vegetable dish and a choice of fish, chicken and beef or pork with every dinner. Rice most meals and occasionally pasta. Fresh fruit at most meals and some kind of desert at dinner. No complaints at all.
The diving was exactly the same as PD and Damai – except we did not do as many sites in Raja Ampat or Misool as the trip was a transit from Raja Ampat and Misool to Lembeh. The diving in Raja was excellent, the diving between Raja and Lembeh was abysmal – dynamite fishing had destroyed all of the reefs we went to. The diving from Ondina in Lembeh was nowhere near as good as the diving in Lembeh from a land based resort. The guides in the land based resort know where things are currently living – the guides on Ondina do not.
While I think the Ondina would be a good boat to do as a liveaboard in Raja if you can’t afford or don’t want to spend the extra money to dive with Damai or Paradise Dancer, I would not recommend this repositioning cruise unless it was significantly discounted. We lost too many dives travelling between sites, and diving sites that were destroyed by dynamite fishing. That together with the fact that diving Lembeh from a boat that only visits the area occasionally is not optimal made this itinerary a disappointing one.
The only significant issue I had with the boat itself is the lack of a comfortable place to spend non diving time. There is just no really comfortable place to sit or lounge on the boat. The two hammocks are OK, but otherwise you are sitting on benches with minimal cushions or deck chairs that are not particularly comfortable. Outside of that the boat is a good platform for diving. Well thought out and well managed.
As a solo diver and photographer I liked the fact that I was allowed to dive alone. Even though with 16 divers and four guides in the water it was rare that I was truly diving by myself.
Here a a few pics from the Raja - Lembeh leg. If you want to see more have a look here.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150695967391017.388480.678276016&type=3&l=0a9b39607e
The Ondina is not as nice a boat as the two previous boats I have been on, however it is not as expensive either. Paradise Dancer and Damai are one of the two most expensive options for the region so I was not expecting the same level of service or accommodation and I was not disappointed. The accommodations and service are not at the same level as either PD or Damai.
The Ondina is a good size and comfortable to dive from. Cabins are small but functional with a double wide lower bed and a second single upper. Lots of storage for bags under the bed. No hanging space but four three foot wide shelves for clothes in each cabin. Enough storage, but barely. The bathroom has a marine toilet and a sink with cold water. There is no shower in the room – a hand held sprayer could be used for a cold shower if you really wanted one. The two hot showers are on the main deck in the wetsuit storage area. This works as you can take your wetsuit off and step into a hot shower immediately, but for those who value a private shower this arrangement is not going to work.
The dive deck is well thought out with a bench for tanks and a space under the bench for fins, mask, etc. The dive deck is inside which is nice when it is raining, but not really necessary. A nice touch is a cupboard with a slot for each diver for charging batteries etc. and storing your dive towel and small bits and pieces.
The camera table is at the back of the boat over the stern. Covered but open to the air and subject to weather and the sun. It was not large enough to hold all our cameras on this trip, but with 14 of 16 divers with cameras and the vast majority of those DSLR’s or video I doubt that any camera room would have been large enough.
The food was more than acceptable, but not as good as PD or Damai. Asian dishes mostly with a salad, vegetable dish and a choice of fish, chicken and beef or pork with every dinner. Rice most meals and occasionally pasta. Fresh fruit at most meals and some kind of desert at dinner. No complaints at all.
The diving was exactly the same as PD and Damai – except we did not do as many sites in Raja Ampat or Misool as the trip was a transit from Raja Ampat and Misool to Lembeh. The diving in Raja was excellent, the diving between Raja and Lembeh was abysmal – dynamite fishing had destroyed all of the reefs we went to. The diving from Ondina in Lembeh was nowhere near as good as the diving in Lembeh from a land based resort. The guides in the land based resort know where things are currently living – the guides on Ondina do not.
While I think the Ondina would be a good boat to do as a liveaboard in Raja if you can’t afford or don’t want to spend the extra money to dive with Damai or Paradise Dancer, I would not recommend this repositioning cruise unless it was significantly discounted. We lost too many dives travelling between sites, and diving sites that were destroyed by dynamite fishing. That together with the fact that diving Lembeh from a boat that only visits the area occasionally is not optimal made this itinerary a disappointing one.
The only significant issue I had with the boat itself is the lack of a comfortable place to spend non diving time. There is just no really comfortable place to sit or lounge on the boat. The two hammocks are OK, but otherwise you are sitting on benches with minimal cushions or deck chairs that are not particularly comfortable. Outside of that the boat is a good platform for diving. Well thought out and well managed.
As a solo diver and photographer I liked the fact that I was allowed to dive alone. Even though with 16 divers and four guides in the water it was rare that I was truly diving by myself.
Here a a few pics from the Raja - Lembeh leg. If you want to see more have a look here.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150695967391017.388480.678276016&type=3&l=0a9b39607e
