Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer in
Indonesia/Cendrawasih Bay

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Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer, Jun, 2012, by Mel Cundiff, CO, US ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 6756.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Diving Cendrawashi Bay on the Bird’s Head Seascape of Indonesia on the Raja Ampat Explorer June 10-20, 2012 We boarded the boat in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua, after a flight from Sorong and dived sites on the west side of the bay to the very southern end. There were eight of us diving with a crew of 14 -- several “in training”; so there was ample room for cabin quarters and diving. My dives were from 40’-99’ with an average maximum depth of 69’, and the water temperature ranged from 85°-88°F with an average of 86°F. Visibility ranged from 20’-80’, averaging 48’ and there was significantly less current than we have experienced in Raja Ampat. Everyone was using computers, and we were allowed to dive our own profiles. As has always been the case with the Grand Komodo Fleet, our boat crew was very friendly and treated us like royalty. Our cook, Surya, provided new creative and tasty meals with an Asian flavor using lots of fish, shrimp and chicken dishes. Soups, rice, various noodles, vegetables, salads and deserts were always part of our dinners, and fresh pastries were often served as afternoon snacks. There was always more food than we could eat and sashimi (tuna) was available once. Weka, one of Grand Komodo’s premier dive masters, was on his sixth trip with us, and he acted as our “eyes” in finding fish and critters. He had been on these reefs a few times with Conservation International (CI) during the recent biological diversity studies and knew his way around, but we still managed to explore and even name a few new dive sites. Dr. Mark Erdmann of CI was in the area at the same time we were, and he was able to tag 30 new whale sharks. We encountered two other dive boats, but they did not interfere with any of our dives. This is a newly discovered hot spot of critter diversity and will certainly be attracting a large number of dive boats in the near future. Our shake-down dive on the first day was on the 390’ (120m) wreck of the Japanese Shinwa Maru (sunk in 1943) carrying military cargo such as tanks and 500-pound bombs. We did only one other wreck dive on what was said to be a Japanese “Zero,” but it appeared more likely to be a small dive bomber. On many dives the overall diversity of hard corals seemed to be higher than in other areas of Indonesia. On one particular site, only, there was a significant infestation of crown-of-thorns starfish, and lots of the plate/table corals had been consumed. We encountered almost no coral bleaching on the trip and only a couple of sites where there was evidence of dynamite/blast fishing. Sea squirts, feather stars, sea cucumbers, starfish and nudibranchs were major players on all reefs. During the trip we saw large schools of bumphead parrotfish, barracuda, surgeonfish, unicorns, jacks, batfish and rainbow runners. We encountered the large variety of fishes and critters that one typically sees on Indonesian reefs; they are not being listed here, but I will mention a few. We saw and interacted with four types of cephalopods, devilfish, pipe horses, flasher wrasses, three epaulette sharks endemic to the bay, five whale sharks (at two locations) and one of my favorites, a juvenile pinnate batfish. I noted in my logbook 19 different species that I had not remembered seeing before: two flatworms, one spaghetti worm, one ribbon worm, six nudibranchs, one cuttlefish, one octopus, one shrimp, one crab, one mantis shrimp, two sea cucumbers, one peanut worm seen a half dozen times and one 3½-5 inch unidentified grey juvenile eel with a top notch on the forward part of its head. It is not included in the fish ID books. Not seen on this trip were sea snakes, fire urchins, stonefish, Spanish dancers and salps. Yes, I have read a few negative comments about the Grand Komodo fleet of dive boats, and at one time or another I have been on every one of them. Those same negative comments can be applied to a significant number of the 25-30 different live aboards I have dived on. But trumping any negative comments would be the native crew members and the attention they pay to their guests! I’ll certainly be back on their boats again! On one night dive we came across a large, three-inch tonnid/tun snail attached to, and eating, a three-foot long sea cucumber which was violently thrashing on the reef. The snail was eventually dislodged, but not before a 1½ x 2½-inch piece of flesh had been torn off the holothurian. We experienced a mild earthquake for about 30 seconds at the airport on our return to Manokwari. It was a 4.3 magnitude, centered in Makasar in southern Sulawesi. As a side trip before boarding the boat, five of us took a four-day guided trek into the Arfak Mountains south of Manokwari and from blinds were able to see and photograph three different species of birds of paradise, one species of bower bird and his bower and on another occasion saw a tree kangaroo.
Websites	Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Coral Reefs everywhere Plus
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	85-88°F / 29-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	20-80 Ft/ 6-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer in Indonesia/Cendrawasih Bay

Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer, Jun, 2012,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer in
Indonesia/Cendrawasih Bay