Indonesia, Raja Ampat

Walls of Colour: Raja Ampat to Maluku 🇮🇩 – ’28

12 nights on the Ilike Liveaboard 🏝️

Travel details

Available spaces

Fully Booked

Trip duration

12 nights

Travel dates

12 November, 2028 - 24 November, 2028

Price per person

4.995 € per person

Trip Highlights

Spectacular Diving 🤿 Raja Ampat is an epicentre of marine biodiversity, and arguably one of the world's best diving destinations. 🪸 Being home to more than 75% of the world’s coral reef species and more than 1600 species of reef fishes, this is a place where nature still thrives.

Stellar Itinerary 🗺️ Our itinerary takes us from the iconic reefs of Misool to the deep blue walls of the Banda Sea, all the way to the legendary Spice Islands of Banda, where epic dives meet rich history and island culture. We finish in the critters of Ambon!

A Sharky Place🦈 These waters are home to over 22 shark species, with a wide array of reef sharks and special ones such as wobbegongs! Keep your eyes open when crossing those amazing reefs: things will get sharky for sure.

Trip description

Raja Ampat – Diving at the Heart of the Coral Triangle

Raja Ampat, located in the remote far east of Indonesia, is widely regarded as the most biodiverse marine region on the planet. Situated in the heart of the Coral Triangle, these pristine islands offer diving experiences that are unmatched anywhere else in the world.

Divers can expect explosive reef life: vibrant hard and soft corals, vast schools of reef fish, swirling barracuda, hunting trevallies, and an extraordinary density of species. Macro enthusiasts will find pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish, and rare critters, while pelagic lovers are rewarded with manta rays, reef sharks, turtles, and occasional wobbegongs and dolphins.

The underwater landscapes are just as impressive as the life they host — dramatic limestone formations, steep walls, coral-covered pinnacles, and current-swept channels create dynamic and exhilarating dives. Despite the richness, diving in Raja Ampat is suitable for both experienced and advanced recreational divers, with conditions ranging from calm reef dives to thrilling drift dives.

Above water, Raja Ampat remains untouched and wild: emerald jungle-covered islands, turquoise lagoons, and a sense of true remoteness that completes the experience.

Raja Ampat is not just a destination — it is a benchmark for world-class diving.
For many divers, it represents the pinnacle of what underwater exploration can be.

Ilike 12 nights Raja Ampat to Ambon

Nights

Price per person

4.995 €

DATE START

12 November 2028

DATE END

24 November 2028

The Ilike is a traditional phinisi schooner, hand-built from ironwood and teak in Sulawesi and launched in 2010. Carrying just 16 guests in 8 en-suite cabins, she's purpose-built for divers, with a spacious dive deck, camera station, two dive tenders, and Nitrox. Her 5- to 13-night itineraries follow the seasons across Indonesia's best diving — and two destinations stand out.

The first is Raja Ampat, at the heart of the Coral Triangle and home to the richest marine biodiversity on Earth. Among its jungle-clad karst islets, divers meet mantas at cleaning stations, wobbegong sharks, and swirling schools over impossibly colourful reefs at sites like Cape Kri and Blue Magic, with the prime season running October to April.

At the other end of the spectrum lies Ambon, in the Maluku Spice Islands — one of the world's great muck-diving destinations. Its black-sand slopes hide rhinopias, psychedelic frogfish, blue-ring octopus, and rare critters found nowhere else, while the island doubles as the gateway to Banda Sea crossings, best dived from September to November.

Included

12 nights standard cabin
Full board (all meals)
Drinking Water, Tea & Coffee, snacks, Diving Package
Approximately 32 dives
Land Excursions
Cabin and deck Towels
Complimentary Toiletries

Not Included

Marine park fee Ambon: 15 EUR for the whole trip, to be paid on board
Marine park fee Raja Ampat: 80 EUR for the whole trip, to be paid on board
Port and Eco fees: 30 EUR per day, to be paid on board
Dive or travel Insurance
Gratuities
Flights
Alcoholic Beverages
Soft drinks
Nitrox: 99 EUR for the full trip
Rental Gear
Starlink WiFi (24/7) – 15GB – max 2 devices : 90 EUR per item, to be paid on board
Cabin surcharges per person: 300 EUR Superior Room, 600 EUR Suite, 1100 EUR Seaview suite

Day-by-day program

Arrive at Sorong Airport (SOQ) in West Papua, the gateway to Raja Ampat. Transfer to the harbour to board the Ilike, our home for the next twelve nights. Cabin assignment, gear setup, welcome dinner, safety briefing. The boat casts off in the evening for the short sail into the Dampier Strait.

Full day in the Dampier Strait, the current fed corridor between Waigeo and Batanta. Sites like Mioskon, Blue Magic and Sardine Reef, where reef mantas cruise the cleaning stations, wobbegong sharks rest in the coral, and schooling fusiliers and jacks fill the water column. Two to three dives.

Central Raja Ampat around Gam and Yangeffo. Sites like Citrus Ridge and Yangefo Wall. Big soft coral gardens, hawksbill turtles, epaulette sharks under the coral at night. Slower current than Dampier, more time on the reef.

Penemu is the postcard image of Raja Ampat, the karst archipelago rising out of turquoise water. Two dives on the pinnacles, plus the option to hike up to the famous viewpoint over the lagoon in the afternoon.

Sail south overnight to Misool. Wayilbatan is a chain of pinnacles rising from the deep, plastered in soft coral. Two to three dives on sites like Whale Rock and Barracuda Rock, big schools, reef sharks, and the healthiest coral you will ever see.

The signature area of south Raja Ampat. Sites like Nudi Rock, Boo Windows and Tank Rock. Vertical walls draped in soft coral, wobbegong sharks in the crevices, and pygmy seahorses on the sea fans if you look carefully. Three dives.

Daram at the eastern end of Misool. Remote, less visited, and often the best coral of the trip. Two or three dives on sites like Andiamo and Warna Berwarna. The name of the trip earns itself here: walls of colour top to bottom.

Overnight sail east across the Halmahera Sea to Koon Island. The Wall is the signature site: a fast drift along a wall of soft coral with hammerheads, dogtooth tuna, and massive schools of redtooth triggerfish in the current. One of the top big animal dives in Indonesia.

Arrive at the Banda Islands, the historic spice islands. Two dives on Banda’s volcanic pinnacles, with the chance of scalloped hammerheads in the deeper water and pilot whales in the blue between islands. Afternoon walk through the old Dutch nutmeg town of Banda Neira.

Second day at Banda. More diving on the outer pinnacles, and the famous hammerhead search dive at the deep wall. The encounter is never guaranteed but the possibility hangs over every dive.

TRIP LEADER

Your Trip Leader

A man that needs little explanation. Armed with his RED camera, he has knows the world’s prime dive locations like his backpocket. A forever optimist and young spirit, proud to call him our most experienced Group Trip Guide.

We are Behind the Mask Travel.

We offer individual tailor-made dive travel and organised group travel to the finest dive spots in the world.