You will find there's vast variety of dive internet sites During this superb destination. Located in the centre with the Coral Triangle, the extent of marine biodiversity present in Raja Ampat is unmatched any place else on earth.
The northern and central areas of Raja Ampat aspect thrilling dives brimming with fish, enjoyable drift dives and delightful hard coral reefs. Listed here, the mass movement of drinking water on Each and every tide attracts substantial universities of fish and lots of manta rays, including tremendous huge manta rays. Night time dives to the jetties In this particular spot are specifically unforgettable to the Odd and excellent critters you'll be able to see.
The southern region of Raja Ampat is characterised by spectacularly colourful tender corals And large sea supporters. Marine life is Similarly spectacular with mantas, sharks and macro lifetime galore.
Raja Ampat addresses a massive space, so a liveaboard is a perfect technique to investigate the great dive web sites. Enjoy Raja Ampat through the comfort and ease of a liveaboard. E book with us right now!
Very best Dive Internet sites in Raja Ampat
We have divided the top dive web sites in Raja Ampat into some wide places – Dampier Strait northern dive websites, central dive internet sites and Misool.
We've explained below the most effective dive web-sites in Raja Ampat. There are many other excellent dive places, but you will find too many to mention all of them. We have now coated the most well-liked, and those frequented most often from the liveaboards.
Raja Ampat - Dampier Strait Dive Sites
The distances amongst the dive sites in the north is usually really broad. Therefore, We've break up the diving in Raja Ampat's north into separate areas.
Wayag
From the pretty north of Raja Ampat is a bunch of islands all over Wayag. The viewpoints below will award the adventurous Along with the atypical check out of Raja Ampat. A lot of smaller limestone islands nestled while in the clear blue waters with the lagoons are a small amount of paradise.
The liveaboards generally check out this place with the viewpoint and lagoons. Young manta rays and a very good variety of black-idea reef sharks shelter inside the calm, shallow waters below. You could possibly do two or three dives listed here close to the limestone islands. The reefs Listed here are rocky slopes with very good chances to see nudibranchs, scorpionfish, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish munching within the challenging corals and perhaps a passing ray.
Kawe
The equator dissects the massive island of Kawe. South of your equator is two amazing dive web sites.
Black Rock
Found about the west coast of Kawe Island this considerable dive web site requirements at the least two dives to swim all around. The everyday entry issue is about the northwest A part of the dive web page where there are a few small pinnacles protected with comfortable corals and sea followers. Swimming to the south a delicate slope is present with really large bushes of black corals hosting teams of oriental sweetlips and snappers. If drifting for the southern Component of the internet site, you may stumble upon huge rocks with Substantially marine everyday living to view. Watch out into your deep water for pelagics for instance dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel as well as the occasional white idea and grey reef sharks. Manta Rays have generally been observed listed here too.
Eagle Rock
Liveaboards normally do a number of dives on This web site as a result of its dimension. Eagle Rock is household to the most important reef manta ray populace during the northern A part of Raja Ampat. Important aggregations of black snappers and yellowtail barracudas are usually close to. The west Section of the positioning has enormous rocks right down to twenty five metres coated with sea admirers exactly where pygmy seahorses are found. Ghost pipefish camouflage by themselves during the black coral bushes. Wobbegongs and stingrays are on a regular basis witnessed while in the cracks on the boulders. With the shallow rock, hydroids are present, and this is an excellent chance to see Pontohi seahorses.
Aljui Bay
White Arrow
The wall of Aljui is very dramatic in spots with numerous crevasses alongside the wall. Sea enthusiasts and gentle coals are current on the positioning. Several species of nudibranchs are seen in this article. Carry together a dive light to find out the maritime daily life that takes advantage of the modest cuts while in the wall to cover from predators. Ghost pipefish, longfin comet fish, and juvenile snappers are frequently seen here. Appear in The ocean fans to the uniquely coloured yellow Bargibanti pygmy seahorse.
Aljui Bay Jetty
You will find there's big pearl farm Within the bay, plus they crafted a few jetties along the coastline. Fantastic destination to do an afternoon dive to investigate the sandy slope wherever there are huge difficult coral heads. This is among the sites exactly where wobbegong sharks are Virtually assured. There is a really significant resident school of yellow lined scads beneath the primary jetty. Throughout evening time this dive web page transforms into among the most productive for macro marine everyday living while in the north Section of Raja Ampat. Place-tail frogfish, ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish plus the endemic going for walks shark (Epaulette shark) are several of the highlights of this site.
Penemu
This is a well-liked place with the liveaboards due to amazing viewpoint right here. There are a few astounding dives listed here too.
Melissa's Yard
The most-healthful challenging coral reef in Raja Ampat. An enormous plateau slopes off into sandy locations with large coral heads. Wobbegong sharks lie underneath these bommies, surrounded by glassfish. Examine within the plateau ahead of heading up into your shallows. The immaculate tricky corals host A large number of colourful anthias and fish university throughout this area. Blacktip reef sharks are frequently witnessed cruising excessive on the corals.
Batu Rufus
Batu Rufus has an incredible tricky coral back garden in the shallows, an excellent atmosphere for blacktip reef sharks. Partitions into the west are included with tender corals, sea lovers and awesome purple anemones. Find the techniques in the sandy rubble slopes to your south with large coral heads all alongside the slope where by Pontohi pygmy seahorses are sometimes viewed. Check out the shallows best to carry out your safety stop at the location and dive actually one of the most famous swim troughs in the region.
Raja Ampat - Central Dive Web sites
Dampier Strait is named right after British navigator William Dampier. The massive system of water separates the islands of Waigeo and Batanta. The dive web sites are predominately to the northern aspect with the strait round the islands of Kri and Mansuar. With all over thirty dives websites in a ten-kilometre radius of these islands, there are too many to write down about below. We checklist many of our favourites.
Manta Sandy
Manta rays come here to a cleansing station. Look for a spot within the sand, kneel down, and look at the present! In the event the mantas Really don't appear, there's a good amount of macro daily life during the sand. Look out for wobbegong sharks to the reef. There's a permanent ranger's station developed on the sandbanks, and you may learn about the conservation of these majestic rays through the locals.
Arborek Jetty
One of many villages frequented most within the central Portion of Raja Ampat is Arborek Village. Below the locals built a little jetty the place the marine lifetime is concentrated, in the major college of Yellow Lined Scads to your rare blue-ringed octopus. A mild slope with reef and sandy parts drops all the way down to 25 metres. You will discover massive coral heads, the best habitat for wobbegong sharks. Arborek Jetty is the ideal dive website to perform while in the afternoon and is often dived at night. Reef manta rays are observed swimming by because of the vicinity of Manta Sandy.
Cape Kri
Cape Kri is the dive site that place Raja Ampat to the map. Located in the central place of Raja Ampat, from the Dampier Strait. Dr Gerry Allen recorded 374 unique species on only one tank dive at this impressive dive web page. Education sweetlips, jacks, surgeonfish, barracudas, fusiliers and batfish is usually sighted all alongside this dive site. Blacktip reef sharks swim inside the shallows, and grey reef sharks cruise within the deep. Turtles, napoleons and bumphead parrotfish may also be often noticed below.
Sardine Reef
Sardine Reef is Probably the most renowned dive websites in the Dampier place mainly because of the superior focus of fish action. Barracudas, batfish, bumphead parrotfish, black snappers, sweetlips And large faculties of neon fusiliers are constantly current on This web site. If The existing is jogging black idea, white tip and gray reef sharks is going to be patrolling the reef. There are several huge boulders on the sting on the reef lined in comfortable corals, ideal locations for the wobbegong sharks to hide. As a result of vicinity of the dive web-site Blue Magic, huge manta rays tend to be noticed listed here in addition to turtles especially in the shallows of the reef. The name Sardine Reef is because of every one of the maritime existence staying packed into one particular dive site similar to a can of sardines.
Blue Magic
A little pinnacle that guarantees magic! Grey reef sharks prowl large faculties of jacks, snappers and fusiliers. Wobbegong sharks lie under the coral heads. And large manta rays enjoy to come back listed here for the thoroughly clean. Found near Mioskon island, this pinnacle is a necessity on your visit to get the magical practical experience with the most important ray inside the ocean. Together the shallows of the pinnacle, Here are a few huge boulders residence to frogfish, Pontohi seahorses and sometimes blue-ringed octopus.
