Trip Reports
Awe Inspiring Raja Ampat
It’s that time of the year again, the final trip for the Raja Ampat season is completed, and the boats will make The Crossing through the vast Banda Sea and later into Komodo and Bali. To reflect, the 2025/2026 Raja Ampat season was nothing short of awe-inspiring! Every trip hits differently, and no matter how […]
From Misool to the Dampier Strait: A Raja Ampat Liveaboard Adventure Aboard Mermaid II
This week onboard the Mermaid II, we welcomed a group of familiar faces coming all the way from Russia and embarked on a 9 day adventure through the stunning Raja Ampat islands, and it was nothing short of incredible Starting the trip by cruising down south and breaking the surface at Misool, we were immediately […]
BACK IN KOMODO!
After nearly eight months in Raja Ampat, Ambon, Lembeh Strait and the Banda Sea, Mermaid 1 is now back in Komodo for even more adventures! Wonderful conditions throughout this trip made it a particularly enjoyable one. Add great sightings, both underwater and topside, and you’ll end up with a remarkable 10 days! Starting in the […]
Mermaid II’s Epic Crossing
The crossing is undoubtedly the most amazing diving trip you could ever do in Asia, and some might argue the world. Where else can you spend sixteen days on a beautiful boat, Mermaid II, diving the most remote and pristine reefs, walls, and pinnacles available available in what the scientists have proven to be the […]
Season Come and Season Go
It’s that time of year again, where the final trip for the Raja Ampat season is finished and we must make The Crossing through the Banda Sea and into Komodo. Before I get ahead of myself though I’d just like to reflect back to my five most favorite moments or encounters of this past Raja […]
Misool’s Unimaginable Beauty
Misool is Raja Ampat’s southern set of islands, and some might say the areas most famous and sought after. The area is characterized by karst islands which extend for hundreds of kilometers in all directions. The reefscape beneath the surface is infamous for it’s dazzling arrays of soft coral colonies and layers upon layers of […]
RHINOPIAS!!
This trip from Ambon to Raja Ampat started off very well indeed with finding Ghost Pipefish, Seahorses, Zebra Crabs and Coleman Shrimps plus two super rare Rhinopias (a.k.a. Weedy Scorpionfish). And that’s just at the check-dive!! (Suggestions were made accordingly to just do check-dives for the rest of the trip J). We also played with […]
Breathtaking Experience In Raja Ampat – Banda Sea – Ambon
A wonderful 12-day trip taking us from Raja Ampat through the Banda Sea and the Spice Islands to Ambon. The variety of diving and topside scenery we had must be hard to beat! Starting off with some very active dives in the Dampier Strait, with massive schools of Jackfish, Snappers and Barracudas, Grey Reef Sharks […]
Three Pearls of Raja Ampat
The South: Misool Like many of our Mermaid II trips, we started in the south of Raja Ampat known as Misool. Here the iconic karst islands dot the liquid blue landscape and provide us with endless diving possibilities. In the three days we spent in Misool we witnessed oceanic and reef mantas going in for […]
No Limits
After exploring the expansive area between Ambon and Raja Ampat, famously known as the Coral Triangle, it would seem that there is no limit to the quantity of things to see, no matter if you are in full scuba gear or barefoot on a beach. On the surface we find the mysterious karst islands of […]