Click here for Raja Ampat – underwater Page 1
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Raja Ampat Diving Adventure – March 2015
Part One:
“Ojo Lali Karo Aku!” I would say on each backward roll from the tender into the blue ocean water with all my dive gear on This was a great Javanese phrase I learned on this dive trip. It means “Don’t Forget About Me!” I knew the Indonesian phrase of it, “Jangan Lupa Dengan(ku) Saya!” But I did not know the Javanese phrase. My dive master/dive guide is from Central Java. So Wawan, on the Arenui, taught me a new phrase to use in Indonesia. The second worse thing to happen to you when you end your dive is to not see any tender to pick you up to get you back to the big liveaboard boat that is at a distance. For me the worse thing to happen to you at the end of the dive trip is to have the current whisk you away from everyone. I rather “argue” with a shark than with current. It is amazing how fast a current can take you and you have to just go with it many times or swim sideways to try to get out of it.
Everyone I met in the diving world has told me I need to visit Raja Ampat. And so this year I did. And they were right! It is breathtaking. No other word can describe the diving there.
Where is Raja Ampat?:
Raja Ampat (RA for short) is nestled in the eastern part of Indonesia off the western part of Papua. There is roughly 1500 small islands that comprise of all the RA area. But there are four main islands (hence the number four in her name) called Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo. The RA area covers around 15,000 square miles. The RA area also contains the Cenderawasih Bay which is the largest marine national park in Indonesia. 
The name RA comes from a local mythology that tells about four of the seven eggs that hatch and become kings. These kings occupy four of the RA’s biggest islands. The best way to get to the RA area is by flying into Sorong. You can get a straight flight from Bali to Sorong or go there with a stopover in Manado – South Sulawesi.
RA area is rugged. Meaning there are no major hotels and five star hotels like there are on the island of Bali or capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta. But that is not why you and I go to RA. We go for the diving! It is a paradise for divers and for those who love the wildlife in and outside the ocean.
Click here please for Part Two of Three Parts: https://www.douggulleson.com/raja-ampat-dive-trip/raja-ampat-dive-trip-2/
