Dive Review of S/Y Indo Siren in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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S/Y Indo Siren, Apr, 2014, by Michael J. Millet, CA, US ( Top Contributor 96 reports with 59 Helpful votes). Report 7601.
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	My journey from SFO to Sorong, Papua, Indonesia took about 40 hours. I had an 18 hour layover in Jakarta then took a redeye flight thru Makassar to Sorong. Just about all the guests on the Indo Siren were on these flights. We arrived in Sorong at about 6 AM and promptly boarded the boat with the usual briefings and waiver signing. I expected with a full day before us that we would do a checkout dive that day but we did not. We basically just hung around the Port of Sorong for the day before departing for the Misool area later that evening. The trip down the Salawati Strait was quite rough with very choppy seas. We spent 5 days diving the Misool area and 4 days diving sites off the island of Waigeo. The dive routine was to gear up then descend stairs to the waiting rubber skiff where one would gingerly step on then sit down. It was a must to time entry into the skiff with the go-ahead from the crew. Most of the dive sites were close to the big boat with at most a 10-15 minute ride. All entries were back rolls. Each skiff had a radio to stay in contact with the big boat and also to allow for Lifeline use if necessary. Upon completion of the dive, the crew would take care of rinsing all gear including wetsuits. Water and juice was offered on the dive deck before and after each dive. Each diver had a designated towel. The cabins are quite spacious with plenty of storage space. The lighting was a bit dark. I had cabin 7, which shares a common wall with the engine room. Thus my cabin was a bit on the warm side at all times. This situated was exacerbated by the malfunctioning A/C unit in this cabin. In spite of the crews best efforts, this A/C unit never performed adequately. The crew moved a portable swamp cooler from the salon into my cabin, which helped a little bit. So a word of advise: do not book cabin 7 on the Indo Siren. The guests (17) were divided into 3 groups for diving each with its dive guide. The groups hit the dive sites a few minutes apart so this generally minimized diver congestion. The dive guides were very familiar with the dive sites and generally did a good job as critter finders. The 4th dive of the day was always a night dive. The night dives were good but not great. The food served was generally tasty and plentiful. All meals were buffet-style. Breakfast featured a made-to-order egg/omelet station. Most of the entrees were either chicken of fish. At times, both were seriously over-cooked, i.e., tough and chewy. Bintang Beer was included in the fare. Very average wines were available at very uncommonly high prices --- but that's Indonesia. There was a distressed diver situation that occurred shortly into the trip that the crew handled very well. This person was showing some signs of DCS and was quite unstable on his feet. The cruise director arranged to have this diver transported by fast boat from the Misool area to a hospital in Sorong. After about 2 days in Sorong, the person was then moved to the hyperbaric chamber on Waisai where he stayed for another 2 days or so. During this whole period, the Indo Siren provided the assistance of a crew member to better enable the guest get thru this very trying situation. Quite commendable. This was my first trip to Raja Ampat, and I enjoyed it very much. But in my opinion the diving at Komodo and North Sulawesi (Lembeh, Gangga, and Bunaken) is just as good if not better.
Websites	S/Y Indo Siren
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Galapagos, Solomon Islands, PNG, GBR, Vanuatu, Palau, Philippines, Indonesia, Yap, Kosrae, Truk, Fiji, Socorros, All over the Caribbean.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	35-80 Ft/ 11-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco; 60-75 minute dives
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	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	With the exception of the Manta Sandy dive site, Raja Ampat is generally a location for macro photography. I was expecting more in the way of "big stuff" but the small critter photo ops made up for the lack of larger marine life (with the exception of manta rays on 2 dives). The crew handles the camera equipment with care off and on the boat. The dive deck has large camera rinse tanks. The camera tables are in the salon area, and space for camera gear, especially big rigs, is a bit lacking. The are plenty of electrical outlets for charging batteries.

Subscriber's Comments

By Mark Shandur in Phuket, TH at Jun 22, 2014 22:11 EST

Thanks for choosing the Indo Siren for your dive vacation Michael and for your great review of the trip & Raja Ampat. The a/c unit in cabin 7 has been replaced, we apologise we were not able to do this for you during your trip and hope it did not impact too much on your enjoyment. We look forward to welcoming you again, best wishes from all at Siren Fleet

By Mark Shandur in Phuket, TH at Jun 22, 2014 22:11 EST

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Dive Review of S/Y Indo Siren in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

S/Y Indo Siren, Apr, 2014,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of S/Y Indo Siren in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat