Dive Review of Papua Explorers in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Papua Explorers: "Diving with Papua Explorers", Nov, 2023, by Gloria Wesaw, MI, US ( 2 reports). Report 13033.
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
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My two friends and I joined two other friends who had dived with Papua Explorers in the past. Papua Explorers DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Beyond their fantastic customer service (both for accommodations and for diving), the reefs of Raja Ampat were unbelievable. We began our trip in Chicago; flying Chicago to Doha, Doha to Jakarta, Jakarta to Sorong. Upon our arrival into Jakarta, we had reserved a room at the Jakarta Airport Hotel for the day to allow us to shower and sleep prior to taking our 4 hour midnight flight from Jakarta to Sorong. Once in Sorong we were taken to a "brunch" at a local hotel where we were able to relax for a couple of hours prior to our approximatley 2-3 hour boat ride to the island of Gam; which is where Papua Explorers is located. The water was calm so the boat ride was easy. The only negative about the boat ride is there is no head on the boat so make sure you're good to go prior to the ride to Gam! Upon arriving at Papula Explorers we were greeted by many staff members singing a local chorus. It was awesome. You felt like part of their family immediately upon arrival. They treated each guest beyond expectations and made sure you were totally satisfied with your accommodations. The food was also excellent. Beyond the diving, one of my favortie things to do was to get up early in the morning and sit out on our pondock deck looking at the water and listening to the birds. There is a crazy sounding crow that chimed every morning and you couldn't help but laugh at him. He had the goofiest song. We dived 3x per day. Every dive was better than the prior one. We were amazed by the diversity of the marine life, the diversity of the coral, the healthiness and abudance of the coral and the clarity of the water. We would be under the water shaking our heads at each other because we were in awe. Our DM, Juliet, would see us and think something was wrong because we were shaking our heads!! We finally reassured her that we were fine and just in awe of the beauty surrounding us. Speaking of our DM, Juliet, she was WONDERFUL!! She had an exptremely pleasant and humorus personlity, was well versed in the area and she found everything for us. But best of all, one of my dive buddies lost her prescription mask right before a night dive on the house reef while attempting to rinse it prior to us getting in the water. We were unsuccessful in finding it that evening due to darkness. Following our 3 dives the next day, Juliet allowed my 2 buddies and I along with herself, to get back into the water where the mask had last been seen in a last ditch effort to find it. Low and behold Juliet found it in about 60' of water laying at the bottom of the reef. (I might add ... the same mask was lost several months later when diving Tubbataha Reef when a large swell swept it away from the back deck of our live aboard while taking our gear off!! We did not attempt a "search and resuce that time). I guess the mask was destined!! Raja Ampat and Papua Explorers was beyond expectations. I would highly recommend a trip to Papua Explorers. It is a long flight from the US however well worth it. So much so, we have already booked our next trip.
Websites	Papua Explorers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Indonesia, Philippines
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	We flew Chicago, Doha, Jakarta, Sorong
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	84-86°F / 29-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-125 Ft/ 30-38 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Bouyancy was huge. The reefs are so beautiful you would not want to be a diver with bouyancy issues for fear of destroying the coral
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Papua Explorers in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Papua Explorers: "Diving with Papua Explorers", Nov, 2023,

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 Papua Explorers in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat