Anne Bonny Yacht

RAJA AMPAT WAYAG Diving Itinerary 9D/8N

Raja Ampat is on the to-do list of every passionate diver. With its many diving spots, it offers a true candy box of the underwater world to explore.

Located in the Northwest corner of Indonesian West Papua, at the meeting points of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, pristine coral reefs (home to 75% of all known corals) teeming with such an array of marine life that scientists describe it as a species factory.

The relative remoteness of Raja Ampat has been the regions greatest defense against overuse and exploitation, resulting in a pristine ecosystem unfettered by the maelstroms of industrialization with ecological wealth unsurpassed anywhere else on the planet.

Sample Itinerary

• Day 1 | Embarkation in Sorong -1 Dive, Mioskon - the "Bat" Island, Beach Bonfire
• We will pick you up at your hotel or Sorong airport and take you to the harbour, where our crew will welcome you onboard Calico Jack. Following refreshments and a short tour of the ship, you will be briefed on safety, diving operations, and life onboard. We will aim to depart by 11 am (or when the last guest is onboard) and head 5 hours north to Waisai. This will allow time for you to get acquainted with the ship, set up your dive gear & cameras, and meet and socialise with the other guests and friendly crew before an afternoon check dive. You will spend the night close to Waisai at a safe anchorage on the Mioskon dive site. For the sunset, we visit Mioskon island's white sand beaches and watch the sunset go down as swarms of flying foxes depart on the night's adventure.
• Day 2 | Dampier Straight -3 Dives, Mioskon, Sardine Reef &Yenbuba Jetty
• After a short, early mornings navigation, we begin the day with dives at Mioskon & Sardine Reef. Ironically, sardines are about the only reef fish not found at Sardine reef, but youll hardly notice as fish thunder (the loud booming sound made when large numbers of fish move rapidly through open water) engulfs you, and swarms of fish block out the sky. Both are incredible dive sites full of schooling fish, including fusiliers, surgeonfish, trevallies, rainbow runners, sweetlips and bannerfish. The reefs are adorned in sea fans, soft corals and orange elephant ear sponges. In the afternoon, you will dive Yanbuba jetty, famous for large fish congregations under the Village Jetty. For sunset, we will make a navigation crossing to Penemu.
• Day 3 | Penemu Archipelago -3 Dives, Lagoon Cruising, Trekking to the View Point
• Early in the morning, we will arrive at Penemus My Reef dive site where you will enjoy one of the largest concentrations of fish in the area. This site is very impressive, particularly when the current is strong. Before lunch well squeeze in a second dive at Melissas Garden, a beautiful coral garden teeming with schooling fish and sharks, you will take a short boat tour to Penemu Islands and walk up to the famous viewpoint above Penemu star-shaped lagoons. Night Dive in the area.
• Day 4 | Kawe to Wayag -3 Dives, Lagoon Exploration and Trekking
• We will make our way across the Equator and towards the picturesque and famous Lagoons of Wayag. On the way, you will dive at Eagle Rock; a large area made up of 3 differing islets that are interconnected underwater. Large schools of fish, including bumphead parrotfish, congregate here, as well as winged pipefish, several species of dragonets and an array of unusual nudibranchs not often seen anywhere else in Raja Ampat. Before entering the lagoons and anchoring, you will dive at Black Rock, a site famous for its lush black coral forests and gorgonian sea fans decorating the sloping rocks and reef. The afternoon will be spent exploring the area by kayak, paddle boarding or speed boat. Here, we can ascend and trek to a vantage point on Mount Pindito where you will get a 360 panoramic view of the spectacular landscape, and if lucky, the shapes of mantas revealed in the shallow turquoise waters below. Night Dive in the lagoon
• Day 5 | Wayag -3 Dives, Diving with Manta Rays, Shark Sanctuary
• In the morning, we dive into our secret Manta cleaning point to observe this graceful animal gliding amongst the 2 cleaning stations we recently discovered. After lunch, we will go to the Shark Sanctuary in the archipelago's heart. Here you will have a meet with around 20 friendly juvenile sharks swimming by the beach. Afternoon dive Ridge Rock Evening navigation to Wofo Island.
• Day 6 | Wofo -3 Dives and Beach BBQ
• We start the day with an early navigation to the Wofo Island area. Here, in the morning you will dive at Wofos Black Forest, a stunning dive traversing the deep black fan landscape rising to a beautiful and pristine shallow reef. The second dive is a Wofo Tembok (a wall dive) and finally Teman Wofo. The evening will be spent on a secluded beach experiencing one of Calico Jacks famous beach BBQ parties, where you relax on our giant bean bags under a pagoda, whilst being served up our chefs delicious BBQ. Explore the beach, meet the local hermit crabs and indulge in a glass of wine as music is played and fireworks light the night sky. =
• Day 7 | Yanggefo -4 Dives and Visit local Village
• An early mornings navigation brings us to the stunning Mangrove Anchorage in the passage of Gam and Yangeffo. Here you will find some of the most stunning dive sites in West Waigeo: Mayhem and Citrus Ridge. In the right conditions, you can expect some of the highest voltage diving in Raja Ampat, with currents bringing in massive schools of barracudas, three species of fusiliers, trevallies, batfish, bump head parrotfish, wobbegongs, as well as black and white tip reef sharks. Afternoon we will move to Arborek village and dive the Arborek jetty, famous for the huge schools of fish that shelter beneath it, and also for the colourful soft corals that cover its piles with pipefish and cuttlefish dwelling more in-depth below. On the reef, giant clams over a hundred years old. after the 3rd dive, we will visit the local village and see the traditional way of life for the local island people.
• Day 8 | Blue Magic/Cape Kri -2 Dives, Diving Blue Magic ,Cape Kri and Beach Afternoon
• We save the very best for the last. During our final diving day, we discover two fabulous dive sites: Blue Magic and Sardine Reef. Both of these sites offer some of the largest concentrations of big fish in Raja Ampat. Large schools of trevallies, barracudas, sweetlips, tuna, and snappers congregate on these sites. Oceanic Manta can also be seen at Blue Magic. In the afternoon, we have time to relax on one of Kris secluded beaches before raising the sails and making navigation back to Sorong, where we arrive later in the evening.
• Day 9 | Disembarkation in Sorong
• After breakfast and the last exchange of photos and memories, the crew and Calico Jack will say our fondest farewell and transport you either to your hotel or airport.

