This cruise, rich and varied, brings you to explore the most stunning area of Indonesia. Discover the unique archipelago of Raja Ampat, located off the Papua coast.
This area of 40000km2 is a five stars biodiversity heaven, offering plenty of enchanting islands and of course, an exceptional marine life. The exploration of this breathtaking region aboard one of our boats promises memorable land excursions and fabulous diving experiences.
Day 1
SORONG – WAISAI
We meet in Sorong at 7am and then board the the ferry to Wasai at 9am.
After a 2 hours boat ride, we will check-in on board Mikumba Dua, your home for the following week. We will give you a briefing about the boat, the crew and all the safety procedures before going for our first check dive in Central Raja Ampat.
Day 2
KRI ISLAND – ARBOREK ISLAND
We make our way out into the park and visit famous places like Kri island to dive the amazing Cape Kri. For the second dive, we move in between Kri & Mansuar to dive the Jenbuba Jetty. Third dive will be at the picturesque Sawan Darek.
After that you’ll either do a night dive around Arborek Island, in the Dampier strait between Gam and Mansuar or visit Barefoot Conservation to get information about mantas and where they’ve been spotted so we know where to go the next day
Day 3
MANTA CLEANING STATIONS
There’s a 15 minute ride out to either the Manta Sandy or Manta Ridge cleaning stations where we can usually see 4-5 mantas being cleaned at the same time. After the dives at Arborek we head west to Penemu and Fam Island to dive Melissa’s Garden, named after the diving pioneer Max Ammer’s daughter.
Thousands of tiny reef fish, black tips, wobbegong sharks, pygmy seahorses, and much more can be found here
You can then visit the Bintan Lagoon viewpoint, before we start the 6-7 hour night crossing north up to Kawe Island, one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
Day 4
KAWE ISLAND
We start off diving around Kawe Island and Eagle Rock with their stunning reefs and big fish action. The highlight here is seeing the mantas coming in to be cleaned
On the second dive, we move over Black Rock, one of the best reefs in the north, with a beautiful soft coral reef and loads of schooling fish. Black Rock is also great for pygmy seahorses, turtles, black tip reef sharks and marble rays in the deep. We then moor up inside the stunning Alyui Bay for a night dive at the famous pearl farm, one of Rajas best night dive sites.
Day 5
ALYUI BAY – YANGEFFO ISLAND
We start off with another wonderful dive in Alyui Bay before heading to Wofo and the black forest, a big wall covered in soft corals. After that we move to the Yangeffo
Island to dive the famous Citrus Ridge, a very fishy dive site to see stunning coral garden.
Day 6
MIOSKON ISLAND
If people request it, we do an early start, at 04:45 to go onshore to watch the birds of paradise.
Back to the boat for a proper breakfast while we make our way over to Blue Magic close to the island of Mioskon. On good days, this submerged reef has numerous of oceanic manta rays dancing around.
For the second dive we move to Sardine reef with a submerged sloping coral reef which should be dived in current to ensure plenty of fish life. It’s very good for big stuff as you’ll see school of fusiliers, rainbow runners, barracudas, sweetlips, giant trevallies, Spanish mackerel, grey reef sharks and much more. Then we do our third dive at chicken reef before we anchor up at friwen. Here we go over to the veach to have a bonfire and sing & chat under the clear night sky.
Day 7
KRI ISLAND – WAISAI
There’s an opportunity for one dive in the morning before we head off leaving plenty of time to dry your equipment on the way back home to Waisai. Our guests usually want to visit Blue Magic again or other sites around Kri Island.
On our way back, we’ll have lunch around 12pm and we will do a final briefing before it’s time to say goodbye.
The route and dives are always organized according to the weather conditions, the currents and tides.