Raja Ampat - Irian Jaya
An amazing liveaboard scuba diving adventure from the city capital of the Raja Empat National Park, Sorong. Cruise through Indonesia’s last frontier offering an amazing array of unique dive sites and land based adventures. This cruise departs from the port of Sorong and ends in the port of Sorong (Irian Jaya/West Papua) visiting Kri, Wayag, East and West Misool, Batanta and Gam Islands.
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Detailed daily itinerary for Sorong to Raja Ampat and return. Please note that this itinerary is subject to change depending on local weather and diving conditions and that all times are approximate.
Day One: Arrival Sorong Airport
Kararu dive masters will meet you at the airport and escort you to the ship for immediate boarding. Cabin allocation and ship orientation will take place before departure at 3:00 PM. Take this opportunity to familiarize yourselves with the vessel, set up your equipment, and make yourself comfortable. Dinner will be served while sailing towards our first destination.
Day Two: Kri Island
Welcome to Kri Island. The reefs in this area are protected by Max Ammer from the Papua Diving Resort. If you would like to add some diving days before the cruise you can just stay at his resort and join the boat right outside the Lagoon. Kri is a great start for the cruise with the most fish and coral species accounted on a single divesite. Truly pristine reefs, you will want to dive these sites around this island again and again. A night dive will be offered.
Days Three & Four: Waigeo Island Group
Welcome to the incredible Waigeo Island group. You will be in awe at the beauty of yellow Wall boasting a very large amount of yellow soft coral. In the afternoon a dive on the sheer wall undercut at the edge from millions of years of oceanic erosion will truly amaze. An interesting pearl farm is nearby (the 5th biggest in Asia) and can be visited upon request. The night dive here is not to be missed! The chances to see bigger animals including mantas are high in this area.
Day Five: Kawe Island
Draping directly over the equator lies Kawe Island. Kararu Dive Voyages will arrive early morning in and anchor right on the equator. Enjoy breakfast while watching the stunning scenery. You will be offered up to five dives today to take advantage of this world-class dive region. You will be treated to an enormous array of fish life as well as stunning above water scenery.
Days Six & Seven: Waiag And Southern Islands
You will move on to our most northerly area of Irian Jaya with many unnamed groups of islets. From mild sloping coral gardens with huge coral rocks and colorful soft corals, to steep walls and schooling fish, this region is truly spectacular. Here you can make the famous ‘hike” to view the breath taking scenery over the island group here. Fantastic night dives with rare wobbygong shark spottings are also on the agenda.
Days Eight & Nine: Manosuar Island
Arriving early morning in Manosuar, you can expect to dive the famous sardine reef as well as 3 other incredible sites. The fish life is prolific and the topside scenery will truly astound. Two full days diving will be offered in this amazing region as well as a great top deck barbeque to satisfy those hungry divers.
Day Ten: Batanta Island
To start your day, you will take a two hour morning hike in search of the Red Bird of Paradise. A true jungle trek, you will hear giant hornbills, cockatoos flying by and perhaps if lucky, the mesmerizing song of the bird of Paradise. Today’s diving day can host anything form wobbygong sharks to pigmy seahorses.
Day Eleven: Wai Island
After a light breakfast, a beautiful dive will be offered at the American plane wreck that crashed in these waters in the 1940’s. The wreck is upside down and between 24 - 34 m (90-115’) deep. The wreck is fairly intact with excellent coral covering it especially on the lower side of the tail section. The guns are also visible on this truly great dive. The rest of the day will be spent around the incredible sites of Wai Island. If desired, you may take a short trip on shore to see the resident cassowary bird.
Day Twelve: Arrival in Sorong
The ship will arrive at 6:00 AM at Sorong. You will be served breakfast and afterwards prepare for disembarkation. You will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.
Variations
The Irian Jaya - Raja Ampat liveaboard is usually an eleven night cruise but in case of twelve night cruises we will spend an extra night at Wei Island on day twelve and arrive in Sorong on day thirteen.
available cruises for this itinerary
2011 cruisesNo available cruises in 2011 for this itinerary |
2012 cruisesNo available cruises in 2012 for this itinerary |
2013 cruisesNo available cruises in 2013 for this itinerary |