
Raja Ampat Dive & Coral Triangle Walk
Explore Raja Ampat — the epicentre of global marine biodiversity in West Papua, Indonesia, where the Coral Triangle's most species-rich reefs attract divers from across the world to an archipelago of 1500 islands, coral atolls, and limestone karst formations rising from some of the world's clearest water.
- 1
Sorong Departure Point
Sorong on the Bird's Head Peninsula of West Papua is the gateway to Raja Ampat — the port city where live-aboard dive boats and public ferries depart for the islands serves as the essential transit point, with the journey from Sorong to Waisai on Waigeo Island taking approximately 2 hours by fast boat and revealing the first of the limestone karst islands that define Raja Ampat's extraordinary geography.
- 2
Mansuar Island Dive Site
Mansuar Island in central Raja Ampat sits at the intersection of multiple dive sites including Cape Kri, which holds the record for the most fish species counted on a single dive — the richness of the reef around Mansuar, where currents from different directions converge and deliver nutrients to an already extraordinarily diverse reef ecosystem, makes it one of the most reliable locations for exceptional diving anywhere in the world.
- 3
Cape Kri Record Dive Site
Cape Kri off Mansuar Island holds the world record for fish species diversity on a single dive — 374 species were recorded in one dive at this site, and the aggregations of fish visible here including schools of barracuda, trevally, and bumphead parrotfish create an underwater spectacle of size and abundance that justifies Raja Ampat's reputation as the most biodiverse marine environment on Earth.
- 4
Misool Island South
Misool in southern Raja Ampat is the most remote and arguably most beautiful of the four main island groups — the dramatic limestone karst formations, the hidden lagoons, and the exceptional marine biodiversity of the Misool area, combined with the presence of a privately operated marine reserve that has dramatically increased fish populations since 2005, make Misool the destination within a destination for the most dedicated Raja Ampat visitors.
- 5
Wayag Lagoon Viewpoint
The Wayag lagoon system in northern Raja Ampat is the most iconic landscape image of the archipelago — the view from the hilltop above the interconnected lagoons, with the mushroom-shaped limestone karst islands reflected in the turquoise water below, appears on every promotional image of Papua and is a 2-hour trek from the water's edge that every visitor to this part of Raja Ampat attempts.
- 6
Raja Ampat Marine Biodiversity
Raja Ampat contains over 75% of the world's coral species and over 1700 fish species — the extraordinary biodiversity that has made this the most important marine conservation area in the Asia-Pacific region is the result of the archipelago's position at the intersection of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the complex current patterns that deliver food and larvae to the reefs, and the relative isolation that has protected the ecosystem from the intensive fishing that has degraded most equivalent sites.