Dive Review of Mermaid in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Mermaid: "Great Diving, Great Boat, Great Crew, Great Sea Life", Mar, 2017, by Eric Weiss, VA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 9730 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Mermaid II is a nice liveaboard with typical small rooms. Good food. Wine was available for 25 Euros so the five of us would split a bottle most nights. This was my first trip to Indonesia and my first South Pacific dive trip. There are some really ripping currents, so stiff fins are a must. I was glad I left my split fins at home. Bring a reef hook that you can hook to your BCD. It will be necessary. Our last dive of the trip we hooked on the reef as soon as we got down to it and spent an hour in one place getting checked out by seven giant mantas. We started out south in Misool and then headed north. Just wonderful diving everywhere. Healthy corals, sponges, tunecates, gorgonians, fish and reef creatures. After the diving, we spent four days in Bali seeing the land-based sights such as the monkey jungle and rice paddies. Getting there was a chore. Left Dulles nonstop to Doha to Jakarta with a 12 hour layover (arrranged a tour of the city), then a one-stop to Sorong. Took a tour of it, but there wasn't much to see. We spent the night in a hotel and then got on the Mermaid. The return trip was to Makassar to Bali, then Bali to Doha to Dulles. A couple of months before we left they changed the departure time for the Sorong to Makassar leg, but we caught it and avoided a 20-hour layover in Makassar. We're talking about going back to Indonesia for more diving. It's a long trip, expensive compared to Cozumel, but the reefs and life on them is pristine.
Websites	Mermaid
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Belize, Turks and Caicos, St. Vincent, West Palm Beach, Keys, San Diego, Puerto Rico
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	36 hours including 12 hour layover in Jakarta
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, surge
Water Temp	80-°F / 27-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	We dove in groups of 4-6 people and kept pretty close together.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Lots of camera tables and separate rinse tanks for cameras. Just about everyone had a camera.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Mermaid in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Mermaid: "Great Diving, Great Boat, Great Crew, Great Sea Life", Mar, 2017,

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 Mermaid in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat