Recommendations in Raja Ampat

[gypsyjim]

I suppose "pricy" is relative. Including air travel from upstate NY, RA is quite a bite for a working stiff, especially when compared with visits to Coz and Bonaire from here.

I have one friend who considered Wakatobi well priced for what he gots, but he has more $ to play with than some of us.

 

[Dan]

Has he been to Raja Ampat too?

Air travel hasn't been making any sense with the cheap jet fuel that those airlines have been buying. Actually it's cheaper in terms of $/mile to fly half around the world than doing puddle jumping over the Gulf of Mexico. You should take advantage of it now. I spent $450 flying to Cancun last July for 1000 mile distance and $680 flying to Jakarta next month for 12000 mile distance. Both prices are for roundtrip.

 

[dbnewton]

Newark to Bonaire 598.69
Newark to Singapore 468.24
Singapore to Sorong 438.17

Clearly price is not related to distance.

But as observed all these are way below what they were when fuel proces were higher.

 

[parrotman]

Papua Explorers is an excellent resort with a top notch dive op. Big clean bungalows with over the water decks. Comfortable beds. Great food and you can't beat the service. However, they do not have airco in the rooms. I am one of those people that like to sleep in an ice box so the rooms were a bit warm for me. That would be the only negative that I could even think of about this resort.

 

[Miki Brunou]

I know the topic of travelling and diving in Raja Ampat and the need for antimalarial medicine has been discussed in many topics over the years, but the opinions I found mostly concerned LOB accommodation. So, any opinions on the necessity of taking antimalarial drugs when staying at the resorts in RA?

I'm spending a week in Raja Ampat Dive Lodge/Mansuar (with aircon and proper mosquito net), and another one at Corepen Homestay/Gam with my wife and a toddler aged sixteen months. After consulting a doctor here in Finland and doing some research online, we decided to give Lariam (mefloquine) to our daughter despite the possibility of getting some pretty awful side effects. But concerning ourselves, we're still undecided whether it's really necessary or not. We only got a prescription for Lariam before learning that it's not really suitable for diving, and would have to get a new appointment for Malarone or some other kind of drug before embarking on our trip next week.

Any experiences or opinions?

 

[billt4sf]

Miki I think there's a relatively-expensive alternative to Lariam. IIRC it's about $1/day pill. Without the side effects.

- Bill

 

[Dan]

I’ve been to Raja Ampat 6 times & only took malaria med (Lariam) once during my first visit back in 2010. That was enough poison for me to take it once in my life & decided not to repeat it.

I heard the malaria infestation in Raja Ampat areas are not as bad as in the Papua mainland. Liveaboard even less of a problem. So, I took my chances to not taking the malaria med on my next 5 visits. I just made sure that I spray my exposed skin areas around my legs & feet while at Sorong harbor, during breakfast / dinner in the resort restaurants (Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, Misool Eco Resort, Raja4 Divers Resort). Sleep inside the mosquito net covered bed. So far so good, no sign of malaria or dengue in my system (knock on wood).

 

[Miki Brunou]

Miki I think there's a relatively-expensive alternative to Lariam. IIRC it's about $1/day pill. Without the side effects.

- Bill

I think you might mean Malarone? It is very expensive (5€ per day here in Finland) compared to Lariam, but if it does the job without any notable side-effects, it's probably money well spent. I remember reading from another thread that people here had taken Malarone while diving without any issues. According to DAN, "side effects are rare, but abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and headache can occur." Abdominal pain and nausea while diving sounds nasty, but on the other hand, the symptoms of malaria are not pretty either.

 

[Miki Brunou]

I’ve been to Raja Ampat 6 times & only took malaria med (Lariam) once during my first visit back in 2010. That was enough poison for me to take it once in my life & decided not to repeat it.

I heard the malaria infestation in Raja Ampat areas are not as bad as in the Papua mainland. Liveaboard even less of a problem. So, I took my chances to not taking the malaria med on my next 5 visits. I just made sure that I spray my exposed skin areas around my legs & feet while at Sorong harbor, during breakfast / dinner in the resort restaurants (Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, Misool Eco Resort, Raja4 Divers Resort). Sleep inside the mosquito net covered bed. So far so good, no sign of malaria or dengue in my system (knock on wood).

Yeah, my wife suffered panic attacks and intense nightmares while we were travelling Benin, but I myself didn't have any side-effects from Lariam. I wouldn't probably have them now if would decide to try my luck again, but the risk is apparently still too big when diving on a daily basis.

I will probably try Malarone just to be on the safe side.

 

[dbnewton]

Yeah, my wife suffered panic attacks and intense nightmares while we were travelling Benin, but I myself didn't have any side-effects from Lariam. I wouldn't probably have them now if would decide to try my luck again, but the risk is apparently still too big when diving on a daily basis.

I will probably try Malarone just to be on the safe side.

I used Malarone last time in Indonesia with no problems. I have it ready for my Feb trip. 23 pills cost me 10 USD because it was covered by my health insurance. That may be misleading though because so far my insurance has not paid for the visit to the travel doctor necessary to prescribe Malarone.