Dive Review of Ambai in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Ambai: "Raja Ampat the Ultimate", Nov, 2019, by Boris Volodin, NJ, US ( 1 report with 6 Helpful votes). Report 11377 has 6 Helpful votes.
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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
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Comments	General information The cruise we went on (“Raja Ampat the Ultimate”) covered the entire Raja Ampat (RA) area -- from Misool in the south to Wayag in the north, 12 days in total. We didn’t find many similar cruises available, as most ships cover south and central areas only. The cruise was planned for 16 passengers, but one canceled. We found the ship to be in good shape -- clean and having everything needed on a dive cruise. The ship has water desalination equipment. We always had hot water in the shower, even though the pressure varied sometimes — possibly due to peak usage after dives. Nitrox is provided to everyone at no additional cost. Accommodations Typically, there are 2 people per room in 8 cabins on the ship. The full passenger capacity for a cruise is actually 20 or 22 people, but they usually plan only for 16, which is good for us divers. The 6 cabins on the lower deck are below the main deck level and have small round portholes for light. Cabins 7 and 8 are on the starboard side of the ship on the upper deck, have a glass window in the door and fresh air access through vents in the room and in the bathroom. Each cabin on the lower level has bunk beds — double bed on the lower level and single on the upper. The two cabins on the upper deck have double size beds. All cabins have private bathrooms with full size shower (not like a small toilet equipped with a shower hose that we encountered on other liveaboards). All have air conditioning. The cruise director cabin is next to cabin 8 on the upper deck. Crew cabins are on the port side also on the upper deck. Crew members would eat in the stern are of the upper deck. Passengers had spacious covered dining hall on the main deck open to them at all times, one lounging area on the bow in front of the dining hall and another on the upper deck directly above the first and in front of the bridge. We had cabin #8 on the upper deck. Besides the double-bed with a night-stand and LED overhead reading lights, the cabin has 4-5 shelves that provided enough space for our clothes and small things. There is a storage bin under the bed, but it is not easily accessible (a matras needs to be removed first) and it was occupied by various supplies used by the crew. Passengers dive bags and suitcases were put into a small storage room on the lower deck. The cabin was cleaned and tidied up 3 times a day, which was more than we ever expected. We slept very well on the boat. The engine was usually on most of the time, but it was not loud and didn’t bother us even during the night. Overall, we were quite pleased with the cabin and the ship comforts in general. By the way, a note about engines: we didn’t see any of the liveaboards in RA that had their sails up. Apparently, they do it only for a picture, so don’t be too taken by the idea of sailing on the wind on one of these phinisi-style boats. Diving Diving on liveaboards in RA is always done from small skiffs (or “dinkies”). We were explained that this is due to the fact that anchoring near the reefs is prohibited in the marine park and there are no mooring buoys near the reefs either. Also, there are usually several liveaboards near popular dive sites at any given time, so diving from a ship deck is out of the question in RA. Ambai has 3 skiffs: 2 smaller ones that carry one team of 4 divers and a guide (plus the boat captain), and a larger one that normally would carry two teams of 4 divers each plus two dive guides. Skiffs are all in good shape -- not beaten up and rusty like some other we encountered around RA. The skiffs are designed specifically for diving, having tank holes and wide sitting area on the sides. This design allows for an easy back-roll into the water. I also found it much more convenient for entering the water in my side mount setup compared with traditional Papuan long boats that were converted for diving as an afterthought, which are also used around RA. There are cushioning foam sheets glued on the sitting platforms and inside the tank holes.This foam on the boat sides also provided a good non-slip surface for the feet when getting on and off the boats from the ship. The mothership has a low (water-level) deck at the stern, which was great for getting into and out of the skiffs quickly, getting into and out of kayaks (the ship has 4 kayaks and we had several opportunities for short kayaking forays around small islands in RA), and it can also be used for diving directly from the ship, although not in RA, as mentioned earlier. Dive deck area has a station for each of the divers equipped with a tank hole and a plastic box for all the gear under each station. Personal equipment was always left in these boxes after the dives. The stations were numbered and so were the cylinders assigned to each of the divers. The crew would fill each tank in its place and test for O2 percentage, which was recorded on a board for each station. Divers were only responsible for attaching the regulators to