Raja Ampat Trip of a lifetime on Wisesa We went on the 11-night Ambon to Sorong cruise. It was a spectacular trip, snorkeling over gliding oceanic Manta... read moreWe went on the 11-night Ambon to Sorong cruise. It was a spectacular trip, snorkeling over gliding oceanic Manta rays, schools of giant bumphead parrotfish, reef sharks, barracuda, turtles and amazing coral gardens. It was fantastic that they offered a snorkel cruise rather than dive-cruise as it that’s what our group of 9 passengers were mainly interested in. So many other boats were oriented to a dive audience.

The crew of 9 was what made the trip so memorable, they made so easy for us to just relax and enjoy nature; the cabins were cleaned daily, fresh towels, wonderful meals, plentiful water and soft drinks. They even threw a surprise birthday party for my birthday! The crew can sing, play the guitar, ukulele, local drums! Unexpected musical ensemble we were so lucky to have.
It was very encouraging that the cruise did not offer plastic bottles of water, instead we refill from the large water dispenser that was always readily available. We really appreciated the ecological care of not proliferating more plastics ? . Less non biodegradable trash in the seas and we can hope to see a clean Raja Ampat even in the years to come. Hope to be back again. Thank you for the trip of a lifetime read less

Wonderful trip Wisesa! We had a wonderful trip with Wisesa. The crew was very friendly, helpful and professional. The diving with Dylan and... read moreWe had a wonderful trip with Wisesa. The crew was very friendly, helpful and professional. The diving with Dylan and Hawe was a superb adventure, on many different dive sites, the briefings of Dylan were always interesting and enthusiastic. Also the accommodation and the food were excellent. We enjoyed “our trip of a lifetime” with Wisesa in Raja Ampat very much!! Thank you! read less

3 Tips for WISESA Raja Ampat liveaboard trip We are New Yorkers who took the 8 day WISESA boat snorkeling trip through Northern and Central Raja Ampat from... read moreWe are New Yorkers who took the 8 day WISESA boat snorkeling trip through Northern and Central Raja Ampat from Jan. 5 - Jan 12. We were lucky in that the seas were relatively calm with almost no current at any of the snorkeling sites that we visited during the 8 days.
Here are some tips:
1 Snorkelers: Bring a 3 mil wetsuit. We started with just full body Lycra suits but soon got cold after repetitive snorkeling. Yes, the water is 80 F degrees this time of year but you will be doing 3 one-hour snorkels each day which will drop your core body temperature.
2. Bring a tropical diving hood. The sun beats down mercilessly on your head so you need to protect your scalp from sunburn. Hoods are better than sunscreen.
3. Select the right cabin. There are four choices of cabins. My wife and I chose the back two (Bali and Lombok) which provide more privacy than the front cabins. WISESA charges per person rather than per cabin so there was no extra charge for having two cabins. Of the two cabins we had, Cabin Bali was larger and better than Cabin Lombok. Having the back two cabins meant we didn’t have to share the bathroom with others. read less

Our fabulous 8 days snorkeling trip on live aboard Wisesa. We chartered with 5 friends the Wisesa for 8 days and visited central and north Raja Ampat up to Waigeo.
We... read moreWe chartered with 5 friends the Wisesa for 8 days and visited central and north Raja Ampat up to Waigeo.
We all had a fabulous time.
The 8 men crew looked after us very well.
The food was excellent and varied daily.
Dylon, the director on board looked after us very well and we enjoyed spending time together.
The cabins are comfortable and have AC..
Raja Ampat is the most beautiful place on earth if you like to see the underwater-world and its spectacular karst formation shaped islands.
You do not need to dive to swim with coral and ocean-mantas. Dugongs, turtles, barracudas, sharks etc and the coral is in perfect conditions.
We saw very few plastic, and if so we were advised by Dylon to pick it up on the beach . They take it back to Sorong, where there is a special place to leave the plastic.
For me , this was my second visit to Raja Ampat, after 6 years.
There are more live aboard boats, some more homestays, but altogether it is still such a remote beautiful part of our planet, it is more then worth if to go and explore.
I can recommend Wisesa boatany time for a wonderful time in Raja Ampat..
All the way from the beginning when i contacted the Wisesa staff, up to the end of our stay.
Johanna and friends from Spain

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Un p'tit coin de paradis 11 jours pour une croisière plongée de rêve à bord de ce superbe bateau qu'est le Wisesa. On a beaucoup... read more11 jours pour une croisière plongée de rêve à bord de ce superbe bateau qu'est le Wisesa. On a beaucoup apprécié le fait d'être sur une petite structure intimiste de 7 plongeurs et 8 membres d'équipage à l'écoute de nos besoin. Climatisation dans les cabines et de très beaux espace de vie pour profiter de chaque instant.
Les repas étaient délicieux
Dylan nous a fait "plonger dans la soupe de poissons" avec amour et humour au quotidien. C'est extrêmement riche en densité de poissons et les jardins de corail et les gorgones sont magnifiques et encore préservés. Que du bonheur... read less

Magic moments A memory making trip with an outstanding crew along with awesome sights and snorkeling. The clarity of the water is... read moreA memory making trip with an outstanding crew along with awesome sights and snorkeling. The clarity of the water is incredible. And the turtles amazing. read less

NO SE PUEDE PEDIR MAS Si además de tener a tu alrededor un paisaje tan divino y de bucear con una exuberancia de vida marina... read moreSi además de tener a tu alrededor un paisaje tan divino y de bucear con una exuberancia de vida marina excepcional, lo haces con Wisesa y Dylan su director del crucero no podrás pedir más. Su rigor y organización no le impide adaptarse y modificar planes si es necesario para aprovechar lo máximo posible tu estancia.
El barco tiene todo lo necesario al detalle y el equipo está siempre atento a lo que necesites. Comida variada y riquísima. read less

Le paradis existe !! Nous avons eut la chance de pouvoir vivre cette belle expérience avec nos enfants de 8 et 11ans...Un séjour riche... read moreNous avons eut la chance de pouvoir vivre cette belle expérience avec nos enfants de 8 et 11ans...Un séjour riche en émotion, un équipage au top toujours au petit soin, organisation sans fausse note ...
Vivre une paranthèse de bonheur au fil de l'eau, le temps s'arrête , de vrais liens se tissent.
Les petits et les grands sont repartis avec des étoiles plein les yeux , grande émotion des enfants en quittant le bateau et l'équipage
Un grand Merci à Gilles et à toute son équipe pour ce Voyage de rève... on repart Demain sans hésiter !!!! read less

Snorkeling dream trip to Raja Ampat on the Wisesa! Ah-Maze-Ing!! I've had a week to reflect on our 11 night snorkeling safari in Raja Ampat on the Wisesa. My husband... read moreI've had a week to reflect on our 11 night snorkeling safari in Raja Ampat on the Wisesa. My husband and I have pursued adventure activity around the world, and I have to say this was one of the most incredible trips we've ever done! We've snorkeled in French Polynesia, the Caribbean, Hawaii, but they all pale in comparison to Raja Ampat! Snorkeling the dense, colorful, coral forests and spotting the variety of marine life was indescribably beautiful! Near the end of our trip, after I didn't think anything could top the snorkeling at that point, we had a "Manta Encounter" for the ages! Dylan aka "Snorkeling Guide Extraordinaire" led us to an area where we swam with 8-10 mantas while they were feeding! Mind blowing!! The reason our experience was so great was due to our guide, Dylan, and the crew of The Wisesa Liveaboard. Dylan, Stephen and Andy would check the currents and take us to the best spots for snorkeling! Dylan was fun, knowledgeable, passionate, and above all, professional! We couldn't of had a better guide and boat mate! Captain Jovi, Chef, Wayan and the rest of the crew were exceptional! The food served was abundant and delicious! We rarely return to the same place twice, but we're already thinking about returning to snorkel in Komodo on the Wisesa! Thanks again for the trip of a lifetime! read less

Superb 4 cabins liveaboard in Indonesia, Highly recommended! My partner and I dove in the Komodo National Marine Park at the end of August 2019 and we had... read moreMy partner and I dove in the Komodo National Marine Park at the end of August 2019 and we had an excellent experience (we did 23 dives) onboard Cruising Raja Ampat - Wisesa Liveaboard for 8 days/7 nights of diving. . The liveaboard is a traditional Indonesian 4 cabin boat called Phinisi and can accommodate 8 divers max. The time we had on Cruising Raja Ampat - Wisesa Liveaboard was absolutely great. Edwin, the Cruise Director and also divemaster, and Soreya , local divemaster, are very experienced. The briefings are thorough and the 2 guides know the dive sites like the palm of their hand. The dive sites are planned according to the tides and the current. We also had our underwater cameras with us and got good help on the boat with those. During the week we saw lots of schooling fish, reef manta ray, black tip and white tip reef sharks, bamboo shark, an amazing variety of reef fish, green and hawksbill turtles, stingrays rays and many nudibranch.
The food onboard is excellent and the boat has all the amentities for a great diving holiday - big sundeck, lounge and snacks all the time...
Apart from diving we had a dinner on an uninhabited island and went to a few beaches to enjoy the sunset and a walk on the hills. We visited a local village and went to Palar island to see the Komodo dragons!If you are looking for a liveaboard trip in Indonesia check out their different routes, the diving is absolutely mind-blowing. It was really WOW! Highly recommended! read less

The Trip of a Lifetime My husband and I have just returned from an amazing 7 nights snorkelling aboard the WISESA live aboard to celebrate... read moreMy husband and I have just returned from an amazing 7 nights snorkelling aboard the WISESA live aboard to celebrate his 50th birthday. It was by far the most relaxing holiday we've ever had. Everything about our adventure was incredible and a large part of that was due to our cruise director Edwin and the rest of the crew. Days were so well planned with a lot of variety and always something happening yet everything still felt so relaxed.

We mostly did 3 snorkels per day which always revealed something new and blew our minds and on top of this there were other land activities to vary things up. Our trek to see the Bird of Paradise did not disappoint, we visited a local village, had a beach BBQ and walked up to the Pianemu viewing platform. We also did a night snorkel which was a different experience for us. All of these activities were amazing.

We were so well looked after on the boat - The food was absolutely fantastic. For anyone thinking about doing this adventure with kids, there were two children on our trip. For snorkelling there was always two crew in the water with someone nearby with a life saver ring if anyone needed a rest as well as a small boat at the ready to assist. Edwin described the snorkelling spots in detail before we left WISESA and also tested out the visibility and currents before we entered the water.

The small capacity of the WISESA is also wonderful. The other travellers were like-minded and there was plenty of space for everyone to escape if they needed to. Our cabin Bali was quite spacious, though the only negative perhaps was the very small bathroom.

As for Raja Ampat - I didn't even know it existed until we started looking into the holiday. It was difficult for us to get there from Brisbane (3 flights over two days), but so completely worth it. We arrived via Singapore, Manado and Sorong and really enjoyed our time at S Loft in Manado. Manado was a great choice for us for a stopover. It is on the island of Sulawesi and you can also visit the marine national park of Bunaken from there. We chose to do a land excursion to Tangkoko National Park which was also great, we saw a number of different animals/creatures.

What a beautiful untouched marine wilderness Raja Ampat is. The coral is in many areas colourful and pristine and the variety is amazing. The fish are also very abundant and we saw all manner of strange creatures - eagle, devil and manta rays, a raja walking shark, a wobbygong, schools of dolphins, turtles, squid, lion fish, huge schools of parrot fish, trevelly, plenty of reef sharks ...

I had tears when we left the boat to catch our plane back. Need I say more ... read less

Cruise of a life time We were 4 friends traveling together, one of the reasons we chose this script with Wisesa was because it was... read moreWe were 4 friends traveling together, one of the reasons we chose this script with Wisesa was because it was not solely geared toward diving. We found it a good mix because the programming also involved trails, visits with a bit of cultural nature, diving, and it was well over our expectation. Wisesa cabins are comfortable, with ac, cleaned every day. the crew was tireless, we were very well treated. Our guide Dylan Treguier was a perfect host, full of enthusiasm for what he does and that's contagious. the trip was unforgettable amid paradise places.
Clarisse Linhares read less