Infamous Jetties

Diving in Raja Ampat you’ll run into and often surrounded by a number of schooling fish. Fusileers congregate in giant swarms in the blue and can engulf you completely as they uniformly try to escape the jaws of tuna and travelly. Mountains of Sweetlips and rivers of snappers are found in the same spots on the reef year after year. No matter what reef you’re on in Raja you’re guaranteed to have a very fishy dive. However, there’s one species of fish that doesn’t seem to appreciate the reef in the same way the snappers and fusileers do. Oxeye scads, a silver fish that form immense shoals, are rarely spotted on the reef here in Raja Ampat, but instead found sheltering beneath the various wooden jetties out front of the villages. Diving beneath one of these jetties with the scads which frequent these wood structures, can offer a highly unique experience. The vertical pilings covered with sea fans, table corals, and brilliantly colored soft coral is a spectacular sight on its own. Add in a swirling mass of silver fish and your in for an underwater spectacle your not likely to forget.

Mermaid II Raja Ampat Diving Cruise
Dec 31, 2016 – Jan 8, 2017

by Alex Lindbloom
Videographer