Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/raja ampat dive lodge and explorer in
Indonesia/raja ampat north and misool

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Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/raja ampat dive lodge and explorer : "grand komodo explorer and raja ampat dive lodge", Nov, 2015, by irene dabanian, WA, US ( Reviewer 5 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 8572.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	raja ampat dive lodge is a great way to relax and dive dampier straits. we had our own private boat, capt, and dive guide for the week, joel, gette, and beni. saw four birds of paradise on tour to sawingraii village early one am. ncl. n week. no nitrox but unlimited dives to four inc one night dive at jetty nightly. lots to see. explorer does some of the same dives but also moves more north west to fam islands. walk up to the lookout for cool photo opp. gam, waigeo, then heads down to misool for boo islands, faroundi, always the explorer crew is helpful, great captain, good dive guides and free nitrox if you ask for it when you secure your spot on the boat. room for 14. fresh enough food. good enough cabin. hot enough water. and great divng tho this year water viz was poor near misool and heck chilly. must be due to underlying currents. a fellow diver on a different boat in raja said the same thing. confirmed cold ths october. still, saw an oceanic manta, lots of fish, large and small, nudibrachs, crabs, soft and hard coral. no place else on earthe has the abundance of this area. of course the planratin owners in sumatra have illegally practiced slash and burn since summer and fires still rage out of control n sumatra fogging the skies. no smoke detected but no blue skies this year. hazy. dm managed the currents n the dives so was not a problem.
Websites	Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	raja ampat ( three times), tulambin, bali, la paz and cozumel, mexico, solomon islands, fiji, puget sound, cayman islands, key largo, fla.
Closest Airport	sorong	Getting There	bali tomakassar to sorong or manado sorong
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	currents
Water Temp	23-25°C / 73-77°F	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	20-40 Ft/ 6-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	500-750 psi exitt he water. 1000 start coming up. 3 min. safety stop.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	camera room at dive lodge, rinse tank, camera table on explorer, rinse tank on liveaboard. plenty of room as only two of us had big cameras. three others had cameras but small...go pro worked great with lights and red filter on frame for video and still camera with strobes for macro and wide angle. asked about currents before deciding which camera to take but like i said, exp,orer dive guide was lucky or good at pre- checking current before sending three dinghies with divers to dive sites. we really never hooked in nor fought current though there was constant durrent on every dive. it is an advanced divers location, raja ampat it. so no beginners here. learn to drift in cosumel then come to raja with camera, go pro and some current experience to fully enjoy the dive sites. it does take about five days to get to raja from the usa so...stop off in hong kong for a few nights, then on to bali for some divng then to srng via makassar overnight. or fly usa to singapore ( take a few days there so sightsee) then foy silk air to manado ( lembe for muck divng or gangha for reef easy dives) then sorong for the best divng in the world. got to have about three weeks to do this trip. we prefer garuda whenever possible as they fly larger planes and allow scuba gear excess weight without charge. best to overnight rather than stack up flights as indonesia is good at flight delays...also watch out for atm stealing scams. change pins each time you use atm card or carry $100 crisp bills and change them there in bali or manado ( not sorong). prepay your liveaboard and resorts so only need minimal money anyhow. it is well worth the trouble. best divng in the world. we dive october as it is the dry season. jan- mar is wet season. radl opened year round in dampier strait. more fish than you will see anywhere. lots of nutrients n water that brings fish so not super crystal clear. phots turn out nice, tho of critters.

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Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/raja ampat dive lodge and explorer in Indonesia/raja ampat north and misool

Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/raja ampat dive lodge and explorer : "grand komodo explorer and raja ampat dive lodge", Nov, 2015,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/raja ampat dive lodge and explorer in
Indonesia/raja ampat north and misool