Luxury Diving Holidays in Raja Ampat

Best time to visit

November-April
Marine Highlights

75% of all coral species known in the world, 1400 species of fish, oceanic manta rays, epaulette sharks, wobbegongs, pygmy seahorses, reef sharks
Difficulty

Intermediate-Advanced

Overview

Diving holidays in Raja Ampat are the crème de la crème when it comes to marine biodiversity. The perfect way to exploring this region, spanning 8,000 square kilometres, is by luxury liveaboard giving access to the best dive sites, though there are a number of excellent dive resorts too. There are around 1,500 islands and the largest are known as the 'Four Kings' made up of Misool, Batanta, Waigeo and Salawati.

Divers could return year after year to this region and only skim the surface of all there is to discover. The northern part of Raja Ampat has garnered fame through its schooling fish, manta encounters and excellent hard corals. Venturing south to the remote Misool area divers and snorkellers will be rewarded with vibrant soft coral gardens, oceanic manta ray sightings as well as booming big fish and shark populations.

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Papua paradise eco resort house reef

inlet with jetty

oriental sweetlips

friwen beach

seafans

Reef sharks in shallow water in Raja Ampat

reef sharks in wayag

wayag aerial

bargibanti pygmy seahorse

nudibranch

giant clam

In Depth

Scuba diving in Raja Ampat is some of the best you could experience anywhere in the world. The Dampier Strait in the north has many big-hitting sites such as Blue Magic for big fish action and oceanic manta ray sightings, epaulette sharks and wobbegongs, while Cape Kri is the dive site with the most recorded fish species seen on one dive anywhere on the planet. Arborek Jetty is a muck divers’ haven for night dives with cephalopods galore, Spanish dancers, stargazers and bobtail squid. These sites can get busy so diving from a liveaboard is ideal as sites can be reached at less busy times.

In the south, Misool Eco Resort have worked to create a vast 12,000 square kilometre Marine Protected Area (MPA) which saw a 250% increase in biomass over a 6 year period. This valuable work to protect the area from fishing means that the diving is incredible; shark species have made a miraculous recovery and oceanic manta sightings have increased exponentially. The soft corals of southern Raja Ampat are a haven for macro life and reef life, while mangrove nurseries house juvenile species.

Boo Windows, Nudi Rock and Magic Mountain are among the best dive sites, with regular sightings of hundreds of barracudas, jacks and trevallies as well as schools of plate-sized batfish, enormous table corals and vast barrel sponges. Diving holidays in Raja Ampat are measured in extremes – we don’t have enough superlatives to describe the world class experience. Currents can be strong so we generally recommend this area for more experienced divers, in order to make the most of the best dive sites in Raja Ampat.

Beyond the Reef

Scuba diving may be the reason for visiting Raja Ampat, but there is so much to enjoy during your holiday. From sightings of the rare red and Wilson’s birds of paradise, to stand-up paddleboarding through The Passage, visiting unimaginably beautiful inlets among towering limestone karsts or just exploring one of the region’s many white sand beaches. Turtles heave their way onto shore to lay their eggs, ospreys soar overhead searching for their prey and fruit bats cloud the skies at sunset – there is plenty of wildlife to admire above the waves. A hike up to a viewpoint in Wayag is well worth the trek to see the stunning views of other-worldly scenery; a mixture of emerald and turquoise hues as far as the eye can see.

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