Raja Ampat : The Last Paradise
West Papua, Indonesia
April 2026
Ever since I first laid eyes on Raja Ampat, a remote archipelago in Eastern Indonesia, every bucket list trip on my radar was bumped down one spot! This remote and otherworldly place is home to over 1,500 islands, most of which are uninhabited. While the beauty of the limestone karst islands and surrounding seascape is fairly obvious, there is an entirely different and equally stunning beauty found under the water’s surface. Some of the planet’s richest coral reefs support an incredible biodiversity of marine life, making Raja Ampat one of the world’s top scuba diving destinations!
A curious clown fish peaks out of its shelter for the camera © Dawn Richter
Getting there:
Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia
The launching point for all visitors to Raja Ampat is through the small frontier city of Sorong, located on the bird’s head peninsula, in West Papua Indonesia. Upon landing here I was first struck by the heat. This area was once covered by dense jungle and with the forest cleared and replaced by pavement, things get hot quickly!
We walked out of the small airport terminal to be greeted by dozens of cab drivers hoping to get a rider. A younger kid caught my eye and we made our way over to his super stylish car that was totally customized, a detail that I was especially curious about given our remote location. I later learned that these custom mods are quite common and it seemed like a sort of competition among taxi drivers to attract customers. Faisal, our driver, was incredibly polite and very agreeable. His English seemed surprisingly good and like many people in Indonesia the answer to every question is “yes”! The funny thing is, even if the question is not understood, very often the reply is answered as a confident and friendly “yes”, sometimes followed by, “I’m sorry but I do not understand”.
We were dropped off at our hotel accommodation for the night just a five minute drive from the airport. In my younger days carrying just a backpack I probably would have been tempted to walk this, however, we were hauling three checked bags full of dive equipment and camera gear to document our trip and capture some interesting new images from the other side of the world. Walking was not an option! Arriving at the hotel, we took Faisal’s What’sApp number as he was anxious to retain our patronage. Upon stepping out we were met with pure Indonesian hospitality and checked into our room. At this point we had been traveling for two and half days straight with only a short nap in Bali, our bodies were completely out of sync and the jetlag was real.
There are only a few western style hotels in Sorong and we chose the Swiss Belhotel, which I found to be quite comfortable with a lobby bar and an incredible international breakfast buffet. I decided a cold beer was in order so I headed down to the lobby bar. After a couple drinks at the bar we decided to venture out and try some local food. Faisal came and picked us up and delivered us into a bustling area of informal stalls and shops. We needed to grab some wine for our 12 day diving cruise and we chose a restaurant (Warung) that served fried noodles and other local delicacies. After spending the equivalent of just over $3 we had eaten our dinner and were off to the store that sold alcohol. In this Muslim country of over 280 million people is not known for alcohol but slowly more and more western influence and conveniences are becoming available. Faisal did not recommend we walk back to the hotel but I wasn’t really worried about crime and I wanted to get a taste of the local culture. In a short walk in the late afternoon, life in west Papua was on full display!
A local Papuan man makes an impromptu scooter wash in Sorong
Local's line the street selling staples of the region
Young kids in school uniforms waved enthusiastically. Entire families, sometimes as many as five, seated all in a line on a single scooter. In fact, scooters outnumber the cars 20 to 1 at any given time and traffic is a moving symphony of organized chaos! Open stalls cooking up all kinds of local foods over a wood fire was commonplace as women wearing traditional dress tended to their feasts. We arrived back at the Swiss Belhotel with a short but lasting impression of this third world country and bodies that desperately needed some sleep.
Embarkation onto the Calico Jack
Our first impression of our Cruise Director J, a 6’ 2” Italian with long blonde dreadlocks, was mixed. J arrived on time and met us in the lobby wearing his red Calico Jack tanktop and some cutoff jean shorts. He was so preoccupied with all of his responsibilities on the morning of departure that he came off slightly cold initially. We waited a few minutes for another guest to join us then we were shuttled into a taxi and ferried over to the harbor. Additional crew and guests were already there waiting for us and we immediately loaded into the tenders and zoomed across the bay to our “pirate ship”.
The Calico Jack is a traditional Indonesian Phinisi built by hand on the island of Sulawesi using age-old handcrafted methods literally on the beach. I could go into a whole rant about these boats and their construction but that would deserve its own blogpost to do it justice! In this blogpost we can focus on living and diving on this gorgeous boat in the middle of a tropical paradise.
