Dive Review of Papua Diving/Sorido Bay Resort in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Papua Diving/Sorido Bay Resort: "An Unusual Experience", Sep, 2016, by Rose Mueller , TX, US ( Sr. Contributor 27 reports with 13 Helpful votes). Report 9114 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
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	There really were no surprises when I booked this trip aside from choosing to forget the length of such a voyage. Even with the knowledge I had, it was difficult. The lodge has no sweet water for bathing or washing clothing. I felt like a salt factory. There is a need to establish a system to use the abundant rain water or put in a desalination plant. The food is basic. Perhaps too basic. Max, the owner, does care deeply about the people of Papua and the reefs surrounding his resorts. Thankfully, we were there during the off season and there were few divers. I can't imagine what it would be like during high season, but I heard. The dive boats are reeking havoc on the eco-system. Max is working with the government to try and limit the number of divers on each site. The sites are small and cannot accommodate a huge volume. With virtually no one there we had 2 incidents. A diver dropped down on my husband as he entered a swim through and tangled his reef hook line around his legs. I wanted to take a photo of a pygmy and waited 25 minutes to do it. The diver had an inadequate camera and a small light. He could have spent 10 minutes manipulating the sea fan and then let me take my few photos and returned. Perhaps his guide should have said something. The boats are small, but the sites are close to the resort. There are indeed fish and schools of fish. I didn't see one gray reef shark and only a couple of white tip sharks. The black tips were abundant and fun to watch. The schools are of sweet lips, trevally, batfish, jacks and barracuda. The colors are vibrant and the reefs healthy. I saw only one crown of thorns. One site did have too many worms??? For the difficulty in getting there, the cost of the experience and the similarity in diving, I'd return to Palau. The cost is comparable, the food amazing, the resort comfortable and clean and there are always gray reefs, white tips, black tips and mantas. There are also huge schools of fish. I was happy to have visited Papua having spent time in Papua New Guinea. The people were delightful. Max has instructed the staff to try hard to fulfill requests. I understand it's remote and difficult to obtain supplies. I related my experience to a hunting trip, coming from Montana. I don't think any of the above would bother a man. Again, I don't regret having gone, but would return with reservations.
Websites	Papua Diving
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Most places it's warm
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	For the domestic airline ticket use ticketindonesia.info. The resort charges an extra 20% to book the flight. They also gave another agency that couldn't provide the tickets after the expense of bank wiring the money. Express Air is a direct flight from Jakarta but it's freezing as they don't turn on the heat. One NEEDS warm socks and a jacket with a hood.
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-60 Ft/ 15-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	The check out dive gives the dive master a good idea of one's capabilities. After that the chosen profile is allowed WITHIN reason. There is really no reason for deep diving. Most of the interesting beautiful schools of fish were above 50 feet.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
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		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Our room had a camera station but there wasn't a bucket large enough with sweet water to soak my camera. They finally brought a large one to take care of the problem. They had a wheel barrow to wheel the camera from the bungalow to the boat, thankfully. The diving is more for wide angle than macro.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Papua Diving/Sorido Bay Resort in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Papua Diving/Sorido Bay Resort: "An Unusual Experience", Sep, 2016,

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 Papua Diving/Sorido Bay Resort in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat