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

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Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Dive Lodge: "Liveaboards, Malicious and goodwill", Sep, 2024, by Toshihisa Tsunoda , Knatou, Japan ( Sr. Contributor 21 reports with 5 Helpful votes). Report 13163.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	For our fourth Raja Ampat cruise, we decided to dive only in Central. The fish were as abundant as ever, and from the first night dive we saw walking shark, many coconut octopus, and Flamboyant cattle fish. We also enjoyed a relaxing dive at Cape Kri and Blue Magic without any current. We also dived Manta Sundi, where manta rays are not expected due to the season. We enjoyed muck diving like Lembeh with moss fish, yellow gobies, peacock razor fish, and thecacera nudi. The Raja Ampat Explorer was a steady boat and as usual we were treated well by the local staff. However, I can't help but recall the nightmare I had when I was diving in Raja Ampat. In September 2019 we enjoyed a 7 night Raja Ampat northern cruise aboard Pearl of Papua. It was a satisfying cruise,So we applied directly to the owner who accompanied us on that cruise for the May 2020 cruise. The schedule was perfect for us to join and we paid the full cost of the cruise to the owners of Pearl of Papua as a group booking for a group of 12 people. As you know we all could not enter Indonesia due to Covid19 then. We asked owner to suspend the cruise, since it is natural disaster. We negotiated a deferral request in May 2022 after Covid-19, but her response was unbelievable.　 “Your booking in 2020 is nonrefundable and expired. To your knowledge, your 2020 trip payments have already been paid to vendors and third parties and we are unable to get that money back.” (Original text as sent by email) was the response. On the other hand we paid deposit to live-aboard OCEANIC, which had been booked before Corona, OCEANIC moved the entire amount to a post-Covid reservation. Each of us took separate cruises and they were willing to accommodate us. OCEANIC offered us a wonderful cruise from Raja Ampat to Kupang in Timor Island via Alor in 2022. The itinerary was very varied. We could encounter schooling barracuda, GT, napoleon, and spotted eagle rays, as well as rare species such as coral catsharks, threadfin trevally and Rhinopias. The route was unique in that it traveled 700 km between islands. By the way we received a curt response from Pearl of Papua, but I could not afford to lose the entire cruise fee of over 25,000USD, so I continued the negotiation to hold the cruise in May, 2022. We have to accept some additional cruise fee. However, her response was as follows With the situation of diesel prices, logistics and permits that have jumped 250%, we cannot run trips with original price. With your proposed price, the burden to our finance exceeds our capacity. Also, despite a group booking of 12 divers, all divers must participate in the same itinerary. The minimum number of divers is 10, and divers who cannot participate will forfeit the cruise fee. The postponement condition was also unacceptable to us, so we demanded through our lawyer in Jakarta that she refund the over US$250,000 she had received. Our attorney's argument is. “In April 2020 Indonesia temporarily banned foreigners from entering/transiting into Indonesian territory. The President of the Republic of Indonesia has also officially declared Covid-19 a national disaster. Our inability to travel to Indonesia was a force majeure. The Pearl of Papua unilaterally decided to deny refunds to our clients without further discussion or deliberation in order to create a win-win solution that is fair to both parties. We demand a refund of the cruise fee.” In negotiations with the lawyer, it was decided that we could probably go to court and win, but the court costs would be enormous, and even if we won, we would not be able to force her to give us a refund. Her lawyer responded that even though the Corona had prevented her from entering Indonesia, we were not obligated to refund her the cruise fee because of our last-minute cancellation. However, her lawyer responded that the case was not related to the travel ban to Indonesia and that she was not obligated to refund the money since the cancellation was made 90 days prior to the date of the ban. In the end, thanks to Covid-19, the entire cost of the cruise went into her pocket, even though there were actual damages for labor and other expenses due to the non-operating cruise. It is a kind of tax to enter Raja Ampat. There are no refunds for Raja Ampat conservation fee, kind of tax & harbor fee to be paid to the authority and rental gear charge.As mentioned above, it was exposed that some ships, like OCEANIC, will let you use the full amount of the cruise fees you remitted before the corona for the next cruise and others, like Pearl of Papua, will confiscate the entire amount. It seems to me that this could be an important indicator of creditworthiness when booking a ship. Even if you send money to Pearl of Papua, there is a possibility that they will forfeit the cost of the cruise if the ship does not meet its capacity, which makes booking on this ship very risky. However, Pearl of Papua is still running the cruise, ignoring our lawyers' requests. OCEANIC, on the other hand, which offered a full guarantee for future client relations, was ironically destroyed in a fire. Too sad! Can evil prosper as the saying goes? Please let us know if you have any similar cases of damage caused by Covid -19.
Websites	Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer Raja Ampat Dive Lodge
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Cayman, Bahama, Red Sea, Maldives, Thailand, Micronesia, Okinawa, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, GBR, Malaysia, Tanzania, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, most places in Indonesia, Philippines and PNG
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	Direct flight JKT to Sorong
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	28-29°C / 82-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	20-30 M / 66-98 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
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	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Wide camera table next to dinning tables.

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

Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Dive Lodge: "Liveaboards, Malicious and goodwill", Sep, 2024,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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/Raja Ampat Dive Lodge in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat