Underwater in Raja Ampat

The second part of my awesome December holiday was spent in the depths of Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is located in West Papua and is considered the biodiversity capital of the world. It has the most vibrant reefs and amazing marine life. Sang and I were to spend 7 days onboard the Mermaid II and Manoaj was with us as well.

Needless to say, this diving trip was one of the best ones we have done. Raja Ampat lived up to all the hype and despite rather poor visibility and overcast skies on most days, the underwater scene totally made up for it. The coral diversity was just so amazing and almost every other dive site had schools of barracudas, tunas, batfish etc. Reef sharks were also a common sight. With what we saw, I shall just leave it with the images to paint the picture.

With regards to the vessel itself, Mermaid II was just brilliant. It was a comfortable stay. The cabin was a tad smaller than the previous Liveaboard we did in Maldives. However, it was still comfortable enough although the toilet was a bit of a squeeze. The staff on board were just fantastic and everyone seemed like family. Every staff came out to help one another which was really pleasant to see.  Food was also another plus as we were fed endlessly.

We also had Alex Lindbloom (www.alexlindbloom.com) on board and I was amazed by his underwater imaging abilities. His photos were fantastic and I was left in awe.

In summary, Raja Ampat is a must visit paradise for any diver and  I hope to visit Raja again in the next few years.

Now for some visual stimulus :)