Dive Review of Raja Ampat Dive Lodge in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Raja Ampat Dive Lodge: "Raja Ampat Dive Lodge before liveaboard", Nov, 2024, by Nicholas Zylstra, CA, US ( Reviewer 4 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 13277.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Overall great. Room very comfy, had good AC. Food was buffet style and delicious. House reef really awesome for snorkeling, so many huge fish right under the jetty and great corals and critters everywhere. Staff generally kind and helpful. Dive op solid, but not excellent. Brought our own gear but others with the rental gear had a few issues and it didn't seem in great shape. Boat assistant set my tank on my mask when getting back on the boat and scratched the lens, fortunately I had a backup. Boats comfy and speedy enough, never had to go far. Dive master was solid, definitely on safety and competency aspects, less so on critter spotting and general energy. Our dive guide on the liveaboard right after this part of the trip was incredible and all time best, so maybe he's tainting my memory a bit :) Diving was better than any I'd ever done underwater life and coral wise, quickly to be eclipsed by what we saw on the liveaboard though, Misool especially. Minimal to no bleaching at most sites, and tons to see. Cape Kri, Sawendarek, and Arborek Jetty were favorites. For all the talk of current I read online, everything was pretty tame. I believe our guide was active in keeping us out of anything strong though, since my wife stated a preference to stay out since she's not as comfortable in it. Mosquitoes definitely out at sunset, got a handful of bites but it wasn't too bad quantity wise. Aside from sunset they weren't noticeable. Got a bite on my ankle near the edge of my fin that ended up getting infected, keeping me out of the water a few days on the following liveaboard and needing antibiotics. Despite being on top of bug spray (picaridin) and wearing long pants and sleeves most of the time. Wife and I took Malarone for malaria too due to the potential exposure here. Only two negatives to report. One, more expensive than expected, all in for two people, 4 nights, 7/9 dives each over 3 days, was about $3200, plus some smaller tips. Two, it was really difficult to get them to schedule our "private" speed boat transfer to leave at the time we wanted in the early afternoon, when our liveaboard would be arriving to Waisai. They really wanted us to leave in the morning so we could be on the same boat as another group, and then sit around for hours at the Wasai port waiting for the liveaboard. I'd understand if they weren't calling it a private speedboat transfer and charging us $400 for a 30 minute ride. But we did get what we wanted after multiple back and forth and me pushing hard over the last 24 hours at the resort. Certainly didn't ruin our stay though, mostly an annoyance amongst otherwise great service. I'd go back.
Websites	Raja Ampat Dive Lodge
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Raja Ampat, Sea of Cortez, Monterey, San Diego, Greek Islands, Similan Islands, Roatan, Cozumel, Belize, Aruba, Curacao, El Hierro Spain, Cabo Pulmo, Homestead Crater Utah
Closest Airport	SOQ	Getting There	SFO - SIN - CGK - SOQ, TPE instead of SIN on way home. If you can break it up with a night somewhere along the way, would recommend. Way out we had a 10 hour layover in SIN and saw the city a bit. Way back stayed in TPE for a few days to tour around.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	84-89°F / 29-32°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-70 Ft/ 9-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Stay near guide, safety stop at 50 bar
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	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		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Dedicated camera room near dive shop I didn't use. Staff puts cameras in crate on boat, covers with towels. Seemed to do a good enough job.

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Dive Review of Raja Ampat Dive Lodge in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat Dive Lodge: "Raja Ampat Dive Lodge before liveaboard", Nov, 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 Raja Ampat Dive Lodge in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat