There's a vast number of dive websites During this wonderful vacation spot. Located in the centre with the Coral Triangle, the extent of maritime biodiversity found in Raja Ampat is unmatched everywhere else in the world.
The northern and central locations of Raja Ampat aspect thrilling dives packed with fish, interesting drift dives and beautiful tricky coral reefs. In this article, the mass movement of drinking water on Every tide appeals to significant educational institutions of fish and plenty of manta rays, including tremendous huge manta rays. Night time dives about the jetties On this spot are especially memorable for the Odd and amazing critters you'll be able to see.
The southern location of Raja Ampat is characterised by spectacularly colourful gentle corals And large sea lovers. Marine daily life is equally amazing with mantas, sharks and macro daily life galore.
Raja Ampat addresses a massive region, so a liveaboard is an excellent solution to take a look at The nice dive web-sites. Enjoy Raja Ampat within the comfort and ease of a liveaboard. Ebook with us these days!
Most effective Dive Web-sites in Raja Ampat
We have divided the top dive internet sites in Raja Ampat into some broad regions – Dampier Strait northern dive websites, central dive web sites and Misool.
We have explained below the best dive websites in Raja Ampat. There are various other outstanding dive spots, but you will discover too many to say them all. We've got coated the preferred, and those visited most often via the liveaboards.
Raja Ampat - Dampier Strait Dive Web pages
The distances among the dive internet sites during the north can be pretty wide. Consequently, we have split the diving in Raja Ampat's north into individual spots.
Wayag
Within the really north of Raja Ampat is a group of islands about Wayag. The viewpoints below will award the adventurous While using the atypical look at of Raja Ampat. Numerous modest limestone islands nestled while in the very clear blue waters of your lagoons are a small amount of paradise.
The liveaboards mainly go to this area for the viewpoint and lagoons. Youthful manta rays and a good variety of black-suggestion reef sharks shelter inside the quiet, shallow waters below. You could do a few dives right here beside the limestone islands. The reefs Allow me to share rocky slopes with excellent likelihood to discover nudibranchs, scorpionfish, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish munching over the tricky corals and perhaps a passing ray.
Kawe
The equator dissects the big island of Kawe. South with the equator is 2 excellent dive internet sites.
Black Rock
Situated about the west coast of Kawe Island this sizeable dive web-site requires no less than two dives to swim all around. The standard entry issue is within the northwest A part of the dive site exactly where There are several modest pinnacles lined with soft corals and sea lovers. Swimming towards the south a gentle slope is present with extremely huge bushes of black corals web hosting groups of oriental sweetlips and snappers. If drifting to your southern part of the location, you will encounter huge rocks with much marine daily life to check out. Watch out into your deep drinking water for pelagics which include dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel plus the occasional white idea and grey reef sharks. Manta Rays have normally been observed in this article way too.
Eagle Rock
Liveaboards typically do a few dives on This website on account of its sizing. Eagle Rock is household to the largest reef manta ray population from the northern Component of Raja Ampat. Sizeable aggregations of black snappers and yellowtail barracudas are generally all-around. The west A part of the site has tremendous rocks right down to twenty five metres lined with sea fans exactly where pygmy seahorses are witnessed. Ghost pipefish camouflage by themselves within the black coral bushes. Wobbegongs and stingrays are consistently witnessed in the cracks with the boulders. Within the shallow rock, hydroids are current, and this is an excellent opportunity to see Pontohi seahorses.
Aljui Bay
White Arrow
The wall of Aljui is incredibly extraordinary in places with lots of crevasses along the wall. Sea lovers and tender coals are present on the location. Quite a few species of nudibranchs are seen here. Carry along a dive light to discover the marine lifetime that makes use of the little cuts within the wall to cover from predators. Ghost pipefish, longfin comet fish, and juvenile snappers will often be observed below. Glimpse in The ocean admirers for your uniquely coloured yellow Bargibanti pygmy seahorse.
