billt4sf
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Both are fabulous resorts. If you can afford them, either is wonderful. There are some differences though.
Sorido Bay (on Kri island in the northern / Dampier straight portion of Raja Ampat) has larger rooms and better internet. Really GOOD internet – better than we have in Bali. Better aircon. And it has one SUPERB dive site – Cape Kri – which you will probably get to dive a couple times. The other dive sites are not as great on average as those at Misool IMHO – though we did see multiple sharks on every dive. The boat ride is about two hours – half that of Misool.
Misool (in the southern portion of Raja Ampat), to my mind, has better dives sites aside from Cape Kri. The soft coral gardens in the shallows make safety stops so enjoyable! And for us there’s something even more special about Misool that I can’t quite put a finger on that makes it more attractive than Sorido Bay. Even though the aircon is limited to nights, and the internet is marginal.
Viz is going to depend on the time of the year and the luck of the draw.
Currents will depend on the phase of the Moon, the tides, and where they take you to – the lee side or the up-current side. Both resorts always took us to the lee side, whereas the liveaboard (Mermaid 4X) often took us to the up-current side – not really sure how these choices are made. I have heard that as a general rule, Dampier Strait is more known for currents than is Misool, but there will definitely be currents in both resorts.
Sorido Bay has one big issue -- though whether it’s a drawback for you depends: there are no dives on Saturdays. The Founder and many (all?) of the locals serving the resort are 7th-Day Adventists. They have boats in and out on Thursdays and Sundays. We came in for a 10-day trip on a Thursday, so we dove a full day Friday, then a forced day off. And another one the following Saturday (the day before we leave). If you’re flying out on the Sunday, that makes some sense (though we could have dived Saturday morning). Thus, for a 10-day trip, we had 7 diving days. That’s a LOT of money to spend for 7 diving days. If you go for a 10-day trip at Misool, you can dive 8 days.
If you come in to Sorido Bay on a Sunday and go a week, you get the Saturday before you leave for no diving. If you come on a Sunday for a 12-day trip, you have one forced no-dive day (the 6th day you’re there, which makes more sense to me) and therefore you can dive 9 days. In a 12-day trip to Misool, you can dive 10 days.
Still, there’s something about Misool….
- Bill
Sorido Bay (on Kri island in the northern / Dampier straight portion of Raja Ampat) has larger rooms and better internet. Really GOOD internet – better than we have in Bali. Better aircon. And it has one SUPERB dive site – Cape Kri – which you will probably get to dive a couple times. The other dive sites are not as great on average as those at Misool IMHO – though we did see multiple sharks on every dive. The boat ride is about two hours – half that of Misool.
Misool (in the southern portion of Raja Ampat), to my mind, has better dives sites aside from Cape Kri. The soft coral gardens in the shallows make safety stops so enjoyable! And for us there’s something even more special about Misool that I can’t quite put a finger on that makes it more attractive than Sorido Bay. Even though the aircon is limited to nights, and the internet is marginal.
Viz is going to depend on the time of the year and the luck of the draw.
Currents will depend on the phase of the Moon, the tides, and where they take you to – the lee side or the up-current side. Both resorts always took us to the lee side, whereas the liveaboard (Mermaid 4X) often took us to the up-current side – not really sure how these choices are made. I have heard that as a general rule, Dampier Strait is more known for currents than is Misool, but there will definitely be currents in both resorts.
Sorido Bay has one big issue -- though whether it’s a drawback for you depends: there are no dives on Saturdays. The Founder and many (all?) of the locals serving the resort are 7th-Day Adventists. They have boats in and out on Thursdays and Sundays. We came in for a 10-day trip on a Thursday, so we dove a full day Friday, then a forced day off. And another one the following Saturday (the day before we leave). If you’re flying out on the Sunday, that makes some sense (though we could have dived Saturday morning). Thus, for a 10-day trip, we had 7 diving days. That’s a LOT of money to spend for 7 diving days. If you go for a 10-day trip at Misool, you can dive 8 days.
If you come in to Sorido Bay on a Sunday and go a week, you get the Saturday before you leave for no diving. If you come on a Sunday for a 12-day trip, you have one forced no-dive day (the 6th day you’re there, which makes more sense to me) and therefore you can dive 9 days. In a 12-day trip to Misool, you can dive 10 days.
Still, there’s something about Misool….
- Bill
