8D7N in Raja Ampat - Every Diver's Dream
- alaughingseal
- Dec 29, 2019
- 5 min read
Raja Ampat - literally "The Four Kings" - comprises of four main islands - Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool. Great for underwater enthusiasts, the North and the South of Raja Ampat is home to colourful corals, huge schools of fishes, and breathtaking "Google" views from Piaynemo and rock formations in Wayag Island.
To put it simply, diving in Raja Ampat is made feasible through Liveaboards (LOB) and/or resort diving. My husband and I chose the former as we felt that we would receive more bang for our buck! After much deliberation, we have chosen to go on La Galigo Liveaboard as we were on our honeymoon and we loved their Suite Cabin option! Not only was it extremely spacious, their boat had ample space for 14 divers and 17 crew.
Number of days: 8
Number of dives: 22 dives over 7 days
Budget per person: $3000 - $5000 (depending on the cabin suite you choose)
Travel period: December 2019
Getting to Raja Ampat
Many would be deterred to get to Raja Ampat due to its inaccessibility. After getting there, we realised it was pretty simple! There are several routes that you can take to Raja Ampat - they all have at least 1 layover, and they differ by the number of hours during layover. This is the route we took (which we felt that it was the best!)
Fly from Singapore to Jakarta with Garuda Indonesia
Leave Singapore at 8.20pm
Reach Jakarta at 9.15pm
Layover at Jakarta for 3h 15 min (the walk from the International Arrival to Domestic Departure in Jakarta airport was pretty far, about a 30 - 45 minutes walk and wait?)
Fly from Jakarta to Sorong with Garuda Indonesia
Leave Jakarta at 12.30am
Reach Sorong at 6.35am (there was time difference and flight time was only about 4h)
Upon reaching the Sorong Airport, La Galigo LOB crew picked us up and sent us to our hotel - Favehotel - to rest for the day before picking us up again for our LOB from 11 - 18 December. Tip: instead of booking for a night between 10 - 11 Dec, book an additional night from 9 - 11 Dec so that your room is ready the moment you reach on 10 Dec at 7am!
Getting from Sorong to La Galigo LOB
On 11 December, La Galigo crew picked us up at 7am and sent us to the boat! We were introduced to the crew and to our beautiful suite! Pictures do not do justice as to how spacious and huge the room is! It was truly luxurious and it was definitely a pleasant surprise to the honeymooners!
Eat, Sleep, Dive [Repeat]
Let the diving begin!
We loved the itinerary as they included trekking, more like stairs climbing, at Piaynemo and rock climbing up the rock islets formations in Wayag Islands. Our day was typical split into 4 sections.
7am: First Dive Breakfast
10.30am: 2nd Dive Lunch
2.30pm: 3rd Dive Tea break
6pm: 4th Dive Dinner
Our days were mainly 4-dive days, if not it would be 3 dives + a trek! We were mainly diving in the central parts (Dampier Straits) of Raja Ampat, and the Northern parts of Raja Ampat (Wayag). Out of the 22 dives, here are some of my favourite dive sites!
Wofo North (Night Dive)
Here at Wofo North, we had the most amazing night dive where the cold never bothered you and there were simply too many night creatures! Our usual night dive was 45 minutes but this night dive felt like 15 minutes! We were simply too busy with the creatures!
Dayang
Here at Dayang, we were greeted by friendly big and small mantas! We saw full black manta rays, and white belly with black spots manta rays. Watching them swim past us gracefully was simply a surreal moment we were hoping for in Raja Ampat!
Melisa's Garden
One of the most famous dive site, and after diving here, we understood why! The entire "seabed" was filled with corals! When we thought we were "sick of" beautiful corals, this place never failed to impress with the intense colours of these healthy corals.
Yenbuba Jetty and Sawondarek Jetty
Jetty dives have got to be one of my favourite dives ever! These 2 dive sites had pristine waters, with many creatures to capture! We saw mobular rays, black tip reef sharks, a huge turtle lying in the thermocline (where we swam into and felt extremely cold!!!!), wobbegong sharks (many of them!)
Trekking - Stairs climbing and rock climbing!
Injected between our dives were 2 treks - Geosite Piaynemo and Wayag Island.
Geosite Piaynemo was a pretty easy walk up to the top via well-built steps. Here at Piaynemo, you would FINALLY see the google images of Raja Ampat! You would be able to see the rock formations and be in awe of your dream of coming to Raja Ampat! (well, at least that's how I felt HAHA)
At Wayag Island, we unbelievably rock climbed up a random (that's what we thought!) rock islet? Apparently this particular rock islet was climbed by many and we could see a path! Climbing up and down was tedious and scary as we had to literally grab random places to make our way up! Tip: wear SHOES!!!!!! After reaching the top, we were rewarded with another sick view of Raja Ampat!
Sharks @ Wayag Island
The HIGHLIGHT of my trip - visiting the sharks at Wayag Island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words cannot describe my fear and excitement upon seeing the sharks. There were easily 10 of them and they were swimming close to the shore and we were so so so up close to it! After "being" a shark for awhile, we found ourselves becoming really comfortable with them and we could just sit in the water and watch them swim around us! Up till today, I can't believe I got so close to these sharks!!!
Emotional BBQ by the Beach
We ended off with a BBQ by the beach and that has got to be the best meal of the trip! The talented chef cooked up a sumptuous meal for us to dig in and celebrate the end of the trip! The other crew members started their own "concert" and livened up the BBQ dinner. We sang, danced, hugged and had a helluva time! It was the perfect end to this entire trip :")
Diving in Raja Ampat isn't the most relaxing nor the easiest dives I have done. However, diving in Raja Ampat was the most magical, the most rewarding, the most mermaidish I have ever felt!!!! Thankful to my husband my trusty dive guide, Ratno, who always had our backs and looking out for us all the time!
Not only were we with gifted with AMAZING pristine waters with impressive visibility, we were mind-blown with big friendly giants, and starstruck by the healthy colourful corals. The protection in place for the growth of the marine life in Raja Ampat is truly an inspiration :")
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