Discover Raja Ampat: A Premier Liveaboard Dive Experience
Embark on the ultimate underwater expedition in Raja Ampat, the crown jewel of the Coral Triangle. Adelaar offers a premier liveaboard experience, inviting you to traverse the world’s richest marine biodiversity hub. With a staggering array of over 1,500 fish species and 600 types of corals, Raja Ampat stands as a beacon for marine enthusiasts and biodiversity conservationists.
Decades of Custom Diving Expeditions: with 30 years of navigating the cerulean depths of Indonesia, Adelaar Liveaboard specializes in crafting custom diving expeditions. Our intimate knowledge of Raja Ampat’s diving sites ensures a matchless underwater experience tailored to each guest’s preferences and diving proficiency.
Exploring Raja Ampat’s Signature Dive Spots
The Raja Ampat archipelago is segmented into three predominant dive regions, each offering unique underwater experiences:
- Misool: Dive into the southern sanctuary of Misool, where the underwater terrain is adorned with extraordinary reef formations and a kaleidoscope of sea creatures.
- Highlighted Dive Sites: Boo Windows, Four Kings, Yillet Kecil, Barracuda Rock, Balbugoa
- Dampier Strait: The central heart of Raja Ampat’s diving scene, the Dampier Strait, presents an assortment of dives from exhilarating pinnacles to serene muck dives.
- Premier Dive Locations: Cape Kri, Mioskun, Melissa’s Garden, Blue Magic, Manta Sandy, Sardine Reef, Chicken Reef, Arborek
- Wayag: Venture north to Wayag, renowned for its iconic limestone karsts and translucent waters, offering both awe-inspiring scenery and rich underwater life.
- Top Dive Sites: Black Rock, Eagle Rock, Black Forrest
Adelaar: A Raja Ampat Liveaboard for Everyone
Adelaar’s Raja Ampat experience isn’t just for divers. Our liveaboard caters to all guests, promising an unforgettable journey through the region’s spectacular seascapes. Non-divers can bask in the splendor of the surroundings with activities like snorkeling, kayaking, and beach excursions. Our top-tier service and luxurious amenities ensure a comfortable and memorable voyage for all.
Optimal Seasons for Visiting Raja Ampat
The prime season to indulge in Raja Ampat’s underwater spectacle spans from October to April. This period is marked by drier weather, gentler seas, and optimal underwater clarity, ideal for diving and snorkeling adventures.
Raja Ampat Diving: Ideal Wetsuit Guide with Adelaar
For diving in Raja Ampat, we recommend a long 3mm thick wetsuit. This thickness ensures comfort in the warm waters, typically ranging from 27°C to 30°C (81°F to 86°F). A long wetsuit is advisable not only for thermal protection but also as a safeguard against the region’s fire corals, which can cause discomfort upon contact. Ensuring your safety and comfort during your dive is our priority.
Your Gateway to Raja Ampat: Sorong
Begin your Raja Ampat adventure by arriving in Sorong, the accessible starting point to this marine paradise. Jakarta serves as the primary international hub to Sorong.
Recommended Direct Flight Options from Jakarta to Sorong and return (Sorong is Jakarta time + 2):
| Airlines | Flights | Jakarta-Sorong | Flights | Sorong-Jakarta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garuda Indonesia | GA682 | 0010-0615 | GA683 | 0815-1010 |
| Batik Air | ID7797 | 0030-0640 | ID7780 | 1045-1245 |
Additional connections are available from key Indonesian cities including Manado, Makassar, and Denpasar (Bali), facilitating your seamless transition to the wonders of Raja Ampat.
Tickets can now be purchased with Credit Card from abroad via Traveloka.com.
Total Raja Ampat (Sorong – Sorong)
On Adelaar’s Total Raja trip we propose to visit all three sections of the enormous diver’s playground that is Raja Ampat: the Central, South, and North. As Raja boasts more dive sites than could be done even in multiple trips, no Raja trip will look exactly the same. The following itinerary is just an example to illustrate how your cruise might look like. As with all private charters on Adelaar, everything can be fully customised, including length of the trip and places visited.
Day 1 Sorong
After the airport or hotel pick-up and transfer to Adelaar, the first day is dedicated to getting to know the crew, settling in, and enjoying the first day on the boat while we are sailing toward Raja Ampat. Depending on boarding time, we may already do a check dive.
Day 2 Dampier Strait
This strait between Batanta and Waigeo is the heart of Raja’s central section. During the dives on its seamounts, headlands and village piers you are likely to meet dense schools of fish, turtles, various kinds of sharks, including the iconic Wobbegongs – and maybe already cross paths with the first manta ray of your cruise. With a bit of luck, you may even spot one of the many whale species that inhabit this area. Before the night dive there is a chance to visit one of central Raja Ampat’s friendly villages. (3 day dives, 1 night dive)
Day 3 Batanta
Still part of the central section, Batanta offers superb diving with a wide diversity of options from macro heavens and mandarin fish sites over drift dives along pristine reefs to manta aggregation spots. It is also a spectacular destination for land-based activities such as treks to waterfalls, birds of paradise or hornbill nesting areas. (3 day dives, 1 night dive)
Day 4 Misool – Daram
Daram, one of the many miniature archipelagos off Raja’s southernmost region Misool, keeps divers impressed with coral studded underwater limestone formations that are bathed in fish. Schooling barracudas, Spanish mackerels, batfish and trevallies are common. Daram’s sea fan forests are also home to Raja Ampat’s endemic ‘Santa Claus’ pygmy seahorse. (3 day dives, 1 night dive)
Day 5 Misool – Pele
The ridges, overhangs, and swim-throughs underneath the waves around Pele’s islets are some of the best places to swim in clouds of baitfish and silversides. These huge bait balls of small fish attract predatory fish such as trevallies, tuna, sharks, and squadrons of mobula rays. Pele is also home to some of the largest groupers. (4 day dives)
Day 6 Misool – Wagmab
The overwhelming kaleidoscope of colours created by the dense soft and black coral growth around Wagmab makes it hard to notice the equally colourful critters hiding within, such as nudibranchs, frogfish, boxer crabs, blue ringed octopi and others. They are also amongst the best sites to find Raja’s endemic walking shark on night dives. There are several lagoon and cavern systems waiting to be explored by speedboat, and snorkellers can immerse themselves in marine lakes inhabited by stingless jellyfish. (3 day dives)
Day 7 Piaynemu
Before the late afternoon lagoon tour and walk to an iconic viewpoint, you will dive on sites that include arguably the most beautiful and largest hard coral garden found anywhere. There are also several seamounts in this area that lie between Raja’s central and northern section, surrounded by huge schools of fusiliers, which in turn attract pelagics such as grey reef sharks and giant jacks. (3 day dives, 1 night dive)
Day 8 Kawe
The equator runs through the islands of Kawe, making it possible in the northern area of the park to cross the equator on a dive! Kawe is not only the area with the most reliable manta ray encounters of Raja Ampat but also boasts some of the most spectacular sites when it comes to the sheer mass of fish: big schools of sweetlips merge with yellow snappers, big eyed trevallies, and surgeonfish to create images of rivers of fish. (3 day dives, 1 night dive)
Day 9 Wayag
We explore the underwater treasures of the northern most islands of Raja Ampat, which lie in typically clear waters of the Pacific Ocean and have some of the most impressive topography including big overhangs, caverns and swim-throughs. Then let us take you on a speed boat tour through the out-of-this-world unique wonderland of Raja’s biggest lagoon with its many hidden coves and beaches. The crowning moment will be the ascension on one of Wayag’s tallest peaks which gives you a bird’s eye view of this maze of lush tropical islands. (3 day dives)
Day 10 Yanggefo
The channels between the mangrove studded islands of Yanggefo hide some of central Raja Ampat’s most breath-taking underwater ridges and seamounts. Dominated by brightly coloured soft coral fields and covered by coral bommies, they are a good place not only for larger animals such as schooling barracudas, grey reef sharks and giant trevallies but also for some of Raja’s tiny treasures such as Pontohi, Denise and Bargibanti pygmy seahorses. After the last dive Adelaar will hoist her sails and cruise through the islands of central Raja Ampat. (2 day dives)
Day 11 Sorong
After breakfast, it is time to say goodbye disembark and – until the next time.
(Actual itinerary might vary depending on weather and sea conditions)
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