Raja Ampat - Misool Dive Internet sites
The dive web sites in this southern Component of Raja Ampat are concentrated in the area southeast of Misool island, among the 4 kings. Misool has lots of dive internet sites It's going to be unachievable to say all of them.
Misool is a vast area. Lots of liveaboards will invest The complete working day in one area of Misool. We now have detailed underneath a few of the preferred areas and our favourite dive internet sites within them.
Fiabecet
A vast ridge connects The 2 big islands of Kalig and Boo. The ridge rises on the surface area in many places, building magnificent dive sites.
Nudi Rock
Earlier mentioned drinking water, this rock seems like a nudibranch. Underneath the floor is a sizable dive site plastered with colourful smooth corals. The health and fitness of this reef draws in ample marine life. Pygmy seahorses, schooling barracuda, wobbegong sharks, turtles, searching jacks, reef sharks, colourful anemones web hosting anemone fish, soft coral pipefish and naturally nudibranchs.
Batu Kecil
"Batu" indicates rock and "Kecil" means little. The modest rock is the sole A part of the location that breaks the surface but underwater it is actually the opposite. With walls in the north and likewise within the south, this huge dive web-site may be dived at any time on the day. On either side, the vast level of gentle corals is further than belief. Massive Napoleon wrasse swimming all over are often a deal with. Hawksbill turtles are pretty much resident to This page.
Whale Rock
The name comes from the most notable rock shape that is like a whale. An enormous process with too much to determine in just one dive, the location is made up of two islands. One modest and just one greater, and between There exists a coral head with quite possibly the most degree of soft corals you will at any time see! There is certainly not a absolutely free Area about the rock For additional corals to expand on it. Below the currents run from north to south which is why the center rock is paradise for divers and for your corals that expand there. There are actually usually nutrients passing by all day long extended. White tip reef sharks usually patrol the center rock. The difficult coral gardens on both of those islands are nutritious as might be. You will discover excellent options to discover blacktip reef sharks and turtles swimming all-around while in the shallows.
Boo & Nearby
Boo Home windows
An legendary shallow swim-as a result of is 1 concentrate of this great dive website. It's got even featured within the entrance include of a reserve about Raja Ampat. One more is definitely the prolonged ridge that is a hub of exercise. Unsuspecting snappers university over camouflaged wobbegong sharks. Manta rays come to the cleaning stations listed here. Grey reef sharks patrol the deep and curious blacktip reef sharks look into the divers inside the shallows. As with many dive sites in Misool, the huge quantity of colourful soft corals may well blow your intellect! A necessity-do dive site in Misool.
Shadow Reef
Shadow Reef aka Magic Mountain is close to Boo. Here you are able to see reef and large manta rays, certainly one of a only a few destinations on this planet in which you can see each species on one dive. Furthermore, The complete pinnacle is wholly covered in fish lifetime! This can be a very well-known dive internet site, and you'll see why as soon as you bounce in. This substantial pinnacle is quite fast paced! Snappers, barracuda, jacks, batfish, fusiliers, grey reef, groupers to call a few of the resident fish in this article. To the lucky divers, a dolphin may move by way too.
Yuliet
This dive internet site is an intensive underwater reef That usually confuses divers due to size in the smaller rock that comes out on the drinking water. The northern Portion of the website has extraordinary walls all the way down to 30 metres with a massive colony of sea fans hosting the Denise pygmy seahorse as well as the Bargibanti pygmy seahorse. Light slopes are while in the east and west with substantial barrel sponges and whip corals. A small ridge into the south of the location is the place, depending on the present, There is certainly usually a sizzling location for giant concentrations of fish for instance Chevron barracudas and spadefish. The shallows of Yuliet have incredibly substantial bommies coated totally in tender coral and several difficult corals, an ideal area to perform the protection prevent.
