Ultimate Diving at the World's Richest Reefs

Papua is frontier diving. One of the last truly wild places on earth, it has yet to succumb to the pressures of overfishing, coral bleaching, exploding tourism and overpopulation. The diving reflects this. Topside there are few roads, even few boats ply the water in the Raja Ampat islands on the "bird's head", the far northwestern end of Papua where Papua Diving is located. Underwater, the life is wild, extraordinarily plentiful and for the most part, unexplored.

Of the few dive operators to attempt regular operation in the area, (Tropical Princess and Pindito make or made forays into the area), Papua Diving is the most knowledgeable, with Max Ammer's many years of exploration and experiences with the indigenous Papua (Papua means "kinky-hair" in Malay) people.

The eco resort is located in the midst of gigantic reef systems with more dive sites than you could map in a lifetime! From the resort, virtually hundreds of sites with diverse topology and life can be reached with relatively short boat rides.

From mucky shallow bays with shrimp gobies, octopus, nudibranchs and "twilight zone" critters; to lagoon channels overhung by rainforest; to rock islands undercut by the sea and covered with a kaleidoscope of tunicates and corals; to offshore reefs with raging currents supporting an unbelievable variety of colorful soft and hard corals and FISH, lots and lots of large fish, the diversity of sites seems endless.

Some of the specialties we can offer our guests are different types of Pygmy Seahorses and diving with Manta rays. We can show our guests three different types of Pygmy Seahorse:

Hippocampus bargibanti in both the yellow and purple versions
Hippocampus denise which has been described first in March 2003
Hippocampus pontohi which was recently newly discovered in Bunaken National Park but has now also been located on three of our nearest by dive locations!

Manta Rays are present almost permanently at three locations close to our resort and our guests thoroughly enjoy seeing them from up close. Often they are at touching distance and it is normal to see 10 to 15 Manta Rays during one dive. We have many dive locations where we find the Manta Rays, amongst them our house reef Cape Kri. Furthermore we have a great number of breathtaking reefs that are truly teeming with life, many of our guests tell us that they have never seen such an abundance of fish on a reef before.

Wreck diving in the area is superb as well. The wrecks here haven't been plundered as in Truk Lagoon, PNG, the Solomons, Vanuatu and other well-known wreck diving areas. Most of these WWII wrecks were not seen by humans again until the day we found them and are therefore completely intact. Over 50 years of marine life growing on and around them has turned them in beautiful gardens. By special arrangement, Papua Diving can schedule to dive wrecks in the Manokwari area (on the east side of the bird's head). Although there are plenty of wrecks all around the area, the wrecks in Manokwari are in shallow, clear water with plenty of coral growth and sea life surrounding them.

Departures and Equipment

Three week trips are strongly advised and two-week trips highly recommended so that you will have time to see many of our dive sites. Papua Diving is open all year. We take only a small group of divers at the dive resort (maximum of 20) to minimize our impact on the environment.

Divers stay at our eco-resort and dive from 3 custom made (by Max and the staff on the islands!) dive boats:
7m with 1 x 115 hp outboard
9m with 2 x 115 hp outboards
11m with 2 x 200 hp outboards

The boats are very sturdy fiberglass construction and have first aid kits, oxygen, and a compass, GPS navigation and VHF radios.

How We Dive

Each day is different and may include from 2 to 5 dives (3 day dives + 1 night dive being the average) depending on the divers' desires. Many sites are within 5-30 min. of the resorts, however some special sites are further away. Divers may choose to return to resort between dives (from the nearby sites). For the farthest sites from the resort, we plan multiple dives (2-3) and carry a packed lunch to enjoy during a surface interval on one of the finest deserted white sand beaches you will ever experience.

At breakfast each day, we decide what sites to visit. For longer excursions we plan a day or two in advance. Night dives are always available by boat, or from the resort beach.

Saturday is a day of rest for the staff. A night dive can be made on Saturday night, but not on Friday night. There is no Saturday daytime diving. On Saturdays there are opportunities to explore the area with a visit to a waterfall, walk through the jungle, visit a local village or just relax in our peaceful resorts.

Most dives are drift dives due to strong currents in the area. The currents provide nutrients for the outstanding quantity and variety of fish life and corals in the area. A fabulous variety of colorful soft corals and plenty of reef fish are found at most sites. Large schools of fish are known to populate some areas, pelagics such as sharks, Manta and Mobula Rays, dolphin, whales and turtles are frequent sights.

Visibility is good, but not spectacular, and is best in the morning dives. The water temperature is 82°-84°F (28°-29°C) year round.

The area is not only stunning underwater. Topside, the islands have a very diverse topography with steep mountain shores and deserted white sand beaches. The area is far off the beaten track and is rarely visited by foreigners. The raw beauty of the islands will fascinate you. It's dense jungle interior is known for its many orchids and the paradise birds. Waigeo and Batanta have the Wilson's and the Red Bird of Paradise both endemic to this area, as well as abundantly present Lorikeets, Parrots, Kingfishers, Eagles and Hornbills.