(Re)go diving in Komodo and Raja Ampat
EN"So you've been diving again?" people have been asking me ever since I got back... And yes! I even fulfilled a dream, combining two famous spots in a single trip: Komodo and Raja Ampat.
Magic Blue
Of all the spectacles nature has to offer, underwater life is the one that fascinates me most. Diving, discovering what lies beneath the surface, always gives me the exhilarating sensation of exploring another world...
Immersing yourself in blue is magical! Here's the proof...
Above, one of the sequences I brought back from the aptly named Blue Magic site in Raja Ampat (some of you have already seen it, since I first posted it as an appetizer), on the Facebook page).
Below, another magical moment during a dive in Komodo: the moving face to face encounter between a snorkeler and a manta ray, at Karang Makassar.
It's for these moments, so exhilarating, that I multiply my diving trips, preferably where there are clear, warm waters with plenty of fish...
So in July 2016, I flew off to Indonesia (again). This immense archipelago, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is a fantastic destination for underwater photography! And I've decided to go all out, combining in one trip the two most beautiful diving spots I know in this part of the world: Komodo and Raja Ampat.
Komodo AND Raja Ampat
KomodoI had already been there in 2011. As for Raja AmpatThis is my fifth visit there since my first in 2012!
Read more ➜ Diving, here and elsewhere
I've quickly made a little Google Map below so you can see at a glance what it looks like, in terms of travel in Indonesia. In red, the airports of Jakarta, Bali, Labuan Bajo, Makassar and Sorong through which I passed. In blue, the archipelagos of Komodo (in the Lesser Sunda Islands, near Flores) and Raja Ampat (in West Papua, in the far east).
Read more ➜ Diving in Raja Ampat: how to organize the most beautiful of trips
The great thing about diving is that you can stay and explore the same sites over the course of a holiday, or return to them year after year, without ever getting bored. Each new dive is different, because conditions are constantly changing (weather, tides, moon phases, time of day), underwater encounters are full of surprises and coral landscapes vary endlessly.
Some pictures are better than a long speech...
I'm in the process of sorting my photos and it's taking a bit of time. This time I brought back more than 6,000 images (land and underwater)... 😱 But I'll be back very soon in a future post to tell you the details of this new Indonesian escapade!
On the menu: bubbles (champagne) in the air(air) bubbles underwater, a new princess boat, Balinese rice paddies, a blue hole in the middle of the coral (with the pontoon that goes with it) and, above all, lots and lots of fresh, wriggling fish...
It's been 6 years since I went back to these places, and I must say that by reading your article ....
In short, we must act.
Congratulations
Eric
@ Eric: hey, hey, very happy to succeed in making you crave Indonesia with this post... 😎
Beautiful! 😉
@Ysbilia: yes, these diving spots are really splendid... 🙄
I just came back from Bali and I'm pleased to find in your post the beautiful Indonesian corals and Manta princesses 🙂
Keep us dreaming.
@Karl: yes, I have dived a little elsewhere than in the Indo-Pacific area, notably in Mexico on the Caribbean Sea side, in the Maldives, in Polynesia, in the Red Sea... Nowhere else is the coral as beautiful, as exuberant, as rich and varied as in Indonesia. Really... 🙂
Congratulations for these photos, you make us dream.
@M Helen: thank you, thank you!!! Glad to be a little "dealer" of dreams... 🙄
Quickly 6000 photos!
We can't wait for this wonderful sharing any longer. 😉 😉
@Thierry: Oh, my God! I'm gonna have to turbo... 😀
I hesitated. "Amazing" or "Haaaan!" or just "Thank you"?
Can I suggest all three?
Because these images are incredible.
That I desperately want to go back to Indonesia and one day try diving for real and thank you because it is always a pleasure to read your blog.
@Fanny: and thanks to you for this nice word ! That's the problem with Indonesia: when we liked it, we only want to go back... Try to learn how to dive to see, during a next trip. You never know, you might catch the virus too... 😉
Always so exciting articles. I can not wait to see more pictures, before going back to plunge my fins very soon!
@Guillaume : glad you like it... hard to resist going back, isn't it 😉
Hello Corinne,
We discovered your blog a few days ago while preparing our (second) trip to Indonesia. I must say that all your precious information helped us to decide for Raja Ampat. The plane ticket to Jakarta is taken since yesterday, the one to Sorong should quickly follow... for a departure in only 15 days! No cruise for this time but we will choose a small diving hotel and hope to try the kayak adventure for a few days.
These new pictures motivate us more!
Congratulations for this beautiful blog where it is good to walk ...
@Olivier : Very happy to have been the inspiration for a getaway to Raja Ampat... 🙂 Glad you enjoy strolling through my blog. Have a great trip and good bubbles!
Always addicted to your posts, I only know Bali and Alor but the desire to put the head under water there is always present ..... before leaving there I would like to try the Philippines ....... to see thank you again.
Mark
@Marc: thank you for taking the time to leave a nice comment. "Bali and Alor are not bad... and the funds are really worth the detour! I had made a trip to the Philippines in 2008:
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/voyage-philippines-iles-visayas-2008/
I'm thinking about going back next day ...
I made my first trip to Indonesia this summer, especially after reading your blog, and I was bluffed by the abundance of life and the exuberance of corals in Komodo.
@Philippe: ah, I am really glad to have encouraged so many readers to go and discover Indonesia underwater! People have a hard time realizing, from a distance, the fabulous underwater wealth of the Indonesian archipelago... That's why I go back there so often. When you do underwater photography, it's a really fantastic "playground". Your blog post captures what you can expect in Komodo, between the currents and the profusion of life. I add it here, it could interest a lot of people:
-> Komodo, pure pleasure (by Philippe Jourdren)
😉
@Corinne : Indeed, it's interesting. Thanks for this blog that I didn't know 🙂
magnificent !
which camera or camera do you use?