Raja Ampat Full Park Itinerary 12D/11N

Raja Ampat is on the to-do list of every passionate diver. With its many diving spots, it offers a true candy box of the underwater world to explore. Located in the Northwest corner of Indonesian West Papua, at the meeting points of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, pristine coral reefs (home to 75% of all known corals) teeming with such an array of marine life that scientists describe it as a species factory. The relative remoteness of Raja Ampat has been the regions greatest defense against overuse and exploitation, resulting in a pristine ecosystem unfettered by the maelstroms of industrialization with ecological wealth unsurpassed anywhere else on the planet.

Sample Itinerary

• Day 1 | Embarkation in Sorong
• We will pick you up at your hotel or Sorong airport and take you to the harbour, where our crew will welcome you onboard Calico Jack. Following refreshments and a short tour of the ship, you will be briefed on safety, diving operations, and life onboard. We will set sail at approximately 11 am (or when the last guest has boarded) and cruise through Sele Strait to reach the East of Misool, for approximately 12 hours. This will allow time for you to get acquainted with the ship, set up your dive gear & cameras and meet and socialise with the other guests and friendly crew.
• Day 2-3 | Balbulol, Daram area, Boo Island
• Balbulol (No Contest, Dangerous Kayak, Love Potion, Number 9, Pet Rock) Schools of pretax, snapper and bump head parrotfish can be found at these dive sites, including barracudas and jacks surrounding the pinnacles. You will spend the night in the hidden lagoon, a very special anchorage inside a narrow bay enclosed by towering rocks. We will take the dinghies to explore another lagoon located further into the rocks, and as night falls, you will see and hear the magnificent Palm Cockatoos roosting along the rainforest edges. Daram (Candy Store, Warna Berwana, Andiamo) Andiamo is a large, stunning reef with a submerged pinnacle covered in sea fans and surrounded by schools of fusiliers and batfish. Black tip reef sharks and napoleon wrasse can also be found here. Candy Store, named so as the first divers to explore this reef felt like kids in a candy store, is covered in huge sponges, beautiful soft corals and sea fans. In the valleys, schools of fusiliers, butterfly fish and barracuda gather. 6 Dive
• Warokaraket/Boo Island (Shadow Reef, Jamur Boo, Yellit Kecil or Besar) + Night Dive Shadow Reef, also known as Magic Mountain, is one of the top-rated diving sites in Raja Ampat. An offshore pinnacle with a long and narrow ridge, shoals of bannerfish, pyramid butterfly and yellow snappers can be seen cavorting on top of the ridge, persistently stalked by giant trevallies orange-spotted jacks & longnose emperors. The ridge goes progressively down, with yellowtail barracudas patrolling the upper sector and white tip and grey reef sharks found nestled under the large coral tables. At the end of the peninsular is a cleaning station where oceanic manta rays come to be cleaned from parasites by wrasse and other reef fish. Boo Rock or Jamur Boo is known for the windows or rounded openings on the end of the largest rock that completely pierce the reef from the surface down to five meters deep. Although the two rocks appear separate from the surface, they are in fact connected underwater by a magnificent reef draped in soft corals and brimming with fish. Reef sharks, parrotfish, surgeonfish, schooling batfish, fusiliers, snappers and moray eels are all found here, as well as a wide variety of nudibranchs, unicornfish, octopus and green turtles. Yellit Kecils (whilst sharing all of the attributes of its neighboring sites) main characteristic is the large number of nembrotha nudibranchs that can be observed on the ridge.
• Day 4 | Wayilbatan - 3 Dives, Lagoon Exploration and a Night Dive
• The Wayilbatan area offers impressive dive sites with a remarkable range of marine diversity and topography. At Wedding Cake, schools of batfish, trevallies, barracuda and pygmy seahorses congregate. In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to take in the scenic landscapes with some kayaking and paddle boarding amongst the most spectacular hidden lagoons in the region. Four Kings dive site comprises four underwater pinnacles covered in soft coral and colourful tunicates. You can swim from one rock to the next, enjoying the soft corals, psychedelic colours and abundant fish life. Be sure to look out for turtles here.
• Day 5 | Yilliet - 3 Dives
• In the early morning, we will take a short navigation to dive the Fiabacet area where colourful soft corals and beautiful sea fans smother the reefs. A deep underwater ridge connects the islands of Boo in the East to Kalig in the West. In certain areas, the ridge moves up shallower to form the most amazing dive sites in the park. These include Batu Kecil (also known as Tank Rock), Nudi Rock and Whale Rock, No Contest, Dangerous Kayak, Love Potion, Number 9, and Pet Rock. Here you will find one of the most extensive reef systems in Raja Ampat, offering a fantastic range of marine diversity. Expect to see abundant and healthy fish life, a galore of pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, colourful anemones and reef sharks.
• Day 6 | Wagmab - 3 Dives
• Located 20 kms from Misool Island, this islet of Farondi is a favored dive site in Raja Ampat due to its unique and distinctive landscape which consists of tunnels, caverns, boulders and colorful walls. The western face of Farondi Island has two large caves with a shallow reef, and a dramatic cliff north of the headland. Here, a shallow garden of stony corals gradually becomes a sandy slope which is home to large gorgonian fans and bargibanti pygmy seahorses. Goa Besar, situated south of Farondi, consists of superficial shelved gardens of yellow-coloured soft corals, wall tops blanketed with plate corals, leather corals, yellow and purple sea squirts, and rounded hollows filled with coral shrubberies, sponges and red ornamental ghost pipefish. Tunnels in the caves collide with green soft coral trees and sponges, and house night-time snapper and sweetlips. Late in the afternoon after your third dive, we will depart North and set sail for an overnight cruise to Penemu Island; a navigation of approximately 12 hours.
• Day 7 | Penem Island - 3 Dives, Lagoon Tour, Tracking and Lagoon Exploration
• Early in the morning, we will arrive at Penems My Reef dive site where you will enjoy one of the largest populations of fish in the area. This site is very impressive, particularly when the current is strong. After breakfast, you will dive Melissas Garden; the most well known site in the region, famous for its extensive and healthy hard coral reefs as well as Galaxy; a large reef with abundant marine life. In the afternoon after your third dive, you will take a short boat tour to Penemu and walk up to the famous viewpoint above Penems star-shaped lagoons (Piaynemo Raja Ampat). Here, you will have time to kayak and paddleboard amongst the incredible karst limestone landscape before sunset and dinner onboard.
• Day 8 | Wofo - 3 Dives, Beach BBQ
• We start the day with early navigation to the Wofo Island area, the most northern point of our cruise. In the morning, you will dive at Wofos the Black Forest, a stunning dive traversing the deep black fan landscape rising to a beautiful and pristine shallow reef. The second dive is at Wofo Tembok (a wall dive) and finally Teman Wofo. The evening will be spent on the beach experiencing one of Calico Jacks famous beach BBQ parties, where you relax on our giant bean bags under the stars, explore the beach and meet the local hermit crabs.
• Day 9 | Gam - 3 Dives
• An early mornings navigation brings us to the stunning Mangrove Anchorage in the passage of Gam and Yangeffo. Here you will find some of the most stunning dive sites in West Waigeo: Citrus Ridge, Mayhem and Way Pretty Shallow. In the right conditions, you can expect some of the highest voltage diving in Raja Ampat, with currents bringing massive schools of barracudas, three species of fusiliers, trevallies, batfish, and bump heads parrotfish, wobbegongs, as well as black and white tip reef sharks.
• Day 10 | Arborek - 3 Dives, Diving with Manta Rays, Visit to Local Village, Night Dive
• After awakening within the mangroves, we will make the short journey to dive at Lalosi, a hard coral sea-mount with an extremely diverse range of sea life when the currents are strong. From here we dive at one of the most reliable Manta ray congregation spots in all of Raja Ampat, the famous cleaning station, Manta Sandy. It is easy to spend a whole day observing these majestic creatures as they somersault through the water, feeding on plankton and being cleaned by several species of wrasse and butterfly fish. In the afternoon well make our way to Arborek in Dampier Strait, where you will visit the local village and see the traditional way of life for these island people, before enjoying a night dive at the Arborek Pier. In the shallows, the posts at Arborek Pier are covered in soft corals, with pipefish and cuttlefish dwelling deeper below. On the reef, giant clams nestle among soft corals, which also provide shelter for hermit crabs, flatworms and skeleton shrimp. Day 11 | Dampier Straight
• The final dives will be in the morning at Cape Kri where you will discover some of the largest concentrations of big fish in Raja Ampat. Large schools of trevallies, barracudas, bannerfish, sweetlips, tuna and snappers congregate on these sites. Large grey reef sharks can also be seen. In the afternoon, we have time to relax on one of Kris stunning secluded beaches before sailing back to Sorong where you will arrive later in the evening. 2 Dives
• Day 12 | Disembarkation in Sorong
• After breakfast and the last exchange of photos and memories, the crew and Calico Jack will say our fondest farewell and transport you either to your hotel or airport.