Posted 13 September 2013 - 08:54 AM
I will second Bills recommendation for Kamala contacting Deb Fugitt. My knowledge is limited to some research that I have done while trying to put a trip together. I have yet to make it work though, so, unlike Bill, I do not have the first hand experience. I do know that most of the boats dive Komodo for part of the year, and move to RA for the other part of the year. I seem to recall the scheduling revolving around the season and weather of Komodo, and when the weather is seasonally poor there, the boats head to RA. I looked into a trip to RA for last September, as a friend had time off then. I only found one boat, the Pearl of Papua, that was in RA. All other boats were still in Komodo. I asked a couple of times for a total cost and method of payment, and never got a straight answer. I decided that I did not trust the boat. To verify it, I went through a couple different agents, and was still unable to get satisfactory answers to my questions. I seem to recall that Deb Fugitt runs her trips on the Ondina, and has for many years. She runs a trip in October, and I seem to recall reading that it is one of the first RA trips every season. I do not know if she books the Ondina because of the boat, or the schedule. Most of the other operators start running RA trips in November I think. I also seem to recall that there really wasnt much of an issue with when you dove there. I think it is a 12 month a year destination. Bill also mentioned that the preferred flight route was through Jakarta. I was told the same thing when I was looking into a trip. I wanted to go through Manado, and add a week of diving around Lembeh to a liveaboard in RA. I recall being told that there was a reliability issue with the flights between Manado and Sorong, and if I opted for that route, I should add at least one extra night in a hotel in Sorong in case I could not get there on the scheduled day. I definitely want to dive Raja Ampat. As it is such a difficult place to get to, as well as an expensive trip, I think a 10 day live aboard is by far the best option. It is too far to go to be limited to a few dives a day in one location. Ed