Indonesia > Raja Ampat
General
Raja Ampat is a paradise on earth, is the largest and richest Marine Park in Indonesia. This stunning archipelago is located in the Northwest tip of Bird’s Head Peninsula on Papua. These are the most eastern islands of Indonesia. This archipelago, which name means Four Kings, contains over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool. The territory within these islands is enormous, covering 9.8 million acres of land and sea. This popular destination will not only delight divers from all over the world with its water wonders, as it is known for having the most diverse marine biodiversity, but it will also be a great spot for adventures and for those who look for a laid back atmosphere, with landscapes to die for.
As you can imagine, in all this territory, with all that diversity, there are countless extraordinary dive sites, for all tastes and all levels: deep dives, with none to strong currents, sheltered shallow dives, great walls, mangroves, jetties, lagoons, bays, caves, macro dives, night dives, everything is possible in Raja Ampat. Having said this, choosing the best dives sites, will depend on what you are looking for, however we can mention a few ones, to give you an idea of the spectacular marine world of this part of the world.
Fam Islands
The Fam Islands group, located further west in the Pacific, contains some of the most stunning coral reefs in Raja Ampat. The calm water, the abundance of marine life with some of the highest diversity of reef fish species known in Raja Ampat and pristine and colorful coral, attract divers from all over the world. The range of what you can see is endless, from larger predatory species such as sharks and tuna to brightly colored reef fish and to tiny critters.
Manta Ridge & Manta Sandy
These both sites, located near Mansuar Island in central Raja Ampat, are great sites to spot the majestic Manta Rays. The former can be affected by strong currents, however in the latter one, currents are milder, being even a great spot for snorkelers. Mantas come here either to feed or being cleaned of small parasites, so will have the opportunity to see them in groups, from 5 up to 30 Mantas.
Blue Magic
Blue Magic dive site, is a pinnacle reef out in the open ocean, in the Dampier Strait. Blue Magic is one of the most popular sites in northern Raja Ampat. This reef starts at around 8 meters of the surface and descends down to a depth of approximately 30 meters. Everywhere you look is full with life, colors and movement. The reason why Blue Magic is so popular among divers, it is because it features lots of pelagic fish, although there are plenty of places to get down low and look for the small stuff too.
The Passage
The Passage dive site stands out for its own fjord like characteristics. This is a narrow canyon, situated between Gam Island and Waigeo Island. Its shoreline is covered by blue mangroves and rainforest and in the shallow areas rare archer fish and soft corals can be seen. This one of a kind dive site, offers its divers numerous quiet grottoes, caves, arches and underwater passages, where to look for the wide variety of marine.
Fabiacet
Fabiacet is a chain of four small islands, located southeast of Misool Island. Being a quite remote area, keeps its beauty untouched, and you will feel that you are the first diver to dive here, in the best spots of Indonesia and in the whole world. The set of islands has a dramatic topography, pinnacles and submerged plateaus around the islets are surrounded by deep waters, with an amazing visibility, one of the best in Raja Ampat, reaching up to more than 30 meters, making it a true playground for wide-angle photographers. This great visibility plus a diving depth up to 40 meters, will allow you to easily enjoy the excellent fish life and colors around you.
Sel Pele Bay
Sel Pele is a very big bay located on the Western side of Waigeo Island. This wide bay is considered the macro capital of Raja Ampat, since it is renowned as the best place in the archipelago for critter hunting. Sel Pele is where divers can find all the rare, unique and wonderful critters that Indonesia diving is famed for. It is a paradise for macro photographers.
Raja Ampat is the richest place for marine life on Earth. The biodiversity is absolutely wonderful, with weird and rare underwater creatures everywhere you look. These islands are great for big fish action with many pelagic fishes, as well as they are very rich in macro life. When it comes to colors, you will find all of them, with the most pristine reefs you will ever come across.
Why ? Raja Ampat
Raja Ampat is like heaven for underwater photography with magnificent hard and soft coral, clear water and a teeming reef life. The best way to enjoy this amazing archipelago is with a liveaboard, since it will give you the opportunity to enjoy more dive sites and also the further ones. Besides, diving in Raja Ampat is excellent all year round, and given it is a quite remote area, it won’t be crowded as other parts in Asia.