There's a large variety of dive internet sites In this particular great desired destination. Located in the centre on the Coral Triangle, the extent of maritime biodiversity found in Raja Ampat is unmatched wherever else on earth.
The northern and central areas of Raja Ampat function thrilling dives full of fish, enjoyable drift dives and exquisite difficult coral reefs. Here, the mass motion of h2o on Every single tide attracts massive faculties of fish and lots of manta rays, together with tremendous large manta rays. Night time dives to the jetties In this particular area are significantly unforgettable with the Unusual and superb critters you'll be able to see.
The southern location of Raja Ampat is characterised by spectacularly colourful smooth corals And large sea supporters. Maritime life is Similarly remarkable with mantas, sharks and macro life galore.
Raja Ampat covers a huge area, so a liveaboard is a wonderful solution to discover The good dive web pages. Take pleasure in Raja Ampat with the convenience of the liveaboard. Ebook with us currently!
Ideal Dive Web sites in Raja Ampat
We've divided the best dive web sites in Raja Ampat into some wide places – Dampier Strait northern dive web-sites, central dive websites and Misool.
We have described below the most beneficial dive internet sites in Raja Ampat. There are many other fantastic dive spots, but you will find a lot of to mention them all. We've got protected the most popular, and those visited most often with the liveaboards.
Raja Ampat - Dampier Strait Dive Web pages
The distances in between the dive web pages while in the north may be fairly wide. Therefore, We now have break up the diving in Raja Ampat's north into different places.
Wayag
Within the quite north of Raja Ampat is a gaggle of islands all-around Wayag. The viewpoints in this article will award the adventurous While using the atypical look at of Raja Ampat. Several modest limestone islands nestled during the obvious blue waters in the lagoons are a small amount of paradise.
The liveaboards mostly go to this location for your viewpoint and lagoons. Youthful manta rays and a superb quantity of black-idea reef sharks shelter within the calm, shallow waters below. It's possible you'll do several dives listed here close to the limestone islands. The reefs Listed here are rocky slopes with excellent possibilities to discover nudibranchs, scorpionfish, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish munching on the difficult corals and perhaps a passing ray.
Kawe
The equator dissects the large island of Kawe. South of your equator is two amazing dive web-sites.
Black Rock
Positioned on the west Coastline of Kawe Island this sizeable dive internet site demands at the least two dives to swim all around. The standard entry point is within the northwest Portion of the dive web-site wherever there are a few small pinnacles included with delicate corals and sea supporters. Swimming to the south a gentle slope is current with quite significant bushes of black corals hosting groups of oriental sweetlips and snappers. If drifting on the southern Component of the positioning, you will encounter major rocks with Significantly maritime lifestyle to discover. Watch out to the deep h2o for pelagics like dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel and the occasional white idea and gray reef sharks. Manta Rays have often been observed below also.
Eagle Rock
Liveaboards normally do several dives on This web site as a result of its size. Eagle Rock is home to the biggest reef manta ray population within the northern part of Raja Ampat. Sizeable aggregations of black snappers and yellowtail barracudas are always all-around. The west Portion of the positioning has massive rocks right down to twenty five metres lined with sea supporters in which pygmy seahorses are noticed. Ghost pipefish camouflage themselves within the black coral bushes. Wobbegongs and stingrays are often viewed while in the cracks in the boulders. In the shallow rock, hydroids are current, and this is a superb chance to see Pontohi seahorses.
Aljui Bay
White Arrow
The wall of Aljui may be very spectacular in sites with a lot of crevasses along the wall. Sea supporters and soft coals are present on the internet site. A lot of species of nudibranchs are seen listed here. Bring along a dive light-weight to find the marine lifestyle that makes use of the compact cuts inside the wall to cover from predators. Ghost pipefish, longfin comet fish, and juvenile snappers are sometimes found in this article. Look in the sea supporters for that uniquely coloured yellow Bargibanti pygmy seahorse.
Aljui Bay Jetty
There exists a huge pearl farm inside the bay, they usually built a handful of jetties together the coastline. Fantastic destination to do an afternoon dive to discover the sandy slope where you will discover big challenging coral heads. This has become the websites where by wobbegong sharks are Virtually assured. There exists a really huge resident school of yellow lined scads under the major jetty. All through night time time this dive internet site transforms into one of many most productive for macro marine existence from the north Component of Raja Ampat. Location-tail frogfish, ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish and also the endemic going for walks shark (Epaulette shark) are some of the highlights of This great site.
