r/scubadiving • u/FutureAd9849 • 1d ago
Snorkeling Advice
Hey!
My husband and I are planning a belated honey moon(we got pregnant really fast) our little one will be over a year old when we go and my parents are watching him. We would like to keep cost to roughly 6000. Due to the special nature of the trip we could do more. We are traveling from west coast USA. We will have roughly two weeks for the trip.
Initially we looked at Tahiti but then learned about Raja Ampat. I have found round trip tickets to Bali for 1100 usd a person. From Bali it looks like it would be roughly 450 usd pp to go to sorong. Overall it would take four days two days to get to Bali. One day to go to sorong and one day to boat out to the resort.
We love adventure and nature. The goal was to snorkel and learn to surf. Our thought process is we could fly to Bali then sorong to raja Ampat afterwards go back to Bali and surf and enjoy the temples. However there might be better options that are easier to get to, more affordable and have just as much or more enjoyment. It’s a big world. And getting to raja Ampat is not easy.
We want to do something that realistically we could not do with kids. We have talked about over water bungalows and that looks like the way to go.
Some resorts I have found for 7 nights are:
Out of budget but really cool: Misool Island
\# 1 choice, Raja4Divers- I do not know the price but this island looks like it has the most to offer as far as a house reef and jungle to explore. I have reached out and not heard back. I do not know if they are still in business however their website says they have availability.
Cove Eco Resort roughly 4300, good house reef, con: very small island with little to explore
Papua Explorers( looks great but more dive focused) roughly 4053 usd + 900 usd for excursions pro: great island to explore con: more dive focused with less in house easy snorkeling from what I can tell.
Some other options I have heard about are:
Japan tour and snorkel in owsaka Japan, Hawaii, Fiji, surfing and whale watching Portugal, San Diego ca USA, Cook Islands, Maldives, Tahiti
Overall I want to stay away from places with anti American attitudes since we don’t want to get in the middle of any dicey situations. But I think all these areas are pretty safe and known to be welcoming.
What resorts would you recommend in Raja Ampat?
Would you recommend any places over Raja Ampat or places that are just different?
Have you been to any of these resorts?(With how remote it is I get a little nervous so I want to make sure they are real, the pictures almost look too good haha)