Raja Ampat|liveaboards
For the level of service, quality of the vessel, flexible itineraries and accessible price. The Jelajahi Laut gets a vote from us for one of the best budget liveaboards in Raja Ampat.
The Jelajahi laut meaning ‘explore the sea’ in Indonesian, is a purpose-built for divers phinisi yacht. After completion in 2021, the boat’s maiden season was in Komodo before traversing the Banda Sea and onwards to the water of Raja Ampat. Aimed to provide luxury at a mid-end price point, she will carry you to some of the best dive sites in Indonesia in safety and comfort.
The Jelajahi Laut Raja Ampat caters for up to 14 divers in 6 well-appointed cabins. All cabins have an en-suite bathroom, hot water showers and individually controlled AC. In addition, the vessel has both well-crafted indoor and outdoor settings for you to enjoy your trip. Whether you are diving Komodo, Raja, or one of the transition trips between, the homely feel of the vessel, coupled with the experienced dive crew, will have you coming back.
Food onboard the Jelajahi Laut Raja Ampat combines international and local cuisines. Infinite Blue can take care of your plant-based dietary arrangements. We keep in touch with the kitchen, to guarantee you there is much more than fries and garden salads during your fantastic Raja Ampat dive holiday.
Kindly note trip cost excludes Marine Park | Port | Fuel surcharge (payable onboard), equipment rental (if any), and PADI course fees (if any).
Don’t hesitate to contact us for exact details, as the above charges may alter depending on which dive cruise itinerary interests you.
Day 1
Our meeting point is at the Marina Star Café in Sorong Harbour at 7:30 am, where we’ll have a coffee or tea and wait for all our guests to arrive.
Once everyone is ready, we’ll get on our speedboats and board Jelajahi Laut.
While enjoying a fresh juice or coconut, we’ll hold a welcome briefing, followed by a general safety briefing and explanation of the boat. All crew and guests will introduce themselves.
You’ll then put your belongings in your cabin, and we’ll set up the diving area, followed by a light lunch and soon after, at around 3 pm we’ll head for our check dive outside the harbour, on the slopes of Mioskon Island.
The rest of the afternoon will be spent on the boat, and we’ll have plenty of time to get to know our fellow travellers and enjoy a beautiful sunset while the captain navigates to the northern parts of Batanta Island.
Day 2
Today it’s an early wake-up, with freshly brewed coffee or a cup of tea for the first dive briefing while the crew is busy in the diving area, ensuring everything is ready before we gear up.
For today’s dives, we’ll be looking for Manta Rays and sharks in Dayan, Karang Bata or Bibis – it all depends on tides and conditions; no two trips are ever the same. It’s essential for us to tailor our trips to our guests’ expectations, so we try our best to find what you are looking for.
Day 3
Behind us lays 3 hours of travelling, and we now find ourselves between the Fam island group – we’re sure you’ve heard of My Reef, Melissa’s Garden, Batu Rufus, Barracuda Rock and the viewpoint of Piaynemo.
At these sites you can see hunting Giant Trevallies, Rainbow Runners, Pygmy Seahorses, Hairy Squat Lobsters, never ending Staghorn Coral fields and a wall that seems to go on forever.
The climb to the viewpoint seems more challenging than it is; once we reach the top, you’ll be speechless and can soak in one of the most beautiful views you can imagine over this little paradise.
We’ll be in this area for 2 days, making perfectly timed jumps at these sites according to the tides to ensure we get the best out of it and plenty of fish action.
Day 4
After a late sailing, we’ll reach a bit further north in the marine park – Wofoh Island is a great way to start the day with a beautiful wall dive and shallow reef, where we’ll be hunting for macro and nudibranchs.
Later we’ll head further north, where we have a few different options for dives. One of our favourites is Chanel no. 5, a combination of slope, wall, some overhangs, and small caves.
The chances for Eagle Rays are high on this dive site, and the occasional dolphin family has been spotted.
For the afternoon, there is the option to visit a traditional fishing village or another dive before we go for one of the best night dives of Raja Ampat on the jetty of the Pearl Farm, hidden inside a lagoon.
Day 5
Today our day will be spent around the island of Kawe, where we’ll jump at Eagle Rock first, then head to Black Rock, and as our third dive, Eagle Rock again, but as the tides have changed, it’s an entirely different dive site.
We’re looking for Manta Rays, Sharks, Fusiliers, GTs, and bushes of Black Coral at these dive sites – depending on the moon, tides here can be strong, so we’ll plan the dives according to your preference!
We do love some pumping current and big action, but we’ll let you decide which degree you’re comfortable with to enjoy the dive properly.
Day 6
Today we’re returning to the Dampier strait, getting ready to dive into some astonishing reefs again.
The abundance in Raja Ampat makes choosing from an extensive variety of sites easy, depending on what you like.
On the plan, we have Cape Kri, Sardine Reef and Mike’s Point, but we can also jump on Chicken Reef, Blue Magic or LauLau which are all a short distance from each other.
After our third dive, we’ll hop over to the Island where it all started, Mioskon, to enjoy some beers and a beach barbeque set up by our amazing Chef.
Day 7
4.30 am wake-up seems hard, but it’s worth it.
After tea and coffee and a small breakfast, our speedboats will take us over land, where we’ll go for a little hike up a hill in the jungle. With a bit of luck, the red Bird of Paradise can be spotted on top of the trees, looking for a mating partner while “singing” above the trees.
We’ll then get back on the boat for a healthy breakfast, after which it’s time to gear up one last time and go for our last dive of the trip. It can be either Blue Magic to look for some more Oceanic Manta Rays and Grey Reef Sharks or the reef of LauLau with its pinnacle.
While enjoying a fresh juice or coconut, we’ll hold a welcome briefing, a general safety briefing and an explanation of the boat. All crew and guests will introduce themselves.
You’ll then put your belongings in your cabin, and we’ll set up the diving area, followed by a light lunch and soon after, at around 3 pm, we’ll head for our check dive outside the harbour, on the slopes of Mioskon Island.
For today’s dives, we’ll be looking for Manta Rays and sharks in Dayan, Karang Bata or Bibis – it all depends on tides and conditions; no two trips are ever the same. We need to tailor our trips to our guests’ expectations, so we try our best to find what you are looking for.
At these sites, you can see hunting Giant Trevallies, Rainbow Runners, Pygmy Seahorses, Hairy Squat Lobsters, never-ending Staghorn Coral fields and a wall that seems to go on forever.
The climb to the viewpoint seems harder than it is; once we reach the top, you’ll be speechless and can soak in one of the most beautiful views you can imagine over this little paradise.
Later we’ll head further north, where we have a few different options for dives. One of our favourites is Chanel no. 5, a combination of slope, wall and some overhangs and small caves.
For the afternoon, there is the option to visit a traditional fishing village or another dive before we go for one of the best night dives of Raja Ampat, on the jetty of the Pearl Farm, hidden inside a lagoon.
A few hours southeast of Kawe lies a small island with well-hidden reefs.
Using the GPS tracker, the speedboat drivers drop us right where we need to go in search of the Carpet Shark, also called the Wobbegong Shark.
They especially love this area, but they are not alone – with plenty of fish and stunning corals surrounding us, we’ll also look for Barracudas and Oriental Sweetlips.
In a small channel lies a particular drift dive site where previous sightings of crocodiles make it a bit spooky – but we can always ride the speedboats to cruise around to see if they’re on the surface!
In the afternoon, we’ll make our way over to the island of Arborek, where we’ll go on land to wander around a bit and relax on the jetty while the local kids show us their swimming and jumping skills.
On the night dive here, we will look for the most famous fish in Raja Ampat – the Walking Shark (Epaulette Shark), often found hiding around the jetty. This shark is only 50cm long and, as its name states, can “walk” if trapped out of the water because of the tides or more giant sharks hunting him.
The abundance in Raja Ampat makes it easy to choose from various sites, depending on what you like.
After our third dive, we’ll hop over to the Island where it all started, Mioskon, to enjoy some beers and a beach barbeque set up by our excellent Chef.
Day 8
After tea and coffee and a small breakfast, our speedboats will take us over land, where we’ll go for a little hike up a hill in the jungle. With some luck, the red Bird of Paradise can be spotted on top of the trees, looking for a mating partner while “singing” above the trees.
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