We received our welcome drink (a cold, fresh coconut) and sat down for a briefing that covered everything from location of the life boats to using Indonesia’s answer to the bidét, the “bum gun”. J presented the briefing and it was immediately apparent that he would be a very entertaining host as he went through his opening routine and introduced all of the crew members. Once the briefing was completed we were shown to our cabins.
Our immaculate cabin for the journey aboard the Calico Jack
A typical breakfast with eggs made to order
After the crew had absorbed all of our bags and we set up our dive stations it was time to set sail. Heading south we were off to Misool, one of the Four Kings that makes up this greater Archipelago, and an incredible diving destination. The passage was very calm and I took advantage of the time to set up my new underwater camera equipment and prepare for a new chapter in my career. The excitement was palpable as I worked through a ton of new information to aid in my success and was eager to try out my new gear. The trip was briefly interrupted by some mechanical issues but the resourceful crew was not about to let anything get in the way of our journey!
Misool
Waking up in an entirely new environment aboard a 30 meter wooden pirate ship on the other side of the world was a trip. Our first dive awaited us on a reef bordering a jagged tropical island covered in emerald green cliffs. The water was warm and visibility on this dive was pretty good, overall an incredible check dive to sort out everyone’s diving abilities. Back on the boat we were served our first breakfast of the trip, a feast of tropical fruits, fresh baked bread, eggs made to order and Indonesian sambal, a traditional hot sauce. The service staff, lovingly known as Tom and Jerry, were absolutely wonderful and quickly learned each guest’s routine to anticipate their tastes, a level of service I had never experienced. Over the course of the day we dove another 3 times including our first night dive of the trip. This was interspersed with sunning on the upper deck, enjoying 2 more delicious meals, and time spent settling into our new home.
Climbing up to the crow's nest while taking in a brilliant sunrise
By the 2nd day we were getting into our groove and the diving was becoming better and better. In fact on the second dive at a site called Shadow Reef we used reef hooks to suspend ourselves as the current swept past bringing a bounty of marine life. We had our first Manta encounters, numerous reef sharks and just a generally awesome experience. Later, Dawn opted out of the night dive so I buddied up with another guest and our guide Doan. This dive was especially memorable as a very large Hawksbill turtle appeared out of the black and interacted with me and my powerful video light that was attracting lots of plankton. This turtle was exceptionally beautiful and very curious. After a surreal swim or dance in the three dimensional blackness, I rejoined my mates and we continued to see all kinds of otherworldly creatures including the Epaulin Walking Shark, a rare species endemic to Raja Ampat!
Dawn enters an underwater cave structure in Misool
The next few days in Misool were just beautiful. We had painted skies at sunrise and sunset. We went ashore and took in the views from a lookout over the incredible Love Lagoon, a heart shaped bay fringed in coral and hidden within the karst islets.
The Love Lagoon in Misool
The diving continued to be incredible as well. Under the water the rock formations mirrored what we were seeing from above. Instead of being covered in tropical rainforest vegetation these walls and archways were covered in hard and soft coals, sea sponges and brittle stars in a dazzling display of color! After six beautiful days of exploring this remote archipelago we would need to begin the journey back north toward the Dampier straight and more advanced diving experiences.
A brilliant purple sea anemone harbors some skittish clown fish
An explosion of colorful soft and hard corals lies beneath the surface in Misool
Central Raja Ampat- The Fam Island
After a night crossing we woke in the Fam Islands. This area closely resembled Misool but on a smaller scale. The area boasts some of the most famous dive sites in all of Raja Ampat and maybe the world. Melissa’s Garden was named for the daughter of Max Ammer, one of the first westerners to explore and dive Raja Ampat. Later Max founded the Papua Dive Resorts on the nearby island of Kri. Melissa’s Garden is an amazing example of healthy Elkhorn Coral thriving in the nutrient rich waters. The endless fields of these corals acted as a nursery for so many different reef fish, If you stayed still for a few moments, it was amazing to see all of the layers of activity taking place throughout the structure of the reef!
After 2 morning dives we enjoyed a land excursion into the Piaynemo Lagoon and Island. After docking the tenders in the calm turquoise blue waters, we followed a wooden boardwalk into the jungle and began climbing the steep staircase to a famous Indonesian viewpoint. Once we reached the top, the view stretched out in all directions with tropical islands dotting the landscape before a limitless blue horizon. This very spot is the inspiration for the artwork on Indonesia's largest note, the $100,000 Rupiah.
Add The Last Paradise to your collection today! 100 Limited Edition / 5 Artist Proof
The viewpoint on Indonesia's largest denomination, the $100,000 rupiah
Continuing our journey we moved away from the Fam Islands toward the central heart of the archipelago. The area has a huge diversity of creatures and several vibrant and remote villages. Arborek is one such village situated on the island of the same name. For a different experience with completely novel encounters the night dives in this area are mostly “muck dives”. Most sites consist of a sandy slope without many features but somehow at night these areas come alive with activity. Some of the sites are situated in proximity to a local pier where corals, sponges and crustaceans have clung to every inch of surface providing habitat for alien-like creatures such as frogfish and scorpion leaf fish. These masters of disguise sit motionless blending into the environment waiting for prey to pass by within striking distance. Speaking of striking distance, the flamboyant cuttlefish is an unusual mix of a squid and octopus that uses its specially adapted tentacles to strike its prey at lightning speeds! Several species of octopus are also possible to see as well as sea horses, ghost pipe fish, several species of lion fish and so much more!
Master of camouflage, a scorpion fish lies motionless in the darkness
The Dampier Straight
This narrow channel spanning between Waisai to the North and Batanta to the South is perhaps the most biologically diverse place in all of the world! It is here that a phenomenon known as the Indonesian Throughflow ushers plankton rich nutrient waters from the depths of the Pacific Ocean into the Serum Sea. This throughflow is part of a larger planetary circulation system that regulates weather patterns and climate conditions around the globe. Because of this, diving in the Dampier Straight tends to involve current and a more advanced skillset. Situated directly in the middle of the straight is the islands of Kri and Mansuar. Kri is home to Papua Dive Resorts, founded by the pioneer of diving in this area, Max Ammer. For the ultimate balance of luxury and diving, a stay at Sorido Bay on the Eastern tip of Kri is hard to beat. The house reef alone is a world class site complete with a blue hole. Just around the corner is Cape Kri, the site where more fish species were recorded in a single dive than anywhere else in the world! For me, nothing compares to the pelagic encounters at Blue Magic, a submerged seamount just 10 minutes by speedboat from Kri.
A giant oceanic manta ray glides overhead at a cleaning station
Our dives in this area were phenomenal, complete with incredible Manta encounters at the various cleaning stations. We had great reef shark action watching these apex predators stalk the reef in search of prey. Giant schools of barracuda and trevali are also quite common. By this time our diving skills were sharply honed and diving was truly second nature. Our inner fish had come alive and with each additional dive we craved more and more time under the surface. On our final full day, we did one last dive in the straight with some spicy current and celebrated with our new friends who felt more like family.
The ultimate predator, a blacktop reef sharks combs the reef with grace and power
Our dive group celebrates a final dive together in the current of the Dampier Straight
Back on our chartered traditional sailboat, the crew assisted as we began breaking down our dive gear and sorting and washing all of the items so they could be packed for the following morning departure. We had one more adventure waiting for us that afternoon into the jungle in search of the “blue river” of Kali Biru. After navigating the ship into a narrow fjordlike sound we ventured ashore to a traditional village where the local people greeted us warmly. After negotiating our plans we boarded the local boats and motored deeper into the inlet to the mouth of a river.
Traveling up the Kali Biru river on a local boat
From the river’s mouth we walked into the jungle for about 30 minutes. The scene was straight out of a movie and our local guides shared their traditions and cultural heritage with us. Eventually the path turned away from the river and onto a smaller path. Moments later we arrived at the Kali Biru Blue River, an oasis of fresh, cold clear water. We enjoyed time for swimming and snacks while taking photos with our guides.
The famous "Blue River"
A short but drenching shower interrupted our fun but passed as quickly as it had arrived. We walked back to the boats and golden afternoon light illuminated the canyon with a dreamy glow. This was our final adventure aboard the Calico Jack but certainly not our last! Our final evening was bittersweet, savoring friendships and experiences while knowing the trip was about to end. The crew served up yet another delicious dinner and we all shared photos and contacts hoping our paths may cross again.
Playing pirate on the Calico Jack
Would I go back to Raja Ampat? Absolutely YES!! In fact, we can’t wait to share Raja Ampat with you. This is sure to become a signature trip in our portfolio with itineraries designed to cater to both divers and people looking for authentic and beautiful adventures. We have planned an incredible itinerary on the Calico Jack for May of 2027, which will include swimming in a “stingless jellyfish” lake, visiting ancient rock art sites, various shore excursions for great topside landscapes, exploring a little known lagoon with otherworldly rock formations, searching for rare tropical birdlife and of course, world class diving and snorkeling! If this sounds amazing, then come join us!!! Spots are limited and will sell out fast, most trips here require up to a two year planning window. To sign up please contact us to reserve a spot and receive a full trip brochure.