Our trip to Raja Ampat on the west coast Papua in Indonesia was again organized by Dennis and Ginny from Adventure Sports in Santa Cruz. We had 14 people on our trip, most of whom we have been on diving trips with before, making it a friendly and compatible group.
We flew to Sarong in Indonesian New Guinea via Singapore and Manado on a 3 day trip with brief stops due to tricky flight schedules. After arriving in Sarong, we boarded the Pindito, a picturesque sailing ship with 8 guest cabins and a wonderful crew.
The diving in Raja Ampat, a group of small islands off the far northwest coast of Papua ( New Guinea) is truly the most spectacular we have ever experienced. Every dive was more exciting and beautiful than the previous one with pristine hard corals, beautiful and plentiful multicolored soft colors and many, many fish and other creatures to see and photograph.
After leaving the Pindito, we flew to Bali and stayed in Ubud, the art center of the island. We spent most days relaxing in Ubud but traveled to Tulamben on the east coast for two more days of diving. The vast number of anemones and clown fish at the Coral Gardens dive site that I remembered from a previous trip had actually increased. I was in heaven!!