Premo83
Contributor
In March 2018 I spent 7 nights on the Samambaia diving in Raja Ampat. So far this has been my favorite livaboard. The Samambaia is a beautiful wooden ship. It’s very spacious and every detail is thought of. Everywhere on the ship you find little place to relax and enjoy. It’s no problem to get away from the others if you want some alone time. The ship also has a separate camera room. Cabins are as well very spacious and nicely designed. The crew goes out of his way to make you feel at home. There is nothing you have to do yourself, they take care of everything. The food has been excellent. Both for lunch and dinner the food was served. The owner Gian Paolo spends a lot of time on the Samambaia diving and that certainly also helps to keep the standard and quality very high.
The diving itself was amazing. I wasn’t sure if Raja Ampat was something for me. I knew the reefs are beautiful but I like to see lots of big sharks. I certainly missed the big sharks but the reefs itself were amazing. So colorful and the biodiversity is stunning. On top we had some beautiful Manta encounters. We were total 13 divers split up in 4 groups. The guides did a fantastic pointing things out especially all the pygmy seahorses. We didn’t experience much current on this trip so all the diving was very easy and relaxing. Sometimes I wished we had a bit more current because my favorite dive of the trip we had a good current and the fish life was just spectacular. All the diving was done from two pangas, 3 dives a day plus a night dive on most days. If you have a chance to go on the Samambaia I cannot recommend it enough. Here is a short video of the trip, I hope you enjoy:
The diving itself was amazing. I wasn’t sure if Raja Ampat was something for me. I knew the reefs are beautiful but I like to see lots of big sharks. I certainly missed the big sharks but the reefs itself were amazing. So colorful and the biodiversity is stunning. On top we had some beautiful Manta encounters. We were total 13 divers split up in 4 groups. The guides did a fantastic pointing things out especially all the pygmy seahorses. We didn’t experience much current on this trip so all the diving was very easy and relaxing. Sometimes I wished we had a bit more current because my favorite dive of the trip we had a good current and the fish life was just spectacular. All the diving was done from two pangas, 3 dives a day plus a night dive on most days. If you have a chance to go on the Samambaia I cannot recommend it enough. Here is a short video of the trip, I hope you enjoy:
