Dive Review of Papua Diving/Sorido Bay in
Indonesia

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Papua Diving/Sorido Bay: "Luxury Raja Ampat experience", Dec, 2019, by Paul Selden, MI, US ( Contributor 16 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 11768.
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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The good. We got there during manta season, which is when the water is filled with their food (which also limits visibility). There were tons of black tipped reef sharks right off their dock. We stayed in a nicely decorated 600 sq ft Sentani-class villa with a beautiful view, a sandy beach and AC. Meals were served in an open air dining hall that afforded a great view of the strait between Kri and Gam island. The resort is located on the island, one side of which is a dive site containing the highest fish species count in recorded in one day. Their sister resort, Kri Eco, has bungalow room that go for about 2/3 of Sorido Bay's. Side trips were fantastic - including two must-do trips: one to Fam Island, whose surrounding waters are dotted closely by smaller emerald covered mini-islands that are often photographed in pictures of Raja Ampat - and another circumnavigating Gam Island via a narrow, high-current channel. Be prepared for strong currents, a wide degree of water temps and variable weather. I was glad I brought my reef hook and could anchor myself, especially in the manta feeding grounds between islands and a few other sites where the currents were very strong. I also was happy I brought my hooded tunic to supplement my 3mil full wetsuit. Other slimmer divers wore much the same, but everyone's body is different and a number of my boat mates wore shorties and seemed just fine. Weather-wise, with the winds and occasional cloud bursts, for warmth I usually stayed in my wet suit on the longer rides home in our open dive boat. Most of the sites were only 20 minutes away, however, so staying warm was not a real issue most of the time. The three stars I rated this resort for beginners were for the currents on many dives, and based common wisdom vs. what I experienced while at Sorido Bay. The resort offered dive training for total beginners and tailored dives accordingly. Two young adults got their first certification while we were there; they told me they had a great experience. The bad would not normally be experienced, but what happened was a harbinger of conditions that have now restricted travel to the resort. Our trip was in December 2019, just before Covid hit. It was just our luck that a couple from Malaysia arrived at the resort so sick from some sort of highly contagious "flu" that they didn't leave their bungalow most of their stay. They ate with us at a long semi-outdoor communal dining table for a meal or two. Then little by little most of the rest of the guests got sick. My version was a persistent nagging cough (no fever), but others got very ill. (I've been tested for Covid and believe their illness was something else. If my hindsight was an (impossible) 20/20, the only thing I would have done differently is bring a few face masks and worn them so as to slow the transmission, and not sit so close to the couple at dinner.) The biggest "bad" is that with Covid, IMO we may not a chance to return to this part of the world for many years, if ever.
Websites	Papua Diving Sorido Bay
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	FL Keys, Bonaire, W Palm Beach, Vanc. I., Thetis I., CA, Saba, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Galapagos, Cozumel, Grand/Lil Cayman, Utila, Roatan, Andros, Turneffe Is., Palm I., Playa d Carmen, Ceyn-Akumal, Dominica, Holbox, Curacao, Union I., St. Eust., Providencia, Philippines, Borneo, Fiji, Indonesia
Closest Airport	Sorong (SOQ)	Getting There	It's a multi-day trip, which may explain why the Raja Ampat still has very healthy reefs. From their website FAQs: A typically route to get there: 1. Take an international flight to one of the recommended International airports in Indonesia Jakarta , Denpasar (Bali) or Manado 2. Connect to a domestic (Indonesian) flight to Sorong (SOQ- Domine Edward Osok airport) 3. Connect to our transfer service [45 mile boat ride] between Sorong airport and the resort [on Kri Island].
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	82-78°F / 28-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-50 Ft/ 6-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Safe practices were enforced in a gentle way. No harsh words needed to be spoken.
Liveaboard?	no	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	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	I chose to use our bungalow's separate sink and counter top for most of my camera gear. It was well set up with power and space within the room itself so I didn't use their facilities much, but could have. Bring a variety of lenses. A wide angle is a must. We usually had enough of a heads up to allow for what we were going to see. Super macro was not as called for.

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Dive Review of Papua Diving/Sorido Bay in Indonesia

Papua Diving/Sorido Bay: "Luxury Raja Ampat experience", Dec, 2019,

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 Papua Diving/Sorido Bay in
Indonesia