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Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer in
Indonesia/Misool and Dampier Strait

Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer: "Misool and the Dampier Strait", Oct, 2014,

by Dan Purnell, WA, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 8036.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 3 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 1 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Our adventure began in Sorong, which included diving in Misool and the Dampier Strait. This was my 8th trip with Grand Komodo tours. As always, the crew was helpful, friendly, enthusiastic, and eager to please. If you needed anything, they were right there to help. They run a very safe dive operation. Everybody is on deck to help divers get into and out of the water. The liveaboard is well maintained and clean. The food is ample and delicious. Grand Komodo is not a fancy operation. Grand Komodo is run by caring, friendly, extremely competent people; they cater to folks who just love to dive.

Misool diving has a wilderness feel. We saw only one other liveaboard during our six days of diving. Massive schools of shimmering fish, raining fusiliers, astonishing walls of soft corals and gorgonian fans, hunting grouper, jacks and sharks, characterize Misool. Many sites are just smothered with glass fish. We saw squadrons of mobulas and a few mantas on some of the more plankton rich sites. On some sites we literally saw merging "rivers of fish". Significant current and 40 to 60 foot visibility marked most of our dives.

I wrote the following dive log entry for one of my Misool dives: We first explored a wall draped with gorgonian fans and brilliant yellow and orange soft corals. Huge schools of glass fish ebbed and flowed. Trevally, barracuda, black snapper, mackerel, tuna, wahoo, nepoleon wrasses, mantas and mobulas patrolled the wall. Near the end of the dive we watched the big guys hunt. Clouds of fish erupted from the reef as they were chased by jacks, snappers and grouper. You could see nothing but solid fish; we were in the middle of a feeding frenzy.

After Misool, we traveled up to the Dampier Strait for several more days of diving. The dive sites in the Dampier Strait also have incredible pristine corals and amazing fish life. You can read a more complete description of the area in my Raja Ampat Dive Lodge review.

Raja Ampat may be one of the most inconvenient places to visit, but it has some of the finest diving in the world. Grand Komodo continues to provide exceptional service for people who just love to dive.
Websites Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving PNG, Solomon Islands, Raja Ampat, Banda Sea, Bali, Halmahera, Yap, Palau, Bonaire, Honduras, Little Cayman, Red Sea, Oregon, Washington, Flower Gardens - Texas, Fiji, Galapagos
Closest Airport Sorong Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Dives one hour in length. Sometimes enforced.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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