Dive Review of Coralia in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Coralia: "Fabulous Operation", Jan, 2024, by David Marchese, PA, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 42 Helpful votes). Report 12869 has 4 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Coralia is a floating work of art operated by ostensibly the best crew we've ever experienced in 35 liveaboards. The 20+ crew members worked tirelessly throughout our voyage. The 16 guests (a full boat) were divided into groups of 4, each with it's own DM. The first two groups were dropped off at the dive site, and then the tenders would head back to pick up the remaining two groups. The early and late groups were alternated each day. All of the dive guides where enthusiastic, charming, competent, attentive, and amazing at spotting critters. However, there was no mandate to stay with the guide when we just wanted to explore on our own. We chose to stay in a lower level cabin, which was still larger and more luxurious than some of the best cabins on many other liveaboards we've been on. Our bathroom and shower were as large as what you get in most hotel rooms. The upper level master cabins are truly spectacular with floor-to ceiling windows and balconies. Guests had a choice of dining in the plush air conditioned salon/dining room, outside on the canopy-covered fore-deck, or upstairs on the sun deck. There was ample space for 16 guests, and this was one of the most spacious boats we've been on. The dive deck was the only place that was a wee bit cramped, but it was only used for donning wetsuits (the gear was set up on the tenders for us) so it really wasn't an issue. The crew washed our wetsuits after ever dive, turned them right-side-out, and hung them up to dry. My wetsuit never once smelled like pee on this trip (I have no idea why it does on every other trip). They'd also dunk and rinse the cameras and return them to the camera room after each dive. The food was truly 5-stars for every meal. While the food was laid out buffet style, June and Anto never rested with filling drink glasses, clearing empty plates, and attending to every need. Our cruise directors - Desi and Beat - were fabulous in every way and genuinely enjoyable company. They immediately felt like old friends, yet always exuded competence and made us feel safe. The entire crew seemed like a group of friends who loved their jobs and truly enjoyed having us on board. We began our trip in the Misool area. I was a bit concerned in the beginning because the coral was not as healthy or as colorful as I remembered from our 2016 trip. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't spectacular. However the fish density was great. As we headed further north, the coral health improved. The hard corals in many locations were fabulous, but the abundance and color of the soft corals was not as spectacular as it was 8 years ago. However this was offset by the fish. Nearly every dive featured clouds of fish of every variety from pygmy seahorse size to manta. We saw schools of bumphead parrots that got quite close, and two huge potato cods that must have been 8', but they were at the limits of visibility. Large groupers and other big fish were pretty common. Lately, I've found the night dives on most trips to be boring (Ok, I'm getting jaded perhaps); however, most were great here with cool critter after cool critter non-stop, and nearly all solely nocturnal. Overall, the visibility wasn't great. It averaged 30 to 50'. It hit maybe 75' on one or two dives. We saw probably 2 - 3 black tip sharks cruise by on most dives, and there were a couple of white tips here and there, but it certainly wasn't "sharky." Well, unless you count wobbegongs! They were under nearly every coral head in some sites and we'd see 6 to 8 per dive. And we had a brief encounter with a walking shark on one night dive. Raja Ampat isn't a place I'd go specifically for manta, but we had three fantastic manta dives. On one dive, one individual kept circling very close for most of the dive, and on another, three small ones circled overhead for 10 minutes. We also saw manta on several other dives. What more can I say? Raja Ampat has some of the best diving on the planet, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better crew and boat than what the Coralia offers.
Websites	Coralia
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Turks & Caicos, Bay Islands, Bahamas, Fiji, Saba, Dominica, Bonaire, Maldives, California, Revillagigedo, Cozumel, Midway, Kona, Galapagos, Panama, Palau, Tahiti, Cocos, Malpelo, Tonga, PNG, Komodo, Sulawesi, Holbox, Solomon Islands, Belize, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Wakitobi, Alor, Marquesas, GBR
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	US to Istanbul to Jakarta to Sorong
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-70 Ft/ 9-21 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	No deco, 70 minute dive time, surface with 300 psi mininum
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There were only 2 of us with full-size rigs. The dedicated camera room was big enough for probably 6 full-sized kits. Fortunately more and more people seem to be switching to P&S and GoPros which leave more room for us fools with the big rigs. The crew was fantastic with handling cameras. While the visibility made photography challenging, every dive offered great opportunities whether shooting macro or WA.

Report currently has 4 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Coralia in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Coralia: "Fabulous Operation", Jan, 2024,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Coralia in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat