Diving in Paradise, Raja Ampat

Everytime I think of this place, it brings back a longing. If it doesn't take 3 months of my salary to go there, it probably would've been my 2nd hometown by now.

Most divers go there LOB (live-on-board) ships/yacht. I stayed at Kri Resort and it's my experience living in the huts, the friendly staff, the evening chilling at the jetty watching the sunsets that makes me yearn to go back there again.

It was a difficult trip to begin with. 3 flights and 1 boat ride (2 hours each) to reach our destination.  KL-Jakarta-Makkassar-Sorong-Kri Resort. Because our flights were delayed, we arrived late for our scheduled boat ride, and we hit a storm. Big waves, boat had to detour, something went wrong with steering system, it got dark, we got lost for a bit, no GPS.

But experience local boatmen got us there safely. A few got seasick. I went stright to bed.

I woke up next morning and thought I was in paradise. I opened my window to see pristine water, miles and miles of ocean in front of me. It's soooooo quiet. It was dawn. I walked to the end of the jetty, sat on a bench and just enjoyed the peace, serenity and quiet.

I looked down into the water and saw a school of batfish. Counted 11 of them, just at the jetty! I saw beautiful colourful fishes swimming around, a trumpet fish. I was amazed.

Then other small sounds begin to break the morning silence. The footsteps of the staffs preparing baskets of fresh towels at the jetty, more staff came to quietly prepare our diving equipments.

After our briefing, we set out on our dives.

3-4 dives scheduled per day. Highlights : Mantas, wobbegongs, pigmy seahorses, barracuddas..... I mean, it was sooooo rich, so many fish, so many colourful corals. Breathtaking and Rich, under and above water. I think we had 6 days of diving, and everytime I can't wait to get in the water.

In the evening, we lounged at the jetty, talked about the day's dives, laughed, played guitar and sang, and watched the sunset. I went with 11 strangers, we all became friends (which lasted till now i'm glad to say). 

After dinner, the staffs brought in their guitars, homemade bass and sang to us. I miss their songs and their beautiful voices. They would entertain us until late into the night, even as we retired to bed, their melodic songs drifting into our huts and putting us to sleep.

Everyday, for the whole week we were there, it became a routine. A routine I missed so much. One night, on a guest's birthday, the staffs set up a celebration. There were only 16 guests then, but we had such a wonderful celebration, one I would never forget.

Now let the pictures do the talking.