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Below is a select description of some dive sites in the region. Please visit the Irian Jaya/Papua Diving web site which has a wealth of information on many of the dive sites surrounding their resorts.
Wai Island
Central to this dive site is a WW II vintage airplane wreck. Lying upside down in about 80 feet of water, this U.S. fighter plane is now host to a sizable agglomeration of soft corals and marine life. The surrounding reef is also quite nice. There was minor evidence of fish bombing, but in most areas a lush reef comes to within a foot of the surface. Well known photo pro, James Watt, found this a fine location place to produce some of his celebrated underwater shots. Read more...
Kri Island
Kri is home to Irian Diving's basic dive camp and the newer Sorido Bay Resort. When conditions are right, the nearby dive sites are nothing short of excellent. Marine life includes bumphead parrotfish, large barracudas, and spanish mackerels. There are also octopus, cuttlefish, numerous batfish, and all sorts of puffers and wobbegong sharks. But it doesn't stop there, you will encounter frogfish in nicely painted colors. On dive sites like Sardine Reef, Cape Kri, and the aptly named Koteka, you can enjoy some of the very finest wide-angle photo opportunities imaginable. Beautiful hard coral bommies are host to dazzling soft corals and rainbow-colored crinoids with a foreground of oriental sweet lips or coral trout, a swirl of glassfish and anthias, and a background of schooling surgeonfish, jacks, and the occasional tuna. When the visibility is right, this can be an underwater photographer's heaven. The night diving around Kri Island is also excellent with lots of muck diving creatures to be seen. Expect to see some species you've never encountered before!
Waigeo Island
Waigeo Island is the largest of the Raja Ampat group. It is home to a commercial Pearl Farm where you can purchase raw pearls. Waigo dive sites included Yellow Wall, Tunicate Wall, and Magic Log. Yellow Wall is a memorably brisk drift along a sharp vertical drop-off.
Kawe Island
Kawe straddles the equator. You can have your vessel, your home away from home, anchored in the southern hemisphere, while you dive just north of the Meridian. Prominent dive site feature a towering seamount covered in reef fish and macro subjects, and an inshore site with a sizable cavern.
Mansuar Island
Framed by colorful soft corals and crinoid encrusted sea fans, large coral heads swarm with thousands of glassy sweepers, anthias, and smaller fry. Above circled large schools of jack, rainbow runners, and fusiliers, with the occasional kingfish or big tuna zooming through this fish soup on a feeding run.
 Salawati
Some of the best critter diving, offering up wobbegong sharks, excellent nudibranchs, periclimenes shrimp in carpet anemone and more.
Mellissa's Garden
Sardine Reef
Mike's Point
Nudibranch Rock
Papua/Irian Jaya Diving:
Kri Eco Resort
Sorido Bay Resort
For liveaboards, please see previous page.
The average air temperature in the Western Irian Jaya region ranges from 25 –32° Celsius ( 77-82° Fahrenheit). Best time to visit is probably March. You'll encounter generally warm tropical waters all year round. The temperature range can vary between 26-32° Celsius (78-89° Fahrenheit). 3-5 mm suits with hoods are recommended. The
water visibility is seasonal and ranges between 10 - 40 meters (45 - 120 feet). The dive sites with the best visibility are located in the Northern Raja Ampat Islands area.
 
The trek to Irian Jaya begins with air travel to either Bali or Manado, Indonesia. These cities are served by Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, Malaysia Airlines, and Continental Airlines. From Bali or Manado, one or a series of domestic flights are then required to reach the far-flung city of Sorong on the southern shores of West Papua. Arriving finally at the rustic Sorong airport on Jefman Island (SOQ). Most liveaboards like the Pindito will be anchored right in the harbor by the airstrip.
Foreign visitors not flying through Indonesia may be able to travel on the weekly charter flight operating between Timika and Darwin (Australia) as an alternative route to Papua. There is also a regular bus service (and irregular light aircraft flights) between Jayapura and Vanimo in neighboring Papua New Guinea. For these international connections travelers must obtain appropriate visas (which can prove difficult). More detailed information for such travel is available from the Papua New Guinea Embassy, the Australian Embassy in Indonesia, the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra , Darwin-based travel agencies like Northern Gateway or PNG-based tour companies like MTS can also help.
This is very much an area where you want to take your vaccinations serious: Typhoid, Paratyphoid, Tetanus, Cholera, Polio, and Hepatitis A are recommended. Malaria is endemic in Irian Jaya so anti malaria medication is recommended is advisable as well. Please make note that you will be traveling to a very remote area and should consider your packing list carefully to make sure you have everything you need. You will be hard pressed to have high speed internet access or even telephone in this area.
National Geographic on Raja Ampat Islands >>
Beautiful underwater images of Raja Ampat by Kirk J. Cantrell
Underwater Art.com
Papua Diving.com
Irian Diving.com
Divers in Oz.com
Dive the World Indonesia.com
A Marine Rapid Assessment of the Raja Ampat Islands, Papua Province, Indonesia
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