Exploring the Coral Triangle in Raja Ampat
In 1982 my husband Dave and I had the unique opportunity to visit many of the outlying islands off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. We were on board the adventure ship, MS World Discoverer. For three weeks, we snorkeled and dove amid the beautiful underwater wilderness and amazing coral reefs. Ever since, we’ve traveled the world, always looking for great snorkeling and diving wherever possible.
Since we weren’t getting any younger, we decided to seek out the highly regarded Raja Ampat area, in what is considered the “Coral Triangle” of West Papua, while we could still get in and out of a boat! The area is rich in nutrients and home to a diverse array of marine life, partly due to the many oceans and seas whose currents pass through. This, coupled with very little development in the thousands of islands within the widespread archipelago of Indonesia makes for a sea-rich environment that thrives in all its biodiversity!
With a little research, we signed up with the well-regarded Wilderness Travel on their Snorkeling Raja Ampat adventure. Although their trip is typically a snorkeling expedition, our group of 11 friends were able to charter a private departure that offered scuba diving opportunities. Their crew of nine, including several dive masters and underwater guides, took fabulous care of our private group!
We boarded the 100-foot Indonesian schooner in the small port town of Sorong and our venture into these western islands of Indonesia had begun! Our first day of snorkeling had us feeling like we had truly returned to what we had experienced in 1982! The thousands of beautiful tropical fish were everywhere and the coral reefs went on and on for miles. Gorgeous butterflyfish, bannerfish, triggerfish, wrasses, squirrelfish, boxfish, pufferfish and porcupinefish, as well as trumpetfish and even pygmy seahorses intermingled with lovely little damsel fish, and anemones filled with colorful orange-red and white “nemos” clown fish. They were everywhere! One count in a 24-hour period came up with 815 different species, although I’ve seen 1,600 listed as the number of species overall.
Every day we were in the water for two, 2-hour snorkels. At first, I thought, “how could anyone snorkel for so long?” considering how little there was to see in past snorkeling areas we visited. It was amazing how you could just float through the coral reefs at your own pace, often carried gently by soft currents. The “pick-up boat” followed our group throughout the snorkel, always ready to come over and pick anyone up when they were ready—just raise your hand and they were there! One of our guides in the water always had a floatation device that he took with him along the way so anyone could hang on and rest, or adjust your mask, ask questions, etc. Both underwater guides had little “etch-a-sketch” type underwater notebooks and were often writing out the name of the species that they were pointing out along the way. They also had eagle eyes underwater, spotting so many little creatures like nudibranchs, mantis shrimp that we weren’t so quick to identify ourselves, and even the odd-looking wobbegong shark, hiding beneath the sea of fishes just waiting for his lunch!
Let’s not forget the massive corals and sponges too! Over 600 different corals! Plate corals that were 15 feet across, Gorgonian fan corals that were 6 feet wide. Leather corals that I’d never seen before; giant, truly lush and so healthy, were undulating in the currents. There were soft raspberry corals, huge brain corals and staghorn corals that went on like a never-ending forest in some places. These corals were just amazing and awesome in their underwater vastness!
We did have four casual divers on board (not serious, but eager enough to want to try our hand at the diving scenario). It was wonderful, but in hindsight I truly think the snorkeling would be enough. All the corals and fish are right under the surface. One thing about snorkeling verses diving is that you can stay out a long longer, not having to worry about running out of air in your tanks. We moved each day to a new area, enjoying a morning snorkel where we had overnighted then cruising to a new area over lunch and were back in the water for an afternoon snorkel in a new place. Every snorkel site we visited had some new or different fish, coral, and marine life. Our Trip Leader was always there to point out in the guide books what we should be looking for at each new place. He also presented an educational and often amusing evening lecture on the top deck under the brilliant stars each night after dinner, usually with visuals and charts projected on a screen.
Of course, the itinerary is all subject to weather and sea conditions so the Trip Leader and the captain would determine which islands we’d go to each day, which route, etc. Some of the islands we visited were Waigeo, with its many nooks and crannies of coastline and coral reefs, Gam, Wayag (the jewel in the crown of Raja Ampat), and many others, isolated and on their own.
We did some amazing mangrove snorkeling as well, which opened up an interesting new world of different kinds of fish, like archer fish who spit at bugs hanging on the branches above the waterline, dropping them in to the water for a little feast, or cardinalfish, all harboring in and around the extensive mangrove trees with their roots and underwater world, so different from other coral habitats.
We also saw tons of lion fish of every size, often under small village docks or along the underwater carved ledges of the limestone islands everywhere. We saw tons of barrel sponges and giant clams spanning nearly six feet, with their blue and purple mantles and giant siphons undulating beneath us. We spotted a few manta rays, even though we were at the end of the manta season! Other creatures that graced us with their presence included octopus, cuttlefish (we even saw one laying its eggs in the coral!), lots of turtles, even a few lobsters and eels!
One of the most amazing experiences that stayed with me after leaving Raja Ampat were the thousands and thousands of schools of fish—rivers of fish, going this way and that way, different species, different colors, just great bands of amazing colorful scores of fish! There were also many giant schools of fish just moving about in big bait balls of sorts! Every time we got out of the water and back to the boat, our friends couldn’t stop talking about how awesome it was! Since Dave and I had put this cruise together, they said they would forever be indebted to us! It was so fun to share the experience with some of our oldest and dearest friends from so many years.
Most of our group was 64-75 years old, and all in pretty good shape. Our son Davis was 35 and happy to join us as well as another spouse who was 60. They were the “youngsters.” One friend had only last year learned to swim at 75! Some wore inflated swim vests on top of their skins or wetsuits. No one was left behind or afraid at all. Even when we were in the water with lots of (well-fed) sharks, we all seemed to be in amazement rather than hold any kind of fear.
On Wag island and in the general area, we had the area almost all to ourselves. No other boats showed up, except for a few passing local canoes and the crew tied up our boat between rocky islands whenever possible, so as not have to drop the anchor. Some of the hardier on board headed to shore and hiked up the step and rocky trail to an overhead view of our setting, with the boat and its amazing overhead view of the islands and bays all around us. Some of us indulged in our own private white-sand beach on several excursions ashore. Sometimes the galley chefs and crew brought everything ashore for a special island lunch or happy hour for everyone. The food was always creative and delicious! I couldn’t imagine a more pristine island or paradisical setting. We were very spoiled and loving every minute of it!
I would encourage anyone who loves snorkeling to find their way to Raja Ampat. Luckily for now, it’s still quite healthy with no coral bleaching and the number of species defy the eye! I will forever keep the peaceful, calming memories of floating among the fish and corals of this magnificent area in my mind, and when asked to “go to your happy place,” there I will be!
—Text and photos by WT adventurer Danita Delimont, videos by Trip Leader Bob Brunskill, Snorkeling Raja Ampat (private departure).