@bigois: is the Canon Eos 7D. For my camera equipment, I explain everything here, on this page:
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/materiel-photo-et-plongee/
Thank you for these beautiful pictures! It's always a pleasure to visit your blog! Continue to make us dream! We really need it right now!
Cordially.
Louise
@launai: thank you very much, Louise!
Hello Corinne,
A big thank you for this blog, for sharing your emotions, for the beauty of your photos and of course for the precise and useful information that you offer us. Thank you a thousand times over.
After Flores and Sulawesi, I am very tempted by Lombock and Raja Ampat, it's a good thing, you talk about it...! but I can only leave in July and from what you can write Raja Ampat in July is very windy, few cruises at this period. I see that you went there in July, what was it?
@Leclerc: I think I prefer the season in July... Better visibility underwater and less people. It is indeed necessary to be based on land, not too far from the sites, it is better.
It happens some days that we can't go to the sites a bit far away because the sea is a bit rough, but it doesn't prevent us from diving, we fall back on the closest sites. For this stay of July 2016, I had a magnificent weather with calm sea the first week, but more mitigated and more windy the second week... And almost all the time a fantastic visi underwater!!!
All information to organize your stay in Raja Ampat are compiled in this article:
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/plonger-raja-ampat-voyage-20130303/
🙂
Thank you Corinne for these informations and following your message, I think that it is gone, we are going to make a pretty trip to Raja Ampat, we will wait from now on July, 2017, it is far, but the dream, the waiting, the preparation, are part of the trip.
Bigbizh. Thierry
Hello Corinne,
Like you this year, we went back to dive on KOMODO at the end of July but with the Divine Diving club. It is always a wonder with magnificent landscapes and breathtaking underwater bottoms (but a little less visibility than the other years).
And like you, we came back to Europe with an upgrade to Business class but on Emirates. Like you, we have frequent flyer cards from all the airlines, and like you, we checked in online. What a pleasure to enjoy this return to luxury and moreover we were a family of 4. Why this upgrade? to retain customers? to encourage us to advertise? In the end we didn't care and we enjoyed it...
Make us dream again, we follow your blog and we try to make the same sites as you.
If you pass by Bali again, you can try to rest at "la casa meena" on Sanur. You won't be disappointed with the place or your hosts (see on Facebook)
We may meet one another
@Patrick: Thank you for taking the time to leave a little note! Very happy to inspire you for your dive sites... Top the upgrade!!! Not easy to guess what is worth such a favor from the airlines... But it's always very pleasing!!!
Hello Corinne,
I wanted to thank you for your blog. I discovered it two years ago and it made me discover fabulous places. I was largely inspired by your adventures to organize my honeymoon...we just came back from 3 weeks of vacations in Sorido as well as in Komodo it was fabulous....thank you for this inspiration and I wish you many more trips to continue to give us the desire to discover the world 🙂 To finish I'm a little jealous of your photos/videos...mine don't look AT ALL the same... :s do you use a lighting also for your videos? See you soon 😉
@Benjamin: how happy I am for you! Really, it makes me sincerely happy to inspire other dive travelers. I too was at the Sorido Bay Resort for this new trip in July 2016, I'll talk about it in future posts... This is my 4th stay there! I can't get enough of it...
For details on my camera equipment, it's here :
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/materiel-photo-et-plongee/
And for the videos, no, I don't use lighting, but I try to get the white balance just about right before I start shooting. Often I shoot the sand or sometimes a white plastic bag that I have in the pocket of my stab to make it...
Thanks for leaving a note, see you soon! (I'm trying to publish a new article, about Komodo, very soon...)
Hello Corinne,
For us, these are 2 dream destinations! We leave with our family with 3 one-way tickets to Bali on March 5th, we hope to have the opportunity to go there!
Thank you for these beautiful pictures .. and for all others!
Good continuation 🙂
@Nomadfamily: a one way departure?... That promises!!! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a little note. Happy preparations and safe travels !!!!
Hello
Beautiful early!
I have to make a choice between komodo and raja ampat at the end of June, what would be the spot that you would recommend between these 2?
Thank you
@Nicola: If you have the time and the budget, I would advise Raja Ampat... As I write somewhere above in the article, I place Raja Ampat at the top of my personal top of diving spots in Asia, before Komodo and Sipadan !
Hello Corinne,
First of all a big thank you for your great blog so passionate, exciting and generous! With my family, we took a ticket to Kuala Lumpur this summer in August. We are not divers, but confirmed snorkelers and you made us want to go and test your favorite spots. We have 3 weeks. I know you are not a travel agency, but what would you advise us between Raja Ampat and Komodo as snorkelers? If you have other ideas, don't hesitate... Thanks in advance
@ Helen: Sorry for the delay in answering... You should be able to find what you are looking for in Raja Ampat as well as in Komodo. (You are now well advanced!) Both allow you to mix swimming and land discoveries.
The Komodo archipelago is best visited by mini-cruise because the sites are a bit far from Labuan Bajo, but there are also more and more people who want to do day trips anyway (especially to go swimming with the mantas). And then, there is not only Komodo, there is also the island of Flores to discover...
Raja Ampat requires a bigger budget, I think, but the landscapes and the underwater world are exceptional. I think that there must be a lot of spots well adapted to snorkeling (I don't realize it, because I am rarely wearing snorkels).
In both cases, you will have fun ...
Otherwise, you can also aim for North Sulawesi, which has a lot to offer ... Good preparations!
PS. From Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) where you land, it is quite easy to go to Indonesia, where the spots you are interested in are located. But Malaysia is also worth a visit...