Raja Ampat Lodge/Resort Recommendations Please

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The food at Papua Explorers was good but the food at Papua Paradise was a definite step up. I remember thinking that it was as good as or better than any other dive resort I'd been at and particularly good for the remote location. Both resorts served a mix of Indonesian and European food. Papua Paradise's house reef has very good macro, crocodile fish, tiny frog fish, pygmy seahorses, flamboyant cuttlefish. I don't remember Papua Explorer having a house reef as such but perhaps they did. Their advantage was proximity to the famous high current Dampier Straits sites. It was only a 15-20 minute ride to Cape Kri, Mioskon, Blue Magic. From Batanta, those sites are a 40-45 minute ride. When we went there from Papua Paradise, the trip was a full day, three dive trip with no return at lunch. I'd say service is superior and more personalized at Papua Paradise but not a huge difference. I don't remember much about the transfers except Papua Paradise is a bit closer to Sorong so a shorter ride. However, on our way back from Papua Explorer, we encountered a pod of several hundred spinner dolphin.

In the end, when I think about the two resorts, what stands out are the differences in diving (with Papua Paradise having greater access to good macro and Papua Explorers having better access to wide angle, high current diving) and the different feel of the two resorts with Papua Explorers feeling more regimented and less personal. However, I should add that we visited Papua Paradise in low season, July or August, so very few visitors. We visited Papua Explorers at the end of October and it was relatively full.

FWIW, we're doing a liveaboard this coming December and adding on a land stay at the beginning. We've decided on Papua Paradise. But if we were coming from Ambon or Lembeh, I would probably forego PP and go for Explorers--or go to MER which seems like the best of both worlds. And my thanks to JudyPots. I think your post allowed me to finally convince my wife that its worth the expense. I've been trying for years and she's always balked at the cost.
 
Thanks Reubencahn. You all should also know that when we were at Papua Explorers, and told a number of people who had been to Misool that we were going there the following week, to a person they said we had made the right choice and that that was the place to go.
 
Misool Eco Resort (MER) is beautiful. A bit on the expensive side and long boat ride from So-wrong (4 hours). I stayed there in April 2014. For the MER price, I can stay twice as long in Raja Ampat Dive Lodge or 1.5x in Raja4 Divers at the time.

Misool is well known for beautiful & healthy soft coral. Magic Mountain is incredible if you encounter the Oceanic Manta, but that’s not always the case. I was there 3 x (2x with liveaboards & once with MER) I saw the Oceanic Manta 2 out of 3 visits.

Raja4 Divers is another good dive resort to stay if you don’t mind of staying in bungalow without AC. Checkout my trip report: Pulau Pef - Little Raja Ampat Trip Report
 

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