Raja Ampat, Indonesia - Scuba diving in paradise
Raja Ampat, or Four Kings, resides at the very heart of what is sometimes called a coral triangle, referring to the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste that contain at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion. Raja Ampat archipelago comprises of over 1,500 small islands, cays and shoals surrounding the four main islands Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo. It is a part of the newly named Papua province of Indonesia which was formerly called Irian Jaya. I had an honor of visiting this pristine environment in February 2010 onboard MV Pindito liveaboard. M/V Pindito and its amazing crew took us to dive the sites that simply took our breath away. Manta rays, wobbegong sharks, walking sharks, amazing schools of baitfish, rays, sweetlips, and abundance microlife including ever present pygmy seahorses in this one of the worlds most biodiverse areas made this trip a pure enjoyement!
