Raja Ampat, Part II: Diving Safari aboard the MY Akomo Isseki
Jun 2, 2020
6
Two additional friends from Austria (Fridi and Gerdi) joined us for a diving safari aboard the MY Akomo Isseki that lasted for eleven days . Together with three additional guests from Australia, Czechia and Germany, we were eight divers aboard the vessel. The journey led us first to the south were we were diving for an entire week around the island of Misool and then back to the Dampier Strait, were we spend the rest of our days. I must state that, unfortunately, the boat was build for people the size of the local ones and I cannot recommend this boat for people taller than 155 cm (unless you are prepared to bump your head several times a day against the ceiling). The kitchen was very good, so were the two diving guides from Flores (Fandi and Pucki) and the diving spots were world class...
The quality of fan corals in the Misool area is outstanding. I have never seen them in this quantity before...
Boo window in the Misool area
A school of Yellowfin Snappers (Lutjanus xanthopinnis)
Tassled Wobbegong Shark (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon) hanging out under a coral shelter. These cute animals always remind me at plushies and I have to resist the urge to hugh them...
Although the diving spots in Raja Ampat are excellent for wide angle, it is also highly recommend to prepare the rig for macro images from time to time...
Pymgy sea horse (Hippocampus bargibanti), well camouflaged in its natural habitat
Dwarf Gobies are very photogenic, but to some extent difficult to frame, since they like to jump around on their coral heads like fleas...
A curious juvenile Brown Coral Blenny looks out from its shelter.
Back in the Dampier Strait:
At many dive spots in Dampier Strait, like here at Manta Point, a reef hook is highly advisible...
We were rewarded by encounters with Oceanic Mantas (Mobula birostris). This one is the black variant...
Although we went to Raja Ampat at the best season (fewest rainy days per month), a tropical rainstorm per day is almost granted so close to the equator. Coming back to the surface under such condition is not extremely uncommon...
Wolfgang