Damai I Liveaboard
Raja Ampat & Cenderawasih Bay
June 30-July 12, 2023
$500 Agent Discount
Featuring U/W Photography Pro Brandi Mueller
* * 6 Cabins Available * *
The ship has seven staterooms with a choice of single cabins, twins, doubles or two spacious master cabins. All cabins are furnished with either queen or king-sized beds, and ensuite toilets with showers. The ship has been designed with three large deck areas for relaxing in both the sun or shade and for enjoying relaxing massage and spa treatments. Specifically designed for divers, the vessel offers large dive stations with individual rinse tanks and a camera room with separate camera work stations. Damai offers three local dive guides and one Instructor on board throughout your trip. With only twelve guests, this is a good 4:1 guest to dive guide ratio. The ship has two custom-designed high-speed tenders to get all guests to dive sites comfortably. The signature service includes personalized dive station and rinse tank, camera room and storage space for equipment, ala-carte dining catering to all food requirements, laundry and massage service on board, and the ship has an 18-member crew.
This trip will be featuring underwater photography pro Brandi Mueller to offer photo tips and sessions between dives. Bring your camera and be ready to shoot and learn..!
This trip departs Sorong and disembarks in Nabire. Start your trip in Raja Ampat, center of marine biodiversity in the world. Pass through Mapia, which sits closeby to a military base and contains underwater world that is pristine and untouched; no fisherman or tourism. Finish the trip in Cenderawasih Bay, famous for its resident population of whalesharks but there is also WWII history, beautiful reefs and endemic fish.
This 13 day, 12 night adventure embarks at Sorong and disembarks at Nabire, and includes stateroom accommodation, 3 meals a day, complimentary wine with dinner, nitrox for certified divers, unlimited diving with the dive day built around four daily dives, laundry service, airport transfers.
Cost: Stateroom Cabin - $5,550 per person double occupancy including taxes and a $500 DISCOUNT
FULL TRIP ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrive Sorong
Guests will arrive in Sorong and have time to get comfortable on the boat. Damai will travel west to Matan for a check-out dive.
No. of Dives: 1
Day 2: Penemu
The signature sites in Penemu are Barracuda Point; a seamount on the north point; Melissa's Garden; a beautiful example of a hard-coral plateau and Keruo Channel; drift along this colorful slope watching the seascape go by. The highlight of Penemu is a lagoon tour in the tender boats amongst these turquoise waters and limestone bays. For the energetic there is a short walk to the top of one the hills to be rewarded with an amazing view over the lagoon with Damai moored in the distance. Long Crossing to Farondi.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 3: Manta Sandy & Arborek
Manta Sandy is a signature site for experiencing the grace of Reef Mantas. They are frequent visitors to the cleaning stations dotted along this sandy channel. Feel free to explore the sand for small critters while you are waiting for an appearance. Arborek Jetty is part of a sloping reef in front of the island. There are schools of fish, excellent wide-angle photo opportunities under the jetty itself and good critter hunting to be done along the slopes. In the late afternoon take a stroll around the village on the island and maybe join in one of their soccer matches or buy a locally made sunhat.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 4: Kri & Dampier Straits
At the eastern end of the famous Dampier Strait there are many signature dive sites. Cape Kri is a sloping reef on the eastern end of the island of Kri; Blue Magic and Sardine reef are seamounts covered in schooling fish and cruising sharks and rays; Mioskon is a great spot for the endemic Wobbegong shark and Pontohi pygmy seahorses.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 5: Pulau Dua
Half-way between Raja Ampat and Cenderawasih bay we will make a stop in these small islands where remains of the Second World War were thrown into the sea making a small, but superb reefs where life concentrates in large numbers. Big school of yellow grunt, large napoleon fish or barramundis find shelter. In the evening, if the conditions so consider, we will go to the beach to see the leatherback turtle nesting.
No. of Dives: 2 or 3
Day 6 and 7: Mapia
The last atoll in Indonesian waters, very close to the border with Palau, too remote for fisherman to go, and protected by a small navy post. The combination of all these factors mean only one thing: superb diving: pristine waters, hard corals and drop-offs and a tremendous amount of fish. Rare opportunity to see reefs in the way they were many years ago, and a delight to all our senses.
No. of Dives: 3 or 4
Day 8: Pulau Manim
Manim is home to calm waters and 7 sunken landing craft left behind after WWII. These are in a variety of depths from 5 to 25m and are covered in a variety of hard and soft corals.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 9: Outer Atolls
The outer atolls of Cenderawasih Bay are some of fishiest sites of the area, located inside the National Park. Wild Fish Ridge and Spag point are two paricular favourites. It is here that we can view so many of the endemic species that led this to be called the Galapagos of the East.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 10: Tanjung Manguar / Pulau Nusir
Tanjung Mangguar is an extensive dive site with a wall on one side and a plateau of hard corals on the other. There are some magnificant sponges and lots of plump soft corals to add some colour to the reef. This is a good chance to see some of the endemic fish species and there is a school of resident blackfin barracuda.
No. of Dives: 4
Day 11 and 12: Teluk Wororomi
This is the Whale Shark bay and the local fishing platforms attract many of the ocean's largest fish. After local reporting is complete divers will be offered an open dive deck so that they may spend as much time as possible in the water with these amazing creatures. The Whale Sharks here are a resident population of pre-adolescents, mainly males, who are come to the platforms to feed on the small bait fish that sit in the nets that hang beneath. They are apparently unconcerned by divers and tirelessly circle back again and again to feed upon morsels of fish hand-fed to them by the fishermen who regard them as good luck.
No. of Dives: Unlimited dives / snorkelling
Day 13: Departure
Guests will be escorted to the airport in Nabire and assisted with check-in procedures, no doubt full of talk about the wonders of the most popular dive destination in the world.