Penemu
This is a well-liked location for the liveaboards due to the great viewpoint in this article. Usually there are some amazing dives here far too.
Melissa's Yard
Essentially the most-healthier difficult coral reef in Raja Ampat. An enormous plateau slopes off into sandy parts with massive coral heads. Wobbegong sharks lie beneath these bommies, surrounded by glassfish. Check out round the plateau just before heading up in to the shallows. The immaculate really hard corals host 1000s of colourful anthias and fish college throughout this place. Blacktip reef sharks are frequently witnessed cruising over the top of the corals.
Batu Rufus
Batu Rufus has a tremendous tricky coral backyard garden in the shallows, a great setting for blacktip reef sharks. Walls to the west are protected with comfortable corals, sea admirers and remarkable pink anemones. Find out the tricks from the sandy rubble slopes into the south with huge coral heads all alongside the slope where by Pontohi pygmy seahorses are often noticed. Check out the shallows excellent to complete your safety halt at the positioning and dive genuinely One of the more renowned swim troughs in the region.
Raja Ampat - Central Dive Sites
Dampier Strait is named just after British navigator William Dampier. The massive body of drinking water separates the islands of Waigeo and Batanta. The dive web sites are predominately around the northern aspect from the strait round the islands of Kri and Mansuar. With close to 30 dives websites within a 10-kilometre radius of these islands, you will find too many to put in writing about in this article. We list some of our favourites.
Manta Sandy
Manta rays arrive below into a cleansing station. Find a place in the sand, kneel down, and watch the clearly show! When the mantas Will not show up, there is loads of macro existence inside the sand. Watch out for wobbegong sharks around the reef. There's a permanent ranger's station created within the sandbanks, and you will study the conservation of such majestic rays with the locals.
Arborek Jetty
Among the villages visited most inside the central A part of Raja Ampat is Arborek Village. Below the locals developed a small jetty in which the marine existence is concentrated, from your huge university of Yellow Lined Scads on the scarce blue-ringed octopus. A delicate slope with reef and sandy regions drops down to twenty five metres. You will discover substantial coral heads, the right habitat for wobbegong sharks. Arborek Jetty is the ideal dive web site to carry out from the afternoon and is often dived at nighttime. Reef manta rays are seen swimming by as a result of vicinity of Manta Sandy.
Cape Kri
Cape Kri will be the dive website that put Raja Ampat to the map. Located in the central spot of Raja Ampat, during the Dampier Strait. Dr Gerry Allen recorded 374 distinct species on an individual tank dive at this spectacular dive web site. Schooling sweetlips, jacks, surgeonfish, barracudas, fusiliers and batfish could be sighted all alongside this dive web page. Blacktip reef sharks swim from the shallows, and grey reef sharks cruise inside the deep. Turtles, napoleons and bumphead parrotfish are also usually noticed in this article.
Sardine Reef
Sardine Reef is Probably the most well known dive web sites while in the Dampier place as a result of significant concentration of fish action. Barracudas, batfish, bumphead parrotfish, black snappers, sweetlips And big educational facilities of neon fusiliers are always present on This web site. If the current is managing black suggestion, white tip and grey reef sharks are going to be patrolling the reef. Here are a few significant boulders on the sting from the reef protected in comfortable corals, best places with the wobbegong sharks to hide. Mainly because of the vicinity of your dive site Blue Magic, large manta rays in many cases are noticed below as well as turtles specifically in the shallows on the reef. The name Sardine Reef is because of the many marine lifetime remaining packed into a person dive website similar to a can of sardines.
Blue Magic
A little pinnacle that guarantees magic! Grey reef sharks prowl massive schools of jacks, snappers and fusiliers. Wobbegong sharks lie beneath the coral heads. And huge manta rays like to come in this article for your clean. Found around Mioskon island, this pinnacle is a must on your own visit to have the magical working experience with the most important ray while in the ocean. Together the shallows of the pinnacle, There are many big boulders residence to frogfish, Pontohi seahorses and sometimes blue-ringed octopus.
Raja Ampat - Misool Dive Web sites
The dive sites Within this southern A part of Raja Ampat are concentrated in the area southeast of Misool island, among the list of 4 kings. Misool has so many dive web sites It will likely be impossible to mention them all.
Misool is a vast place. Lots of liveaboards will shell out The complete day in a single area of Misool. We've stated underneath a few of the most well-liked areas and our favourite dive web pages within them.
Fiabecet
An enormous ridge connects The 2 huge islands of Kalig and Boo. The ridge rises to your floor in quite a few regions, creating magnificent dive internet sites.
Nudi Rock
Higher than h2o, this rock appears like a nudibranch. Underneath the floor is a considerable dive web page plastered with colourful delicate corals. The well being of the reef attracts abundant marine everyday living. Pygmy seahorses, education barracuda, wobbegong sharks, turtles, looking jacks, reef sharks, colourful anemones internet hosting anemone fish, comfortable coral pipefish not to mention nudibranchs.
Batu Kecil
"Batu" indicates rock and "Kecil" implies compact. The small rock is the one Element of the website that breaks the floor but underwater it's the alternative. With partitions in the north as well as within the south, this significant dive web-site might be dived Anytime of the day. On either side, the broad level of soft corals is further than belief. Huge Napoleon wrasse swimming all around are usually a handle. Hawksbill turtles are virtually resident to This web site.
Whale Rock
The name arises from essentially the most distinguished rock form that is like a whale. A vast method with a lot of to check out in only one dive, the location includes two islands. Just one compact and one more substantial, and in between You will find a coral head with one of the most degree of delicate corals you'll ever see! There exists not a no cost space on the rock for more corals to develop on it. Right here the currents run from north to south and this is why the center rock is paradise for divers and for your corals that develop there. You will discover generally nutrients passing by all day long prolonged. White idea reef sharks often patrol the center rock. The really hard coral gardens on each islands are healthy as can be. You'll find terrific possibilities to find out blacktip reef sharks and turtles swimming around in the shallows.
Boo & Nearby
Boo Windows
An iconic shallow swim-through is a single emphasis of this great dive web-site. It's even featured on the front deal with of the book about Raja Ampat. An additional would be the long ridge That could be a hub of activity. Unsuspecting snappers faculty above camouflaged wobbegong sharks. Manta rays arrive at the cleaning stations in this article. Grey reef sharks patrol the deep and curious blacktip reef sharks check out the divers while in the shallows. As with virtually all dive sites in Misool, the immense amount of colourful delicate corals may well blow your intellect! A must-do dive web page in Misool.
Shadow Reef
Shadow Reef aka Magic Mountain is near Boo. Below it is possible to see reef and giant manta rays, one among a very few areas on the earth in which you can see both of those species on one particular dive. Furthermore, the whole pinnacle is wholly lined in fish lifestyle! This can be a very well-liked dive web-site, and you may see why when you bounce in. This substantial pinnacle is incredibly active! Snappers, barracuda, jacks, batfish, fusiliers, gray reef, groupers to name some of the resident fish listed here. For the lucky divers, a dolphin could possibly go by much too.
Yuliet
This dive site is an intensive underwater reef That always confuses divers as a result of dimensions of your modest rock that arrives out of the drinking water. The northern Section of the positioning has extraordinary walls right down to thirty metres with a huge colony of sea enthusiasts internet hosting the Denise pygmy seahorse along with the Bargibanti pygmy seahorse. Gentle slopes are from the east and west with considerable barrel sponges and whip corals. A small ridge into the south of the internet site is the place, depending upon the latest, There is certainly usually a incredibly hot location for giant concentrations of fish such as Chevron barracudas and spadefish. The shallows of Yuliet have pretty huge bommies lined solely in comfortable coral and several really hard corals, the right place to do the security stop.
Wayilbatan
Neptune's Fan Sea
For lots of scuba divers, This website becomes their favourite web site immediately after a few minutes with the dive. The dive web-site is found from the channel created by Wayilbatan Get More Information Island and Warakaket Island. The northern element is made up of a very Mild slope down to 35 meters that transforms into a wall that is probably one of many richest in comfortable corals and sea admirers in the area. You can find terrific marine lifestyle to determine. Pygmy seahorses are consistently observed, and on occasion, the most significant reef-connected fish in the world the giant grouper is usually found in the course of the channel resting or swimming by together the wall. The shallow, tricky coral backyard garden within the south from the dive web page is mind-blowing, the best location to try and do the last a few minutes in the dive.
Wedding Cake
One of the most remarkable underwater topography in the area, with ledges slopes and partitions, This page has everything. In November and December Wedding day Cake plays host to huge colleges of silverside fish which are the favorite meals of your Mobula rays. Frequently witnessed Allow me to share huge teams of Mobula feeding about the silverside fish, and that's an encounter of a life span. While in the west, inside the sandy slope Section of the website, turtles and many distinct fish like the pink eye goby and the fantastic colourful flasher wrasse males exhibiting their pectoral fin to appeal to the ladies tend to be found.
Wayili Rock
This great site is routinely dived during the afternoon or as an evening dive. Below it is often Beautiful to begin to see the presence of a major college of spadefish and barracudas. Slopes to the east Component of the website and extraordinary mini walls while in the west type this great dive. Astounding tough coral gardens inside the shallows are where by reef octopus and turtles occur to wash in the late afternoon. In the course of the night dives the endemic epaulette shark is nearly confirmed. Many divers listed here have also noticed the smallest pygmy seahorse on the earth, the Satomi pygmy seahorse.
Daram
Candy Retail outlet
The Sweet Retail outlet partitions are solely covered in marine everyday living. You can find much tender coral and whip corals that there are not quite a few empty places alongside the partitions, dropping down to 35 metres in addition. The coral is so colourful that divers chose to give This website the title of Candy Store due to a great deal of colour in a single place. The challenging coral while in the shallows is remarkable, plus the best part is that it is at the right depth to try and do the safety halt. Napoleon wrasse, turtles and a resident university of neon fusiliers make This web site a great option to dive at any time on the working day.
Andiamo
Andiamo is a huge web site with remarkable marine lifetime living on it. To your east of the location, There exists a pinnacle where a large school of barracudas and spadefish have adopted it as their property. The pinnacle alone is roofed with soft coral and gorgonian sea lovers. Pelagics, sharks and perhaps big manta rays are observed here. After inside 35 minutes you may swim to the principle rock. The deep wall within the north or the slope place around the south, in equally directions, are coated with maritime everyday living. Universities of yellow snappers are constantly waiting around while in the shallows. Listed here the barrel sponges expand to unbelievable dimensions creating them on the list of highlights of the internet site.
Other Activities
A lot of liveaboards will pay a visit to the world of Penemu for that viewpoint there. Effortless steps to the highest will award you with a wonderful perspective across the limestone formations in the crystal-very clear waters down below.
Arborek Village is a favourite spot for liveaboards to go to. The children in this article enjoy visitors and can comply with you all-around this perfectly kept village. Provide along materials for the school or treats for the children for further smiles!
Tomolol Cave is a very exceptional working experience. Have a trip throughout the pearl farm in the bay into your maze of limestone formations. At the conclusion of The gorgeous tour, a large cavern will suddenly surface. You may swim by means of this wide cavern and become amazed by the rock formations. Massive stalactites and stalagmites are forming inside Tomolol Cave for A large number of yrs.
Quite a few areas of Raja Ampat are only waiting around to be explored. The unlimited limestone islands and rocks make key lagoons. Liveaboards could possibly choose you over a lagoon tour to delight in these lovely seascapes.
Shorelines are all over the place in Raja Ampat! Just request your liveaboard to drop you off in between dives to discover a Beach front all to yourselves.
Maritime Park and Conservation in Raja Ampat
The Raja Ampat Marine Shielded Space network covers a place of one,185,940 hectares. It had been designed in 2002 and is comprised of 7 distinctive maritime secured places. They are really managed because of the Raja Ampat Regency plus the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in partnership with nearby communities and with assistance from international NGOs.
All visitors to Raja Ampat are necessary to acquire a allow which is valid for 12 months. The cash collected goes towards the operational fees of preserving the MPAs also to Local community conservation and development initiatives.