Misool Resort

How To Get There

Misool Resort offers airport transfers for the guests. It is best to take an early flight from Jakarta (CGK) to Sorong (SOQ) where guests are met at the airport and then brought to the harbor and onto a private speedboat, scheduled to depart at 09:00 am.

All guests are advised to arrive in Sorong by 8 am on the departure date. We recommend all guests transit through Jakarta, arriving the day before the start of your stay at Misool Resort. Contact us for assistance to book your flights and hotel stays.

Dive Overview

Full of rich sea life, you can expect to dive a variety of sites including colorful soft corals, expansive hard coral gardens, massive gorgonian sea fans, a manta cleaning station, swim throughs, seamounts, drift dives, placid lagoons and more.

Learn more on Diving in Raja Ampat or see Misool Resort's Dive Sites

Food & Drinks

• A broad range of Asian and Western cuisine, with a focus on fresh, local, and organic fare
• Snacks and drinks are available throughout the day
• Can accommodate vegetarians, vegans, and other dietary needs and restrictions
• A selection of wine available

Dive Information & Itineraries

Diving At Misool Resort, Raja Ampat In A Nutshell

Raja Ampat, Indonesia, is home to the world's richest reefs and dive sites. Located at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the region sprawls over 4.6 million hectares (17,000 sq miles) and boasts the majority of the world's reef-building corals.

In an area the size of two football fields, scientists discovered more than six times as many coral species as live in the entire Caribbean Sea. Raja Ampat's reefs are home to over 700 species of mollusks and over 1,400 species of fish. Counted among those is the newly discovered 'walking' epaulette shark, commonly seen on night dives on Misool Resor's house reef.

Misool Resort Dive Sites

Their local dive sites are protected by their own 1,220 sq km (465 sq mi) Marine Protected Area and an 828 sq km No-Take Zone and that means that an area twice the of Singapore is a dedicated conservation area, and free from all fishing. Here are just a few of the most famous sites:

• Nudi Rock - a small island in the Fiabacet chain, which looks an awful lot like a nudibranch from a distance. Just a quick 5-minute speedboat ride from the jetty, this site is a must for critter enthusiasts and macro photographers.
• True to its name, you'll find a wide range of flamboyant nudibranchs lurking among the abundant soft corals. The sea fans are well populated with pygmy seahorses and cowries. Be sure to inspect the abundant crinoids for their color-coordinated arrowhead shrimp and clingfish.
• When currents allow, this site is also popular for its pinnacles crowded with larger pelagics like Barracuda, Big Eyed Trevally, and the odd mature Grey Reef Shark. The sloping shallows of Nudi Rock are stunning for wide angle shots with exquisite colors and hard coral gardens.
• Boo Windows - One of the most famous dive sites, named for its unique topography. The site is a small island about 15 minutes from the resort, with 2 swim-through 'windows' carved into it.
• The South West face of this site is quite steep and exposed to current, so you are likely to see patrolling sharks as well as the elusive Wobbegong Shark - be sure to look under the massive table corals! When the currents are right, we'll move off towards a large pinnacle in the blue.
• The pinnacle is often surrounded by pulsating schools of fusiliers and gangs of plate-sized Batfish. Heading back towards the Windows, notice how the sunlight filters through - it's like nothing else on earth! We'll follow the plateau of hard plate corals and look for Sweetlips hiding
• underneath. Be sure to investigate the huge Barrel Sponges - their crevices often conceal Hairy Squat Lobsters.
• Magic Mountain - This seamount is located about 20 minutes from the resort, and is a busy Manta ray cleaning station. The submerged pinnacle reaches up to about 7 meters, and you have a very good chance of seeing not one by TWO species of manta rays here - both the giant Oceanic birostris as well as the smaller reef manta, alfredi. Magic Mountain is also a nursery for White Tip Reef Sharks and a love nest for Napoleon Wrasse. Because this site is completely exposed to oceanic currents, you can expect to see large schools of pelagics in the blue.
• Yillet - The huge island of Yillet stretches east to west about 15 minutes north of our resort island. This island used to be home to an itinerant shark finning camp, and we are pleased by the stunning resurgence of life on its surrounding reefs, including sharks.
• One of Yillet's tiny satellite islands is particularly rich and topographically weird. The tiny island has been undercut by untold millennia of wave action, forming an umbrella over a sloping underwater plateau with numerous spooky overhangs and cavelets. Diving with a torch is highly recommended for this site - you'll want to illuminate the dark corners of this site to see all the critters, as well as the wild colors. Barramundi cod and Hawksbill Turtles frequent this site. We also suggest you keep a sharp eye on the blue, as huge schools of barracuda hover in formation.
• Shore Diving - Misool Resort's House Reef is a shore dive, easily accessed at any time from either the end of the jetty, the Dive Centre, or the steps leading down from guests' Water Cottage accommodation. On a rising tide, jump off the end of the jetty and enjoy an easy drift North through the channel, which is exposed to variable current. Schooling horse-eyed jacks congregate under the pier, joined by massive schools of fusiliers and shoals of passing anchovies. Several very large groupers make their home in the depths under the jetty, and they often appear to inspect visitors to their reef. We regularly see large black tip reef sharks patrolling the deeper areas, as well as the occasional grey reef shark.

Read our Dive Travel Guide:Raja Ampat Diving

Dive Center Information

Misool Resort Dive Center Overview

Misool Resort's dive center is located in the North Lagoon, built on stilts overlooking the turquoise water. The dive center is spacious and airy and well-suited to professional photographers and videographers. You can expect to dive a wide variety of sites during your stay at Misool Resort. Their corner of southern Raja Ampat is particularly famous for its untouched reefs festooned with wildly colorful soft corals, expansive hard coral gardens, massive gorgonian sea fans, and rich reef life.

Diving Facilities & Services

• 50 sq meter wet area equipped with a massive workstation
• Adjacent dry area furnished with comfortable lounge chairs, a small library, and a monitor for reviewing the day's images
• 120 sq meter veranda outside
• 4 dive boats
• 3 guided boat dives per day, as well as either a dusk dive or a night dive
• variety of different dive packages
• Free Nitrox to qualified divers

Practical Information

• Electricity: 220 volts; 110 V transformers available in the Dive Centre.
• Time zone: UTC+09:00
• Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, or cash (Rupiah, USD, or Euros)