Adventures · A week on a boat over the richest water on earth

Reef liveaboard

A liveaboard puts you on the reef at dawn and at night and moves you between islands while you sleep. Raja Ampat is the richest reef on the planet; the Galápagos adds sea lions and sharks in cold water.

The richest water on earth is in the Coral Triangle where three oceans meet, and the boat is how you see it: four dives a day, sites reached at dawn before anyone else, islands passed in the night. The Galápagos is the other reef on this site and a different animal, cold currents and big life, sea lions that mouth your fins and hammerheads at the cleaning stations.

What it asks of the body

Certification, currency and a stomach for the crossings. The currents are the diving’s difficulty and the reason for the fish; reef hooks and drift briefings are the norm. The sun on deck between dives is the underrated risk.

What it asks of the calendar

The calm season. Raja Ampat’s boats cannot cross in the trade winds from June to September and most move to Komodo; October to April is the window with the mantas. The Galápagos runs all year in two moods. Boats book a year ahead for the itineraries that reach the far islands.

What it costs

A liveaboard is the mid to high band and includes everything but the flights. A homestay on Kri or Arborek dives the same strait for a fifth of the price. The Budget Simulator shows both versions side by side.

Essentials

A dive computer, a surface marker buoy and a reef hook; the guides expect all three
Certification and recent dives; the currents are not the place to remember the skills
A wetsuit for the cool water, long sleeves for the sun on deck
Seasickness medication for the crossings
Dive insurance that covers a chamber evacuation from the far side of the world

Risks

▲▲CurrentsStrong and the reason for the fish; drift dives with hooks and the guide’s briefing at every site.
▲▲RemotenessThe nearest recompression chamber is far; conservative profiles and long surface intervals.
▲▲Sea stateTrade-wind seasons cancel crossings; the calm months are the season for a reason.
▲▲SunA boat on the equator; the burn happens on deck between dives.

Questions people ask

Do I need to be certified?

For the liveaboards, yes, with recent experience for the currents. The snorkelling in Raja Ampat’s Dampier Strait and the Galápagos shallows needs nothing but a mask.

Liveaboard or homestay?

The boat reaches the far islands and dives four times a day. The homestay stays in one strait at a fraction of the price and sleeps in a hut on the sand. The reef is the same.

How cold is the water?

Twenty-eight degrees in Raja Ampat all year. Nineteen to twenty-five in the Galápagos depending on the season; the wetsuit is the difference.

Places for this adventure

Water Indonesia · October to April Raja Ampat The richest reef on earth, seen from a liveaboard among islands like green teeth 10 daysWonder 10/10Effort 4/10

Island Ecuador · Every month Galápagos Islands where the animals never learned to be afraid 8 daysWonder 10/10Effort 3/10

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