Raja Ampat 2016

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This trip was a divers dream come true.  We spent 11 days on the beautiful Dewi Neusantara a 190 foot long wooden 3 mast schooner with 9 luxury cabins and a crew of 20.  The accommodations, the food and the crew exceeded expectations as did the diving.  Raja Ampat is is located int he coral triangle of Indonesia and is known as the most bio-diverse marine region on earth.  Each dive was full of excitement from literally millions of fish to manta rays to wobbegong sharks to turtles.  On one of our dives there were so many fish it was hard to see your buddy, we spend nearly 40 minutes just watching the fish swarm around us not moving from one spot.  Our divemasters were skilled in pointing out the interesting little stuff as well as making sure we didn’t miss any of the big critter action.  After each dive we were treated to a neck and shoulder massage by the boats two massage therapists and then a delicious meal served by our very friendly crew.  We had several of our group celebrate milestone dives on this trip, Greg hit 600, Sue and Mark D. hit 500 and mark S. and Helen did their 400th dive.

After Raja 9 of us continued on to Siladen Resort and Spa in the Bunaken marine park area of Northern Sulawesi.  This is a beautiful resort with some great diving.  Some of our guest opted to take advantage of the spa services while others enjoyed the pristine diving.  Both groups were extremely satisfied with their experiences. The divers saw beautiful hard and soft corals, loads of turtles and interesting little creatures such as scorpion leaf fish, nudibranch and pipefish.  The spa group got massaged and pampered to their hearts content.  The food at Siladen was over the top!  From warn chocolate croissants for breakfast to delicious buffets for lunch and dinner.

All in all it was a wonderful trip with a wonderful group of people.  We will be back on the Dwei Neusantara in January and again in August of 2018.