Dive Review of Papua Paradise Eco Resort in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat

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Papua Paradise Eco Resort: "Another Great Trip", Apr, 2024, by Gary & Robin Schiendelman, PA, US ( Top Contributor 42 reports with 56 Helpful votes). Report 12954.
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	This was a return trip to Papua Paradise. Many things are unchanged so please read our Undercurrent review from April 2023. This trip was different in two ways: We stayed in one of the larger and newer villas. We were with a group rather than being just a couple The newer, larger villas are very nice. Note there is NO A/C. They do have a floor fan plus a ceiling fan over the bed. We were never uncomfortable but there were some complaints from other guests. The newer villas do have windows in both the front and rear which allowed for a nice cross breeze. There is an outdoor shower.,,essentially the bathroom is open as there is no ceiling over the shower area. There are outlets for charging in the room but no USB. The room featured a desk with chair as well as a couch with coffee table so plenty of room to spread out and work on cameras etc. There are chairs, lounges and a drying rack out on the deck. The resort staff are superb and the manager is really focused on customer satisfaction. Since we were returning guests, he made it a point to seek us out and discuss our opinions and suggestions for improvements. We also got free t shirts as a gift for being return guests. Food continues to be good with a mix of western and Indonesian food served buffet style, with eggs to order at breakfast. We found the food to be good, but not great. We did one of the optional land activities (at additional cost). The sunset hornbill boat cruise was really nice. Some of the other guests (who didn’t mind getting up before the sun) did the Bird of Paradise trip and did get to see the Wilson’s BOP. There was also a waterfall hike offered. Depending on your interests, the land activities are worth doing. The dive shop staff needs some improvement. The manager is new as are many of the DM’s. It was evident that communication and organization need to be improved. It’s hard to say how much of this was attributed to being in a large group and how much was due to the new staff. For instance, the arrival briefing done by the dive shop manager was impossible to hear for anyone sitting at the ends of the table. Despite being asked to speak up, we were unable to hear fully half of the briefing. Instead of the small and comfortable dive boats we were on last year, most of our diving was on the “big” boat. This boat is very crowded and sure didn’t have the same feel as last year. The first dive guide assigned to our group was not very good at “spotting”, the main job of a dive guide in Indonesia! He also seemed disinterested in giving any assistance at the surface or on the boat. Fortunately, we had a great trip leader who heard our issues and made sure they were addressed. We were changed to a different and more comfortable boat and were assigned a new dive guide who was much, much better. Kudos to the dive op for responding but hopefully, they are working out the issues so an intervention won’t be needed for future guests. There is a camera room at the resort but we didn’t go in to see it. We did hear that it’s small and not enough room if there are many guests with big cameras. Since the rooms have tables and desks, many opted to take their cameras back to the rooms. The downside to that is having to carry those heavy rigs back and forth. We just use a point and shoot and Go Pro so we had no issues. We really enjoyed the diving at PPER. There is a nice mix of dive sites and they always made a stop on an island for the SI and provided hot tea or coffee with a snack. Healthy reefs, lots and fish and critters and easy diving made for a wonderful week. Options for diving are the same as last year. The only change is the night dives. They now alternate daily between a dusk dive and a night dive. If you are looking to extend your stay in Raja Ampat either before or after a liveaboard, we would continue to recommend PPER if you are ok with spotty wifi (unchanged from last year) and no air conditioning. We are confident the issues with the dive shop will be resolved and this resort is truly beautiful and with a top notch staff.
Websites	Papua Paradise Eco Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Isl, Red Sea, Maldives, South Africa, Mozambique, Cocos Isl, Galapagos, Socorro, Palau, Var Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, No Carolina, Philippines, Fiji
Closest Airport	Sorong	Getting There	We flew from Philadelphia to Doha to Jakarta to Sorong
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	About 60 minutes, stay within recreational limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
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
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Papua Paradise Eco Resort in Indonesia/Raja Ampat

Papua Paradise Eco Resort: "Another Great Trip", Apr, 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 Papua Paradise Eco Resort in
Indonesia/Raja Ampat