Dive Review of Papua Explorers in
Indonesia

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Papua Explorers: "Papua Explorers", Apr, 2024, by Kendall Raine, CA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 12944.
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
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My wife and I stayed at Papua Explorers (“PapEx”) for nine nights late March/early April 2024. This was part one of a two part dive trip to Raja, the second part of which was aboard Coralia (separate report). PapEx is located on the island of Gam at the northern border of the Dampier Strait facing the islands of Kri and Mansuar-a 90 minute boat ride from Sorong. The layout of the resort is 16 spacious and nicely appointed overwater rooms “Pondoks.” The Pondoks are not air conditioned but this was not a problem given that there are two fans in each Pondok and bugs were a non-issue. They all have a private deck with stairs to the water (accessible at high tide) and are south facing across the Dampier Strait. All dining is done in the central dining room at the base of a pier at the end of which resides the dive shop. The dining room has pretty decent WiFi and I was able to send and receive documents. WiFi speed is insufficient for uploading large files like photos/videos. Raja diving is incomparable and PapEx’s location is ideal for diving all the favorite spots in the Dampier Strait: Mioskon, Blue Magic, Sawanderek, Mike’s Point, Lau Lau, Cape Kri, Mayhem, Otima, Lumba Lumba, Yerbuda, Kuburan, Ransiwar, Chicken Reef, and Sardines. These sites are all within 15 minute boat ride from the PapEx dock and are included in the optional diver package, along with a daily night dive at the house reef. Day trips (extra) can be set up to visit Fam (Melissa’s Garden, Batu Rufus) and Batanta (Batanta Wai and the P-47 wreck). More distant all-day extra fee excursions can be arranged to Kawe and Wayag. PapEx also has a small but lovely house reef where many interesting critters can be seen on the night dives (juvenile batfish, octopus, Mandarin fish, squid, pipefish and ghost fish). The house reef is an example of the effectiveness of reef reconstruction after apparent dynamite fishing prior to construction of PapEx. My favorite dives were the very fishy sites of Mike’s Point and Lau Lau since when they were buzzing with vigorous hunting activity as predators (dog tooth tuna, mackerel, trevally) constantly made runs through clouds of fusiliers, scad and sardines. The dive operation assigns up to four guests per guide with a maximum of seven guests to a tender. The tenders are covered and more than adequate for even extended trips to Fam and Batanta. Two morning dives were scheduled (with a coffee break at a local village or island) followed by lunch at PapEx and an afternoon dive. A choice of dusk dive or night dive was on offer most evenings allowing guests to space out on the small house reef. This only became a problem when a large group arrived and everyone wanted to do the night dives. PapEx tried to accommodate, but the reef is too small to prevent the night dive from turning into a Pink Floyd laser light show when there were fifteen divers on the reef at the same time. I tire quickly of being kicked in the head and after that group arrived I quit doing night dives. Currents were pretty tame during these dives. No vertical currents (down or up) were experienced and we only used reef hooks once in seven dives days. Viz ranged from 40-80 feet and temps were consistently 82-83 F. For most of our dives Marten was our guide. Marten came from the adjacent village and started work at PapEx many years ago as part of the local construction crew. Showing an interest and aptitude for diving, PapEx trained him as a guide and he was extraordinary at finding tiny critters on every dive site. Most of the guides at PapEx are Papuan and intimately know the Dampier Strait reefs. What they lack in English language skills (partly out of shyness?) is more than made up for in their uncanny critter spotting ability. The owners of PapEx have invested considerable effort towards conservation, research and education of the surrounding waters by establishing the Raja Ampat SEA Centre. The SEA Centre also seeks to enhance the economic prospects of the local village by training interested villagers to dive and pursue careers as dive guides (not necessarily at PapEx). These efforts also involve the cruise directors from LOB Coralia, PapEx’s sister dive operation. Guests at PapEx are asked to tally sightings of various animals seen at the day’s sites as well as general dive conditions. This commitment to conservation is an example of the “from the heart” approach that the owners, and the long term property manager Apo, has towards Raja and the employees of PapEx. It is not just a business for them but an expression of commitment to the extended family that PapEx represents. The staff were all very pleasant and eager to please. We met Apo near the end of our visit (he divides his time between PapEx and Bali) and found him to be very enthusiastic, service oriented and delightful to talk to. For all the really good things, there are some areas that could be better. The food, particularly the Indonesian food, was an inexplicable (contrasted with Coralia) disappointment. On our second night I ate what tasted like bad beef and spent all night in the bathroom/missed all the dives the next day. Otherwise, we found dinners generally overcooked, repetitive and uninteresting. An example was the overcooked vegetable mush which they called Gado Gado. My wife and I lived in Indonesia many years ago and have visited numerous times since. We love Indonesian food and it’s an important part of the trip for us. It’s not that the Gado Gado was bad, it wasn’t Gado Gado at all. Strange. Breakfasts were good and lunches were sometimes very tasty. Another area of improvement is performing basic maintenance on the tanks. While the fills were generally good (with a few exceptions) and always spot on 32% (I also frequently tested the gas for CO and found it clean), all the valves stuck and it was clear they needed more frequent/effective servicing. In some cases DIN valves were so deformed/encrusted or stem stripped tanks had to be swapped out. This lack of attention to detail is unnecessary (regular valve service is no big deal even in a remote location) and made me wonder what the tanks looked like inside if the valves hadn’t been serviced properly/regularly. My wife rented a BC from PapEx, but was told the only XXS jacket they had was being used by another guest compelling her to use one a size too large. Not a big deal (she should have brought her own) but mildly off putting. These relatively minor deficiencies were puzzling to me given how thoroughly squared away/uniformly excellent/well managed the Coralia is, from food to dive operations and everything in between. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at PapEx (great location/diving, delightful staff, beautiful property), but unless the food situation improves we would likely try another land-based operation upon our return to Raja.
Websites	Papua Explorers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Fiji, Rangiroa, Morea, Huahini, Grand Cayman, Turks, Palau, Truk, Galapagos, Cocos, Cabos, California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Tulum, Cozumel, Bali, Lake Superior, Raja Ampat, Belize, Roatan, Andros, Nassau, Abaco, Bonaire
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	LAX-SIN-CGK-SOQ
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	100 feet and 60 minutes
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	No rinse tanks on the tenders but the boat rides were short and cameras were handled with care.

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Dive Review of Papua Explorers in Indonesia

Papua Explorers: "Papua Explorers", Apr, 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 Papua Explorers in
Indonesia