Indonesia

While Raja Ampat offers incredible diving

experiences year-round, most divers prefer to visit the area between December and April for the famous manta ray encounters. With the large number of divers and liveaboards that flock to the area during this time, it can become very crowded on famous dive sites, with many dive operations sticking to these sites to give guests the best opportunity to see the mantas. While it is true that this is an incredible experience, and should be on everyone’s bucket list, many are missing out on what Raja Ampat has to offer during the so called ‘off-season’.

Visiting Raja Ampat during the off-season opens several extraordinary diving opportunities, that may be considered as ‘off the beaten track’. Seasonal changes in wind direction mean that some little-known dive sites offer better visibility and incredible marine encounters.

Paired with the many sightseeing highlights, and activities that the area has to offer, the off-season is the perfect time for those who want to experience the ‘Last Paradise” in a more relaxed, personal way. The tranquil Alyui Bay lies in the north of Waisai, with incredible beaches and scenery hiding some of the leastdived areas in the whole of Raja Ampat. One of the best in the area is White Wall, a gently sloping reef that gets its name from the soft coral sponge growth that covers large parts of this dive site. Usually dived in a medium current, this dive site offers the opportunity to appreciate the sponge growth while schools of fusiliers pass you by. While in the area, give the Atlas Pearl Farm in the bay a visit. Visitors are treated to a guided tour to see how the pearls are grown, and then have the opportunity to purchase a pearl of their own.

Wai Island

Located near Batanta Island, to the south of Waisai, you find the small island known as Wai. This picturesque island offers visitors an incredible beach experience, with white sand beaches and crystal-clear water. However, the best reason to visit the island is to see what lies beneath the water’s surface. The island is surrounded by an intricate reef system, with a rich ecosystem providing many stunning dive sites that are home to a huge variety of marine life, from large schooling fish to pygmy seahorses.

While Raja Ampat comprises of some 1,500 islands, they are home to just 50,000 people. As you can imagine, this means plenty of open space, endless empty beaches and pristine nature topside and underwater.

in the off-season

Jean-Pierre Nathrass heads to Raja Ampat to experience what the area has to offer in the ‘off-season’

Expect crystalclear waters

Located in the west of Raja Ampat you can find the famous

Piaynemo viewpoint

Manta ray

Fam Islands

Located in the west of Raja Ampat you can find the famous Piaynemo viewpoint in the Fam Island group. This is a ‘must see’ stop on any trip to Raja Ampat, but why not pair it with some incredible dive sites. While most divers will be familiar with Melissa’s Garden, the area is home to many other incredible dives, starting off with Keruo Channel and Keruo Wall. Both these sites are home to barracuda and other schooling fish, while the reefs are covered in incredibly colourful hard and soft coral. Slightly to the north you will find the sloping reefs of Galaxy and Barracuda. As the names suggest, both these dive sites offer divers the opportunity to see masses of fish move through the area in stronger currents. While both are best dived under these stronger current conditions, the surface is appropriate for non-divers, or the less experienced, to snorkel at the foot of the Piaynemo viewpoint.

Equator Islands and Kawe

When visiting in the off season, why not take a day trip to the Equator Islands and Kawe. Besides having the bragging rights that you have crossed the Equator in a boat, you also have the opportunity to swim on the Equator, an experience not many can say they have had. While in the area, take the opportunity to dive some of the most-remote and impressive diving sites in the northern Raja Ampat region.

Eagle Rock may not look like much from the surface, but this pinnacle hides one of the most-diverse diving sites you can imagine. The pinnacle serves as a cleaning station for mantas during the manta season and, on occasion, they can even be found here in the off season. The impressive black corals and masses of fish, including snapper, fusiliers, Napoleon wrasse and barracuda, make this dive site an incredible experience year-round.

Another hidden gem of the area can be found at Chango. Most will give this tiny pinnacle, with a few lonely trees and bushes, no heed but at Chango you will find an incredible labyrinth of boulders, swim-throughs, and crevasses, all while you are surrounded by masses upon masses of fish, from jacks to batfish.

In the mangroves There are more than 10 languages spoken around the islands and this doesn’t even include the multitude of dialects from island to island.

The impressive black corals and masses of fish, including snapper, fusiliers, Napoleon wrasse and barracuda, make this dive site an incredible experience year-round

Yeben Shallows

Found to the west of Waisai, Yeben Island is home to beautiful white sand beaches and lush tropical growth, the perfect place to spend a beach day. The shallow reef that surrounds Yeben Island, and connects the smaller islands in the area, is ideal for snorkelling, while the unique layout of these sloping reefs create an incredible dive site. From walls and gentle slopes that are covered in colourful and lush corals, to sandy patches, where you can find thousands of garden eels cautiously sticking out their heads and swaying in the currents. Yeben Shallows is a dive site that never disappoints, and with so many routes and sections to dive it is easy to spend a day of diving exploring the area.

Wofoh

The Wofoh Islands offer incredible vistas of towering cliffs and tropical growth. At the southernmost point of these islands, you can find Edi’s Black Forest. This wall is home to gently swaying soft coral, most notably black coral that gives the site its name. While swimming along the wall, take the time to look at the macro marine life in the coral, with a keen eye it is possible to spot the elusive ornate ghost pipefish or even pygmy seahorses. The site then gently slopes up, to the perfect safety stop depth, over a field of soft coral bommies alive with colour and marine life. It is often possible to find wobbegong sharks swimming around in the area or hiding under a coral outcropping.

AN ICON IN 30 YEARS!

It may be hard to believe, but Raja Ampat has only been known to foreigners for 30 years. Dutch diver Max Ammer was the first to spread the word about the area in 1990 after he spent a period here searching for sunken World War Two shipwrecks and airplanes, and realised very quickly that the bio-diversity all around him was like nothing else on the planet. He soon invited Australian fishery expert Gerry Allen to survey the area, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Did someone say ‘island paradise’?

Anemonefish

Dive boats are fast and comfortable The island is also host to Red Patch Wall, a site found on the opposite side of the island but, when diving, it feels and looks like a different world. While the wall is stained red, giving the site its name, it is covered in sponges and soft coral, with vibrant colours and rich marine life. The dive ends on a gentle slope, with masses of hard coral outcroppings that are alive with marine life, a true underwater garden. Both dive sites are best dived when the sun is out, to really see how the colours come into their own.

The Passage

While the Passage is a well-known dive site, that appears on many itinerates and ‘must dive’ lists, it is a dive site that is best dived in the off season. The Passage is found in a natural saltwater river, formed between the islands of Gam and Waigeo. Surrounded by towering cliffs on either side, this passage has some of the most breath-taking scenery in the entire Raja Ampat. Shallow reefs, caves and caverns line the cliffs at water level, making the area is perfect for a snorkel safari. Below the surface, the passage offers a unique diving experience for the adventurous. While you can dive the site with no current, the true adventure arrives with the current. While drifting down the river, you will be treated to scenes of incredible sea fans, and other soft coral mangrove forest roots, while the topography of the cliffs extend below the surface, providing incredible views that make you feel like you are cruising through an extension of the beauty you saw above. When dived in light currents the area allows you to explore the many caverns, swim-throughs, and caves in the passage, while admiring the large numbers of nudibranchs, shrimps and other marine critters found in the sandy patches.

While this is only a short list of dives, and adventures, that are great for the off season in Raja Ampat, the area offers many more opportunities. From paddle boarding and kayaking safaris to cultural homestays, where the local communities are always eager provide the best stays, to visits to the famous Blue River or guided bird watching tours. Raja Ampat has something to offer all visitors to the area, with the added benefit of avoiding the crowds. n