Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Explorer in
Indonesia/Papua

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Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Explorer: "Whale Sharks at Cenderwash Bay", Nov, 2014, by Steve Smith, TX, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 7852 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
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	This can only be described as a bucket list type diving trip. We went half way around the world for a five day dive trip that really centered around two days of diving at Cenderawash Bay's whale sharks and it was definitely worth it. Travel consisted of flying to Jakarta with two days at the airport hotel to recover and adjust to the time change. We then joined the rest of our group for an overnight flight to Manokwari, West Papua. We were met at the airport by the ship's crew even though the group was spending the night at a local airport. The crew took us to our hotel and made certain that everyone had accommodations before leaving. The next morning they picked us up and took us to the ship. It took about a day and a half to sail from Manokwari to Cenderwash Bay and the whale sharks. We stopped a couple of times at reefs along the way to dive. The diving along the way was good, but not as spectacular as on the other side of the island in Raja Ampat. The primary reason to go to Cenderwash is to see the whale sharks. There are between 4 and 6 fishing platforms in Cederwash bay where the locals fish at night and store their catch alive in large nets suspended below the platforms. The fisherman believe that the whale sharks bring them luck, so they feed them cut up fish. The call the sharks by repeatedly dropping a plastic bucket of water into sea. On our first day, there were six other dive boats anchored near the fishing platforms, so we only had two whale sharks at our platform. The small one was about 15 ft and the larger one was about 25. They completely ignored all the divers around them as they came up to the surface to get some fish. As a result, we could get as close as we dared knowing that these monsters could do some serious damage if they were to catch you with their tails as the swam away. On the second morning, we were the only dive boat around, so we got the sharks from the other platforms as well as the two from the first day. At one point we had 5 sharks ranging from 15 to 35 ft in length. One of the group lost his mask, so he decided to simply go swimming with them and at one point had a shark within touching distance on either side of him. As for the crew, the service they provided was excellent. Diving was out of inflatables, so if you wished, the crew would carry all of your gear to the boat and then assist you as put it on. At the end of the dive, they expected to carry everything back to your station for you as well as provide a hand for the transfer between boats. For photographers, there is a medium size table in the dive area for cameras. But most of us used that table for drying and used the long charging table in the salon for actually working with our cameras. The food was good. It was a local menu since we were the only Westerners on board. All dive briefings on this trip were given in Bahasa, but the dive master made certain to come over to give a special briefing to us in English. When we were onboard the RA Explorer last time, the majority of the guests were western, so briefings were given in English and then repeated in Bahasa for the two locals whose English was not quite fluent. So in the end, between travel days, recovery days, a non-diving day before flying; this was a two week trip that centered around the two days of diving with the whale sharks. Would I do it again, quite probably.
Websites	Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer Raja Ampat Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Red Sea, Cocos, Palau, Truk, Tahiti, Cozumel, Cayman, Bonaire, Raja Ampat
Closest Airport	Manokawari	Getting There	Jakarta then overnight flight to Makokwari with connection in Makassar. Jakarta-Manowwari fligth is on domestic airline that does not accept credit cards for reservations made outside of Indonesia.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	79-86°F / 26-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	70-100 Ft/ 21-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Normal limits on pressure upon return
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	None	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		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Photograph table in dive area is limited in size and there is minimal enforcement of limitations for other use. But the large recharger table in the salon provided plenty of space for working on equipment once it had been dried.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Explorer in Indonesia/Papua

Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Explorer: "Whale Sharks at Cenderwash Bay", Nov, 2014,

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 Grand Komodo -- Raja Ampat Explorer/Raja Ampat Explorer in
Indonesia/Papua