the tanks and could also test for O2 on their own. For the most part it was all the divers had to do — the crew would carry the cylinders with the gear and the camera equipment, rinse the wetsuits and hang them to dry after each dive, lay the wetsuits for each diver at their respective stations before each dive and assist with any other request. On the dive deck there are usually 3 large plastic boxes for rinsing masks, computers and cameras separately, each prepared with different detergents and antiseptics. There are also squeeze bottles of diluted vinegar solution for rinsing the ears after dives. Large personally designated fresh towels are available on the dive deck. The ship has a dedicated camera room right next to the dive deck. It is equipped with electrical plugs for any standard — US, UK and European, as well as USB charging ports. There are also plenty of towels in the camera room to dry up the camera housings. Cruise organization A day on the cruise started with a wakeup call at around 6:30 in the morning, although most of our people were up before that on their own, followed by a light breakfast of cereal and fruit (self-served). The first dive started at 7 am with a briefing. Dive briefings were generally informative and helped navigating the reef underwater. Big breakfast was served after the first dive. A short pause followed by a second dive around 10:30. Then lunch and an afternoon dive around 2:30 - 3 pm. There were fruits and various snacks offered after the afternoon dive and the night dive was usually done at around 6:30. Then dinner at 8:30 - 9 pm, once everyone showed and settled after the night dive. Long-distance sailing was usually done during the night. The divers were separated into 4 teams of 4 divers each (in our case one team had only 3). Each team had a color code. Personal equipment boxes had color corresponding to the team color. Each team of divers went diving together and had a dive guide assigned to them. There were 4 dive guides on the ship and they rotated daily between different dive teams, so everyone dove with each of the guides several times during the trip. Diving is done in two waves comprised of two dive teams each (so 8 people per turn, normally). This way the dive deck and the dive site are not overly crowded. Every day the groups alternate which one goes first. The cruise director tried to space the two groups in time by 15-20 minutes to give enough space on the dive deck to people and not to rush anybody. He also went himself on many dives and gave personal attention to some divers who needed it. Food Food and service on the ship were great! The chef tried to accommodate everybody's taste and preference, be that vegetarian, allergies, level of spiciness or doneness of the fish. The dishes varied every day -- some were local and some adjusted to western tastes. All food was well prepared. We had an impression that ship staff really wanted to please the guests. Keep in mind that losing weight is not an option on this boat as food is tasty and plentiful! Soft drinks were included and beers were extra (about 4 euros each). Regular coffee and tea was always provided, and espresso from a Jura machine was available for extra money. Summary Overall, we found that the boat had everything to enjoy an awesome diving vacation. We can full-heartedly recommend Ambai to anyone for exploring RA. Just one word of caution about diving conditions. As is often mentioned in other reviews, there are strong currents in RA due to many small islands separated by narrow straits, and, depending on the tide, conditions on some reefs can become rough for almost everyone. So be forewarned. Having an SMB is strongly recommended (the ship doesn’t have many to lend to guests). If you like using a reef hook (most people on our boat did) I would recommend bringing your own, even though there are some available to borrow on the boat. The ship does not provide GPS trackers, so if you are concerned about these things please bring your own (one of the guests on our cruise did). Despite all these warnings I can firmly state that we felt safe with the ship’s team. The surface crew was always alert and always kept track of every diver. On several occasions when I separated from my team (due to my own choice) the whole crew was immediately aware and a boat was always there waiting when I came up. Happy bottom time to everyone!
Websites	Ambai
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Great barrier reef, Coral Sea, Osprey reef, Bonaire, Cozumel, St. Lawrence river, Bahamas
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	New York to Jakarta, Jakarta to Sorong.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	80-90°F / 27-32°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Staying with your dive team and dive guide was recommended but diving on my own was still ok.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	1 or 2
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	Dedicated camera room. Can accommodate any style of power plugs.

Report currently has 6 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Ambai in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Ambai: "Raja Ampat the Ultimate", Nov, 2019,

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 Ambai in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat