from: Sorong, to: Sorong
This is a sample itinerary that might change without further notice. The Cruise Directors may adapt the itinerary to guarantee the best possible experience according to weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances
Raja Ampat is right in the heart of the Coral Triangle and has over 1,500 islands. Many scientists believe Raja Ampat has the most coral and fish diversity in the world! Raja means King and Ampat means Four – Four Kings. The four kings are the main islands in Raja Ampat – Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool.
Sorong – Misool
The boat's crew will welcome guests at Sorong airport. You will then proceed to Sorong harbour, where the tenders will take the guests to Coralia. Once all guests are on board, we will make the final arrangements with the port authorities and head south to Misool.
Misool’s small surrounding islands are a soft-coral paradise and a famous part of Raja Ampat. With its abundance of stunning dive sites and the natural beauty of karst limestone and jungle-clad islands, this area invites us to linger for a couple, or depending on the trip length, even several days.
Misool can be divided into many areas, where the guests can spend the whole day at a selection of amazing dive sites. Daram is in the very east of these islands and has inviting names such as Candy Store, Andiamo and Warna Berwarna (meaning Colourful Colour!). The sea fan forests here have to be seen to be believed!
In the iconic areas of Boo, Fiabecet and Yuliet, guests may look through the iconic Boo Windows, with tonnes of fish surrounding. The guests might explore fabulous dive sites like Shadow Reef (aka Magic Mountain), Nudibranch Rock, Batu Kecil, Whale Rock, Boo West Corner and Yuliet Kecil. And if we are lucky, we see the majestic giant and/or reef manta rays around here. Admire large coral heads covered in soft corals, maybe spotting the famous Santa Claus pygmy seahorse, while schools of barracudas and batfish might pass by. the boat's eagle-eyed dive masters will look for the endemic walking shark (epaulette shark) on a night dive at Romeo or Yuliet Besar.
The areas of Sagof, Wagmab and Farondi offer us stunning underwater walls, overhangs and cave structures, plus amazing macro life, such as nudibranchs, flatworms, anemone crabs and all kinds of shrimps. In this area, guests have the opportunity to visit the wonderful lagoons – a must-see in Misool. These amazing geological structures come in iconic bee-hive-shaped karst limestone formations and hard-coral colonies at their base. If the tide is high enough, the crew will take the guests to the secret bay right at the back! There are also lagoons at Wayilbatan, one of them is the Love Lagoon. If the boat visit this lagoon, guests will do three dives on that day. The hike up the steep stairs is well worth the view – a blue heart shape. A drift dive through a channel covered in sea fans at Neptune Fan Sea is the perfect place to cool off after the hot walk. Wedding Cake and Barracuda Rock are other stunning dive sites in this area'
Misool – Dayang – Fam Islands
It is a long crossing up to Dayang, so on the last day of diving in Misool, the guests will do two dives before heading north. Dayang on the northwest of Batanta is at the entrance of a bay and a perfect place to split up the journey. Here, guests might come across wobbegong sharks and get to see great macro life, including ribbon eels, ghost pipefish and unusual nudibranchs. Dayang Island also offers another great chance to encounter manta rays, the gentle giants, at their cleaning stations.
Famous Melissa’s Garden awaits us with its spectacular, healthy, and wide-spread hard coral plateau, completely covered in colourful anthias and damsel fish. At Keruo Wall, guests can admire large gorgonian sea fans and lovely reef tops. A short hike to Penemu viewpoint offers a spectacular view of the lagoons and its surrounding islands. On the day the boat visit the viewpoint, the guests will do three dives. To cool off, the guests might do a late afternoon dive at Batu Rufus, followed by a relaxed evening drinking cocktails and watching the sunset on deck.
Wofoh & Aljui Bay
The boat will then move up to Wofoh, an incredibly scenic area with unique dive sites. On one side, the boat will have the backdrop of Wofoh and Taman Wofoh, two small islands with pristine white-sand beaches, and on the other side guests can take in vistas of the forested mountains and valleys of West Waigeo. The dive sites at Wofoh are famous for stunning black coral forests, where schooling fish are on the constant run from larger predatory fish. The walls are interesting with ledges and shallow caverns, where it is not uncommon to find wobbegong sharks.
Next, the boat might head into beautiful and secluded Aljui Bay, which is famous for its outstanding macro diving and plentiful purple soft corals. There may also an opportunity to take a little tour to visit the pearl farm and learn all about how pearls are grown. During the night dive, it is not unusual to find macro favourites like special octopus and cuttlefish species, colourful nudibranchs and epaulette walking sharks.
Kawe & Wayag
The next day, the guests will be offered two dives close to the island of Kawe. Eagle Rock is the first stop and is named after the majestic eagles circling above the small, rocky islands. Underwater, divers can encounter creatures like wobbegong sharks, bamboo sharks, batfish, schooling fusiliers and, if guests get lucky, even the occasional manta ray! At Black Rock, soft corals bloom in a variety of colours from the rocky outcrops, amazing us as Raja Ampat’s full abundance comes to life in a most vibrant display. Schooling surgeon fish await us together with sweetlips, whitetip reef sharks and dogtooth tunas on the hunt. the boat continue the journey north towards world-famous Wayag, which is in the very north and across the equator in the northern hemisphere. Uninhabited and incredibly picturesque, Wayag Island is an icon of Raja Ampat. Covering a total area of 155,000 hectares, it is known for its beautiful atolls and lagoons. Breathtaking at every turn, in Wayag guests will find pristine beaches and the unique Karst islands that resemble mushrooms sprouting from the sea. The fit and adventurous can climb to the top of Mount Pindito for the fantastic views. In the late afternoon, guests will go for a scenic lagoon tour in the speedboats. Look for baby manta rays and turtles as the boat cruise around. At the ranger station, guests can look for blacktip reef sharks swimming over the sand in the shallows.
Yeben & Yangeffo
The boat will then head down again towards Yeben area. Expect beautiful coral bommies dotted around a white-sand bottom, which creates a unique scenery. These healthy, shallow reefs attract an enormous amount of reef fish and give shelter to cuttlefish blending in, with blacktip reef sharks patrolling around.
Yangeffo Island is situated on the western tip of Gam Island and creates a sheltered bay. This small area has multiple top-notch dive sites. Famous ones like Citrus Ridge and Mayhem always amaze divers with their vibrancy and biodiversity. The area here is probably so abundant due to the surrounding mangroves. Beautiful hard and soft corals grow under and among the roots of the trees. They create a distinctive environment and are home for species like archer fish, cardinal fish and different types of juvenile reef fish. If the tides are right, the guests may visit this fragile ecosystem, which provides special photo opportunities. The crew will be happy to take you out in the tender to snorkel in the mangroves in between dives.
Dampier Strait – Sorong
The remainder of the adventure will be spent diving in the famous Dampier Strait. Moving west to east in the Dampier Strait, the boat may visit dive sites around the islands of Arborek, Mansuar and Kri, where the guests hope to encounter schools of sweetlips, napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish and the endemic tasselled wobbegong shark. Sawandarek village lies on Mansuar Island and offers a spectacular reef and jetty dive. Here guests can witness Papua Explorers’ successful coral restoration project and visit the resident turtles. Arborek is a well-known jetty and night dive and boasts impressive marine life such as giant clams, schooling batfish and crocodile fish. The well-known manta aggregation sites of Manta Sandy and Manta Ridge are also in this area. For those interested, there might be an opportunity to walk around the village at Sawandarek or Arborek.
The central and eastern part of Dampier Strait offer a vast selection of world-class and adrenalinepacked dive sites, such as Cape Kri, Chicken Reef, Sardine Reef, Mioskon and Blue Magic, of which the crew will select the best options according to the current and weather conditions. The guides can take guests to places where the current meets the reef head on, where guests can witness predatory fish like blacktip, whitetip and grey reef sharks, giant trevally, Spanish mackerel and dogtooth tuna hunting huge schools of smaller fish like fusiliers and bigeye jacks. On top of the abundant fish life, Central Raja Ampat offers fantastic macro dives, with chances to spot different species of pygmy seahorses, common seahorses, cuttlefish and octopuses.
The last diving day will offer two more action-packed dives in the Dampier Strait, before the boat start travelling back to Sorong harbour, where the guests will spend the last evening and enjoy a special farewell dinner.
The next morning, the tenders will take guests back ashore to catch their flights.