Wayilbatan
Neptune's Lover Sea
For most scuba divers, This great site gets to be their favorite web page soon after a couple of minutes of your dive. The dive web page is located while in the channel created by Wayilbatan Island and Warakaket Island. The northern element consists of an extremely Mild slope down to 35 meters that transforms into a wall that is most likely on the list of richest in gentle corals and sea admirers in the region. There is marvelous marine lifetime to check out. Pygmy seahorses are often seen, and once in a while, the largest reef-related fish on the planet the large grouper is often observed in the midst of the channel resting or swimming by alongside the wall. The shallow, tough coral back garden from the south on the dive web-site is mind-blowing, the perfect space to do the final three minutes of your dive.
Wedding Cake
One of the more remarkable underwater topography in the region, with ledges slopes and partitions, This great site has everything. In November and December Wedding day Cake plays host to large educational institutions of silverside fish that happen to be the favorite food stuff of the Mobula rays. Generally observed Here i will discuss huge teams of Mobula feeding on the silverside fish, and that is an encounter of a life time. From the west, inside the sandy slope Element of the location, turtles and several unique fish like the pink eye goby along with the amazing colourful flasher wrasse males displaying their pectoral fin to catch the attention of the females are often viewed.
Wayili Rock
This website is consistently dived from the afternoon or as an evening dive. Below it is always lovely to see the presence of a giant university of spadefish and barracudas. Slopes for the east Component of the internet site and extraordinary mini partitions within the west variety this excellent dive. Amazing really hard coral gardens inside the shallows are where reef octopus and turtles come to clean in the late afternoon. During the night time dives the endemic epaulette shark is sort of confirmed. Numerous divers right here have also noticed the smallest pygmy seahorse on the globe, the Satomi pygmy seahorse.
Daram
Candy Retail outlet
The Candy Keep walls are entirely coated in marine life. You can find a lot of tender coral and whip corals that there are not a lot of empty places alongside the walls, dropping down to 35 metres in addition. The coral is so colourful that divers chose to give This great site the identify of Candy Shop due to a great deal colour in one area. The difficult coral in the shallows is Get More Information exceptional, and the best part is that it's at the proper depth to carry out the security prevent. Napoleon wrasse, turtles plus a resident school of neon fusiliers make This website an awesome option to dive Anytime in the working day.
Andiamo
Andiamo is a massive internet site with extraordinary maritime everyday living dwelling on it. Towards the east of the site, There's a pinnacle the place a major faculty of barracudas and spadefish have adopted it as their property. The head by itself is roofed with gentle coral and gorgonian sea followers. Pelagics, sharks and also giant manta rays are already witnessed in this article. Right after inside 35 minutes you'll be able to swim to the principle rock. The deep wall around the north or perhaps the slope spot on the south, in the two directions, are included with maritime everyday living. Educational facilities of yellow snappers are always waiting from the shallows. Listed here the barrel sponges grow to unbelievable measurements earning them on the list of highlights of the location.
Other Functions
Lots of liveaboards will go to the area of Penemu to the viewpoint there. Effortless measures to the highest will award you with an attractive see across the limestone formations during the crystal-distinct waters under.
Arborek Village is a favourite place for liveaboards to go to. The kids in this article adore readers and can stick to you about this properly saved village. Convey along supplies for the school or treats for the kids for additional smiles!
Tomolol Cave is an extremely unique working experience. Take a experience in the pearl farm inside the bay into the maze of limestone formations. At the end of The attractive tour, a huge cavern will abruptly look. It is possible to swim via this wide cavern and become impressed from the rock formations. Large stalactites and stalagmites are already forming within Tomolol Cave for Many several years.
Numerous regions of Raja Ampat are just ready to be explored. The infinite limestone islands and rocks build mystery lagoons. Liveaboards may take you on the lagoon tour to take pleasure in these stunning seascapes.
Seashores are everywhere in Raja Ampat! Just question your liveaboard to fall you off among dives to check out a Seaside all to yourselves.
Marine Park and Conservation in Raja Ampat
The Raja Ampat Marine Protected Spot community covers a place of 1,185,940 hectares. It had been produced in 2002 which is comprised of seven unique marine safeguarded areas. They may be managed from the Raja Ampat Regency and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in partnership with local communities and with assist from Intercontinental NGOs.
All people to Raja Ampat are essential to invest in a allow and that is valid for twelve months. The money collected goes toward the operational charges of keeping the MPAs also to Neighborhood conservation and advancement initiatives.