MV Ambai: Raja Ampat and Triton Bay, 12 nights, Sorong to Kaimana

The legendary Raja Ampat area has long been thought of as the “last frontier”.

A sense of peacefulness surrounds you when exploring the area: one of the last, rare untouched places on earth.

This 13 days/12 nights trip combines the two diving hot spots of West Papua: the magic South Raja Ampat and the magnificent Triton Bay area. An unforget- table experience that offers outstanding scuba diving into some of the planet best spots, sea kayaking, lagoons fringed by rainforest, hiking to some stunning view points and encounters with the friendly inhabitants of those areas.

Our adventure will begin in Sorong where you are awaited on our vessel before 12 noon, and will end up in Kaimana where we will disembark before 12 noon. We organize your pick up and drop off at the airport or at your hotel.

THE DIVING

The abundance of sea life, both fixed fauna such as corals and gorgonians along the lush reef, as well as the stunning quantity and diversity of fish swimming above is just astonishing. The dive sites’ underwater topographies are also varied and interesting, filled with dramatic pinnacles, long ridges, walls, hidden caves, rock formations, azure lagoons, and much more.

The fauna ranges from the tiny Pygmy Seahorse to the oceanic manta ray. Raja Ampat’s signature are the huge schools of fish: clouds of fusiliers that attract predators like tunas and trevallies, barracudas, schools of the inquisitive spadefish, schools of sweetlips, groups of bump head parrotfish, napoleon wrasses, etc...In triton Bay rocks are covered with large stands of soft corals forming an unique seascape.

Reef sharks are very much present on the reefs; the carpet shark or Wobbegong is ubiquitous, laying on a coral or under a rock behind a cloud of glass-fish. The walking shark (Epaulette shark) can often be seen during night dives. Mantas are often spoted on different dive sites, and in Triton Bay, you will experience diving with whale sharks under the fishing platforms

The Wallacea typical “Sorong-Kaimana” 13-day trip covers the south of the Raja Ampat area with all the famous sites of Misool, the Triton Bay area, and epic dive sites in between. We then choose the dive sites according to the prevailing conditions during the trip.

A minimum of 36 dives (3 dives per day) is offered during the trip, including at least 6 night dives.

SNORKELING

Our trips are open to snorkelers. Most of the dive sites offer great snorkeling opportunities with a lot to see in shallow waters, and we offer specific guidance for snorkelers.

ACTIVITIES

Besides the diving, we offer some activities along the trip according to weather conditions and the final trip itinerary.

In Triton bay, we propose a ride with the dinghies into the lagoons at dawn. The bay offers a labyrinth of shallow lagoons between quartz islets covered with rainforest, where inhabits thousands of birds. Turn of the boat engine and listening to the bird songs in the early morning is a truly moving experience. In the channel between Namarote island and the mainland is a cliff which was probably, a long time ago, a cave that is now open and reveal ancient art rocks paint- ing. We stop there and look at them from the boat.

In Momong, on the coast of Papua, we take the time for a short afternoon trek in the rain forest where, if we are (very) lucky, we may sight some tree-kanga- roos. In Misool, we will visit the ranger’s station and snorkel in front of their beach in a natural shark nursery where small black tips are swimming around in one meter of crystal clear water. A short hike to the viewpoint of the “love lagoon” (a lagoon in the shape of a hearth!) is also scheduled.

Guests are welcome to ask a boatman to bring you a shore at any time, as long as the schedule allows it. Our four complementary kayaks and paddles are also available to go on shore or in the lagoons whenever the boat is anchored. All these activities are subject to weather conditions as well as the planned daily schedule and itinerary.

WEATHER

The weather is variable, even during the "dry" season, in this part of Indonesia, rain showers often happen. The sea is generally calm, with a few temporary storms. Temperatures are around 30 °C.

VISIBILITY

Raja Ampat's waters are dense with life and visibility can be limited. It is typically in the range of 10-20m, depending on the local condition that can vary from one dive to another. In Sabuda and Momong the water is clear. In Triton Bay, the visibiity is an average 10 meters and can be lower in case of heavy rainfalls.

TEMPERATURE

The ocean temperature all year long is between 28° and 30°C (82°-84°C). .

CURRENTS

On this itinerary the currents are generally moderate on most of the dive sites, and there’s always the possibility to do the dive in a current protected are. Wallacea Dive Cruises has a long experience diving these dive sites and always pays attention to dive in the right places at the right time to avoid difficult or dangerous currents. Before each dive, our guides conduct current checks so that our briefings will always inform you about the up-to -the-minute diving conditions

ITINERARY & NAVIGATION :

The map shows the general cruise itinerary. It can slightly vary depending on weather conditions, currents, visibility, and tides. There are 4 overnight crossings on the trip, otherwise, we navigate between dives or in the early morning.

MISOOL :

We spend the 5 first days of the trip in the South of Raja Ampat, around Misool and its satellite islets. Excellent for wide-angle pictures, mantas, and massive schools of fish. The underwater topography is dominantly rocky, with ridges and rock formations. The very colorful reefs display an abundance of soft corals and huge gorgonians. Macro subjects are abundant as well, with the four kinds of pygmy seahorses, tiny crabs, nudibranchs, and other rare photogenic life all over. We need one night of navigation to reach the next island of Sabuda.

SABUDA & MOMON :

Halfway between Misool and the coast of Papua, Sabuda is a very scenic group of islands with beautiful lagoons and white sand beaches. The diving is interesting with big schools of fish (surgeons, trevallies, barracudas) and eventually mantas rays. Another night of navigation brings us to Momon, which has magnificent landscapes. The mountainous coast is covered with primary forest and a river from the highlands ends up into the sea as a large glorious waterfall (we go to swim and play there). We dive on a seamount outside the coast: huge schools of jacks, napoleon wrasse, maybe mantas, and even whale sharks. A small islet has thousands of bats flying out at sunset, which is a good macro dive. A third night of navigation is necessary to reach Triton bay.

TRITON BAY :

The development of soft corals there has little equivalent in the world. On most of the dives we generally find the soft corals in the shallows (0-5m) on rock and boomies, then come the black and tubastrea corals with lot of sweetlips and snappers. Below 12-15m the bottom is mostly sandy or rubble with interesting critters (nudibranchs, frogfish...). Some spots can have a lot of baitfish, eventually attracting devil rays and other predators. The “bagans” are platforms for baitfish fishing at night, eventually attracting the whale sharks. We dive there in the morning, in small groups of 4 guests turning on 30 minutes shifts.

Check in from 6 am to 12 noon. AMBAI crew are standing by to Welcome you onboard. Cabin allocation and ship orientation, safety Briefing and crew Introduction will take place before departing.

*Note: This is a sample itinerary and nº of dives, dive sites, etc. may be subject to change due to weather conditions and other unforseeable factors

Check out from 6 am to 12 noon. Group photos with the crew before farewell. Disembarkation after breakfast. Transfer to airport or hotel.