Dive Review of Pindito in
Indonesia/Rajah Ampat

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Pindito, Feb, 2008, by Mike Judd, OR, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports). Report 4403.
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	Rajah Ampat takes two days travel each way, but worth it. Pindito leaves from Sorong, a formerly small town which has "boomed" due to oil discoveries in the area - don't plan on any land sight-seeing. We covered a couple hundred miles in our 11 day cruise, with most of the diving in the Misool Island area. There are a few dive boats operating in the area, but we ran into others less than half the days. It's nice to be out of the main traffic lane, although the occasional raft of garbage was a reminder that very few places are pristine any more. Pindito is a fairly new boat, but build to resemble the traditional pinisi vessels in the area (apparently the pretty sail you see in the photos is a decoration). The bare wood cabins have a nice rustic feel, and are average size (although my buddy in the top bunk complained about the low ceiling). There wasn't a lot of choice in the menu (for understandable reasons, given the location), but the food was generally good. Nitrox was free, a plus with four dives a day. The diving was from zodiacs, which were crowded enough that it was a pain to gear up. On the positive side, we never had more than a five minute ride to a dive site. The three dive masters (Europeans) were pleasant and fun characters, and did a good job of leading without dictating, as well as pointing things out. My only criticism is that they didn't seem to believe in the "look but don't touch" philosophy. The rest of the crew were locals, and excellent. There was a great variety and number of fish. For those who like to see the undersea world through a camera lens (is my bias showing?), there were clouds of small tropicals, nudibranchs, blennies, and pipefish. And, of course, pigmy seahorses. I must admit I don't know what makes these tiny fellows more precious than other seahorses which can be seen with the naked eye, but they must be, because our leaders and others spent hours searching for them! On the other end of the scale, there were frequent visits from large humphead parrotfish, a few Napolean wrasse, some small tuna, little epaulet sharks, and a couple of the indigenous wobegongs. There was also a great manta cleaning station, where a half dozen or so swooped by on one of the dives. Even better than the fish life was the coral, with an amazing range of different colors and varieties of both hard and soft. One warning about stinging things. Many of the sites have large growths of hydrozoans, which look like inocuous patches of brownish-gray ferns growing underwater. They appear to be attached to the coral or other surface, but I am absolutely sure that when you are looking the other way they shoot out and make sneak attacks.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Maldives, Cocos Is., Fiji, Thailand, various Carib.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	83-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Generally followed dive guide, but some variance allowed
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Pindito in Indonesia/Rajah Ampat

Pindito, Feb, 2008,

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 Pindito in
Indonesia/Rajah Ampat