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

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S/Y Indo Siren: "North Raja Ampat, Indonesia", Apr, 2018, by Gregg Backemeyer, FL, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 10237 has 3 Helpful votes.
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	I'll be honest right up front. The reason I used the Indo Siren was because I received a considerable discount stemming from my trip with their sister company on the Galapagos Master. Nevertheless I was pleased overall with the boat. The cabins are large and beautiful on this all wood boat with ample A/C and typical ensuite bathrooms. They have TVs in the cabins and a large one in 1 of the salons with a hard drive full of movies...I never watched it. The food was good but not spectacular. The dining area is outside which was fine but a little warm at lunch time. The 2 lounge areas were not adequately cooled but otherwise OK. The dive deck is large in the stern but you board the dive boats (RHIBs) on the side due to the design of the boat. The crew was very helpful and friendly and I never felt unsafe. The diving is simply awesome. Isn't that why Americans are willing to travel so far? We had 1 wannabe Junk-style boat (the Aurora) shadow us most of the trip in north Raja Ampat but never had competition for the sites. I seldom have 1 particular dive blaze into my memory but Melissa's Garden did. The amount and variety of hard coral is unreal. The amount of fish on every dive was amazing. We even saw some mantas even though April is not the season for them. I always to see more large pelagics but they were not abundant. It was my first time to experience woebbegong sharks...how cool they are. We did 4 night dives and usually 3 dives during the day. I've been on liveaboards where the dive schedule was more aggressive but over the 9 nights trip it was adequate. The dive crew provides outstanding service - whatever you need/want done. Even though this diving is not really for the less experienced they got around that by dividing us into 3 groups based upon experience. With my group we did the more aggressive dive aspects of each site and usually had bottom time of 60+ minutes. We were blessed with good weather. I understand it can rain quite a bit in Raja Ampat but we had only a little. And the wind was minimal and thus the surf. In the morning and with sunset the temperature is very nice. I took a rain jacket but never used it. I took my LavaCore and my Pinnacle 3mm but only used the LavaCore. Bring your reef hook and I recommend gloves even though they discourage them for the record. They also gave us some shore excursion/beach time without impeding the dive schedule. I definitley recommend overnighting in Jakarta before and after as they recommend before flying into or out of Sorong. I stayed at the FM 7 hotel which was close to the airport and nice. I was unable due to calendar conflicts but I'll always regret not spending at least a few nights in Tokyo on my return...
Websites	S/Y Indo Siren
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	French Polynesia, Mexico, Caribbean, Guadalupe Island, Socorro Island, South Florida, ABC Islands, Honduras, Hawaii, Panama, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas (Tiger Beach, Bimini, et al), BVIs, AVIs, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Solomon Islands, Galapagos Islands, Palau, Indonesia (Raja Ampat) and more
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	I traveled PBI to DFW to Hong Kong to Jakarta to Sorong. I came back via Tokyo instead of Hong Kong.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-83°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	45-100 Ft/ 14-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Dives were led by a DM but not strictly - buddy system was enforced - if you wanted to go off with your buddy I guess you could. But the local DMs knew the sites well and maximized bottom time. Most dives were 60 mins
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	N/A
UW Photo Comments	They have 110 and 220 voltage stations and 2 prong adaptors, as needed. I brought my own nevertheless. They have adequate charging facilities. Nothing spectacular but adequate.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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

S/Y Indo Siren: "North Raja Ampat, Indonesia", Apr, 2018,

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 S/Y Indo Siren in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat (north)