Aljui Bay Jetty
There's a large pearl farm In the bay, and so they built several jetties alongside the coastline. Best place to do an afternoon dive to take a look at the sandy slope where you'll find large tricky coral heads. This is among the web-sites exactly where wobbegong sharks are Practically confirmed. There exists a very substantial resident faculty of yellow lined scads under the principal jetty. For the duration of night time time this dive web-site transforms into one of several most efficient for macro maritime daily life during the north A part of Raja Ampat. Location-tail frogfish, ghost pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish plus the endemic going for walks shark (Epaulette shark) are some of the highlights of This web site.
Penemu
This is a popular location for your liveaboards because of the great viewpoint below. There are several awesome dives right here as well.
Melissa's Garden
The most-healthy tough coral reef in Raja Ampat. A giant plateau slopes off into sandy regions with significant coral heads. Wobbegong sharks lie beneath these bommies, surrounded by glassfish. Take a look at around the plateau just before heading up into your shallows. The immaculate tricky corals host thousands of colourful anthias and fish university all around this region. Blacktip reef sharks are frequently seen cruising over the top from the corals.
Batu Rufus
Batu Rufus has a tremendous really hard coral backyard in the shallows, a great natural environment for blacktip reef sharks. Walls to your west are covered with tender corals, sea followers and awesome pink anemones. Find the tricks of the sandy rubble slopes for the south with significant coral heads all together the slope wherever Pontohi pygmy seahorses tend to be witnessed. Check out the shallows great to complete your basic safety cease at the positioning and dive genuinely The most well known swim troughs in the region.
Raja Ampat - Central Dive Web-sites
Dampier Strait is named after British navigator William Dampier. The large human body of water separates the islands of Waigeo and Batanta. The dive web-sites are predominately on the northern side in the strait throughout the islands of Kri and Mansuar. With all over thirty dives sites in just a 10-kilometre radius of such islands, you will find a lot of to jot down about in this article. We list several of our favourites.
Manta Sandy
Manta rays arrive below to a cleaning station. Find a place during the sand, kneel down, and view the demonstrate! If your mantas Really don't look, you can find plenty of macro lifestyle inside the sand. Look out for wobbegong sharks over the reef. There's a permanent ranger's station crafted within the sandbanks, and you'll learn about the conservation of these majestic rays in the locals.
Arborek Jetty
One of several villages frequented most within the central A part of Raja Ampat is Arborek Village. Here the locals developed a little jetty where by the maritime lifestyle is concentrated, from your significant school of Yellow Lined Scads for the scarce blue-ringed octopus. A mild slope with reef and sandy regions drops all the way down to 25 metres. You will find large coral heads, the proper habitat for wobbegong sharks. Arborek Jetty is The best dive site to carry out inside the afternoon and is often dived at night. Reef manta rays are noticed swimming by as a result of vicinity of Manta Sandy.
Cape Kri
Cape Kri may be the dive web-site that place Raja Ampat over the map. Situated in the central region of Raja Ampat, in the Dampier Strait. Dr Gerry Allen recorded 374 unique species on a single tank dive at this impressive dive web-site. Schooling sweetlips, jacks, surgeonfish, barracudas, fusiliers and batfish might be sighted all alongside this dive website. Blacktip reef sharks swim from the shallows, and gray reef sharks cruise while in the deep. Turtles, napoleons and bumphead parrotfish also are generally spotted below.
Sardine Reef
Sardine Reef is The most well known dive websites in the Dampier region mainly because of the higher focus of fish action. Barracudas, batfish, bumphead parrotfish, black snappers, sweetlips And large educational facilities of neon fusiliers are generally current on This web site. If The existing is managing black idea, white suggestion and gray reef sharks is going to be patrolling the reef. There are many significant boulders on the sting of the reef included in soft corals, perfect spots to the wobbegong sharks to cover. Mainly because of the vicinity on the dive web-site Blue Magic, big manta rays tend to be observed in this article coupled with turtles specifically in the shallows of your reef. The title Sardine Reef is because of the many maritime lifestyle remaining packed into a single dive web page similar to a can of sardines.
Blue Magic
A small pinnacle that guarantees magic! Gray reef sharks prowl big educational institutions of jacks, snappers and fusiliers. Wobbegong sharks lie under the coral heads. And big manta rays really like to come back right here for your clean up. Positioned near Mioskon island, this pinnacle is essential on the go to to get the magical working experience with the biggest ray inside the ocean. Together the shallows of the pinnacle, Here are a few major boulders property to frogfish, Pontohi seahorses and occasionally blue-ringed octopus.
Raja Ampat - Misool Dive Web sites
The dive web sites With this southern part of Raja Ampat are concentrated in the region southeast of Misool island, among the list of four kings. Misool has a lot of dive websites It'll be impossible to mention them all.
Misool is an unlimited place. Quite a few liveaboards will invest the whole day in one place of Misool. Now we have stated under several of the most well-liked places and our favourite dive internet sites inside of them.
Fiabecet
A vast ridge connects the two substantial islands of Kalig and Boo. The ridge rises for the surface in several regions, making magnificent dive internet sites.
Nudi Rock
Above water, this rock appears like a nudibranch. Down below the area is a significant dive site plastered with colourful tender corals. The health of this reef attracts considerable maritime existence. Pygmy seahorses, education barracuda, wobbegong sharks, turtles, hunting jacks, reef sharks, colourful anemones web hosting anemone fish, gentle coral pipefish and of course nudibranchs.
Batu Kecil
"Batu" implies rock and "Kecil" usually means little. The compact rock is the one A part of the website that breaks the floor but underwater it is actually the other. With partitions from the north and in addition in the south, this huge dive web page may be dived at any time with the day. On each side, the vast amount of gentle corals is further than belief. Huge Napoleon wrasse swimming around are usually a deal with. Hawksbill turtles are basically resident to This page.
Whale Rock
The name emanates from the most well known rock form that is sort of a whale. A vast system with too much to find out in only one dive, the internet site is made up of two islands. 1 smaller and a person even bigger, and in between There exists a coral head with essentially the most quantity of gentle corals you'll ever see! There exists not a absolutely free Place around the rock For additional corals to expand on it. Listed here the currents operate from north to south and this is why the center rock is paradise for divers and with the corals that develop there. You'll find normally nutrients passing by all day extensive. White tip reef sharks usually patrol the center rock. The tricky coral gardens on both islands are nutritious as may be. You will find terrific options to view blacktip reef sharks and turtles swimming around inside the shallows.
Boo & Close by
Boo Windows
An legendary shallow swim-by is just one target of the excellent dive web page. It has even featured to the front deal with of a book about Raja Ampat. Yet another could be the very long ridge that is a hub of activity. Unsuspecting snappers university earlier mentioned camouflaged wobbegong sharks. Manta rays come to the cleaning stations in this article. Grey reef sharks patrol the deep and curious blacktip reef sharks look into the divers from the shallows. As with nearly all of dive internet sites in Misool, the enormous number of colourful soft corals may blow your thoughts! A necessity-do dive web page in Misool.
Shadow Reef
Shadow Reef aka Magic Mountain is near Boo. Listed here it is possible to see reef and large manta rays, certainly one of a only a few areas on earth in which you can see the two species on one particular dive. Plus, The complete pinnacle is wholly included in fish daily life! This is a particularly well-liked dive site, and you may see why as soon as you leap in. This big pinnacle is rather hectic! Snappers, barracuda, jacks, batfish, fusiliers, grey reef, groupers to call some of the resident fish listed here. For that Blessed divers, a dolphin may well move by far too.
Yuliet
This dive web-site is an in depth underwater reef That usually confuses divers due to the sizing in the modest rock that will come out with the h2o. The northern Portion of the positioning has remarkable walls right down to 30 metres with a major colony of sea followers hosting the Denise pygmy seahorse along with the Bargibanti pygmy seahorse. Mild slopes are from the east and west with considerable barrel sponges and whip corals. A little ridge on the south of the location is where, with regards to the latest, You can find routinely a warm location for big concentrations of fish for instance Chevron barracudas and spadefish. The shallows of Yuliet have really huge bommies protected fully in tender coral and several hard corals, the right space to try and do the protection prevent.
Wayilbatan
Neptune's Fan Sea
For many scuba divers, This web site gets to be their favorite internet site just after a couple of minutes with the dive. The dive internet site is located inside the channel produced by Wayilbatan Island and Warakaket Island. The northern element includes a really Light slope down to 35 meters that transforms right into a wall that is probably one of the richest in delicate corals and sea supporters in the region. There may be great marine lifetime to view. Pygmy seahorses are often observed, and from time to time, the most important reef-affiliated fish in the world the giant grouper is commonly witnessed in the course of the channel resting or swimming by together the wall. The shallow, challenging coral garden within the south in the dive website is thoughts-blowing, the perfect space to do the final a few minutes of the dive.
Marriage ceremony Cake
One of the more spectacular underwater topography in the area, with ledges slopes and partitions, This website has everything. In November and December Wedding Cake performs host to large colleges of silverside fish which can be the favourite food of the Mobula rays. Usually witnessed Listed here are significant teams of Mobula feeding on the silverside fish, and that's an practical experience of a lifetime. Inside the west, while in the sandy slope Portion of the site, turtles plus some particular fish like the pink eye goby and also the amazing colourful flasher wrasse males exhibiting their pectoral fin to catch the attention of the women are often found.
Wayili Rock
This page is often dived while in the afternoon or as an evening dive. Below it is always Beautiful to begin to see the existence of a large university of spadefish and barracudas. Slopes for the east Section of the location and dramatic mini walls during the west variety this excellent dive. Wonderful difficult coral gardens in the shallows are the place reef octopus and turtles occur to wash inside the late afternoon. Over the night time dives the endemic epaulette shark is nearly guaranteed. Several divers in this article have also seen the smallest pygmy seahorse on the globe, the Satomi pygmy seahorse.
Daram
Sweet Retail outlet
The Sweet Retailer partitions are completely lined in maritime life. There is certainly a great deal comfortable coral and whip corals there are not many empty spots together the partitions, dropping all the way down to 35 metres additionally. The coral is so colourful that divers chose to give This page the title of Candy Keep thanks to so much colour in a single spot. The really hard coral while in the shallows is superb, as well as better part is that it is at an ideal depth to accomplish the security cease. Napoleon wrasse, turtles as well as a resident faculty of neon fusiliers make This great site a terrific option to dive Anytime from the working day.
Andiamo
Andiamo is an enormous web-site with extraordinary marine daily life living on it. To see this your east of the positioning, there is a pinnacle wherever a huge school of barracudas and spadefish have adopted it as their household. The top itself is roofed with gentle coral and gorgonian sea supporters. Pelagics, sharks and perhaps giant manta rays are seen in this article. Soon after within 35 minutes you can swim to the primary rock. The deep wall over the north or perhaps the slope location on the south, in both equally Instructions, are protected with maritime daily life. Educational institutions of yellow snappers are usually waiting inside the shallows. In this article the barrel sponges grow to remarkable sizes earning them among the list of highlights of the website.
Other Routines
Lots of liveaboards will visit the region of Penemu for your viewpoint there. Simple actions to the top will award you with a good looking view across the limestone formations while in the crystal-very clear waters underneath.
Arborek Village is usually a favourite place for liveaboards to visit. The youngsters here appreciate people and will stick to you all-around this correctly stored village. Carry alongside provides for The college or treats for the children for added smiles!
Tomolol Cave is a really exclusive expertise. Take a journey from the pearl farm within the bay in to the maze of limestone formations. At the conclusion of the beautiful tour, a huge cavern will instantly surface. It is possible to swim as a result of this huge cavern and be surprised because of the rock formations. Substantial stalactites and stalagmites have been forming inside Tomolol Cave for thousands of yrs.
Several parts of Raja Ampat are only waiting around to get explored. The infinite limestone islands and rocks generate magic formula lagoons. Liveaboards might choose you on the lagoon tour to get pleasure from these beautiful seascapes.
Beach locations are just about everywhere in Raja Ampat! Just request your liveaboard to fall you off between dives to check out a Seashore all to yourselves.
Maritime click for more info Park and Conservation in Raja Ampat
The Raja Ampat Maritime Protected Spot network addresses a location of 1,185,940 hectares. It absolutely was produced in 2002 and is comprised of seven unique maritime safeguarded locations. They're managed through the Raja Ampat Regency plus the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in partnership with regional communities and with aid from Worldwide NGOs.
All site visitors to Raja Ampat are expected to buy a permit that is valid for twelve months. The cash gathered goes to the operational charges of sustaining the MPAs and to Neighborhood conservation and improvement initiatives.