Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat, “The Four Kings”, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, surrounding the four main islands of Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool with most sites only accessible by liveaboard. The name Raja Ampat is believed to have originated from folklore where a lady finds seven eggs, four of which hatch and become kings of the four main islands, while the other three eggs became a woman, a ghost, and a stone.

The territory within the islands of the Four Kings is enormous, covering 9.8 million acres of land and sea (so endless possibilities for liveaboard diving!), home to 540 types of coral, more than 1,000 types of fish and 700 types of mollusc. This makes it the most diverse living library in the world, with around 75% of the world’s species living here. Raja Ampat’s sheer numbers and diversity of marine life and its huge pristine coral reef systems are a scuba diver’s dream come true and a fantastic place for snorkellers too.

Heaven for scuba divers, especially underwater photographers due to the sheer volume and variety of marine life. The islands are not only a great place to dive with big creatures underwater, but are also home to some amazing macro life. Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna and other pelagics are also known to frequent the region. Black and white-tip reef sharks are very common as well as grey reef sharks and the native wobbegong shark. You will not leave disappointed!

Raja Ampat is considered to have some of the most pristine and biodiverse dive sites in the world. There are an incredible number of dive sites here, especially around Central Raja Ampat, probably the most well known being Cape Kri. This spot is world famous for being the dive site where the most species of fish in one single dive has ever been recorded, 437 to be exact! You’ll have to join us on our liveaboard and see for yourself – do you think you can beat that number?

Between November and April you could be lucky enough to dive with the gigantic and beautiful oceanic mantas. They come in during these months to get cleaned and to feed after being away out in the blue during the rest of the year. Oceanic mantas are known to be very curious animals and they’ll come right up to you if you stay calm and close to the reef. In Raja there are certain species you don’t find in many other places, amongst which are the walking shark and wobbegong shark, very cool and unique sharks that live on the ocean floor.

Even though Komodo is the area famous for currents, Raja Ampat gets plenty of current action too. We always try to stay flexible with our dive itinerary to match with the day’s currents and tides so we’ll get the most action and the best diving possible. In Raja Ampat there are several dive sites where the current brings in the big fish for hunting, and the best way to dive it is to hook onto a rock with your reef hook and enjoy the show!

Heaven for scuba divers, especially underwater photographers due to the sheer volume and variety of marine life. The islands are not only a great place to dive with big creatures underwater, but are also home to some amazing macro life. Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna and other pelagics are also known to frequent the region. Black and white-tip reef sharks are very common as well as grey reef sharks and the native wobbegong shark. You will not leave disappointed!

Raja Ampat is considered to have some of the most pristine and biodiverse dive sites in the world. There are an incredible number of dive sites here, especially around Central Raja Ampat, probably the most well known being Cape Kri. This spot is world famous for being the dive site where the most species of fish in one single dive has ever been recorded, 437 to be exact! You’ll have to join us on our liveaboard and see for yourself – do you think you can beat that number?

Between November and April you could be lucky enough to dive with the gigantic and beautiful oceanic mantas. They come in during these months to get cleaned and to feed after being away out in the blue during the rest of the year. Oceanic mantas are known to be very curious animals and they’ll come right up to you if you stay calm and close to the reef. In Raja there are certain species you don’t find in many other places, amongst which are the walking shark and wobbegong shark, very cool and unique sharks that live on the ocean floor.

Even though Komodo is the area famous for currents, Raja Ampat gets plenty of current action too. We always try to stay flexible with our dive itinerary to match with the day’s currents and tides so we’ll get the most action and the best diving possible. In Raja Ampat there are several dive sites where the current brings in the big fish for hunting, and the best way to dive it is to hook onto a rock with your reef hook and enjoy the show!

Dive Sites

Check out descriptions and maps for the sites we visit

Activities

Other activities you can do in Raja Ampat