8.8 Fabulous
Caren L
United States

Best diving on the planet

I knew that Raja Ampat was famous for soft and hard coral, although I have never seen anything like that in my 30 years of diving. Also the quantity of life under water. The food was amazing and the crew very nice and helpful. It was a great trip

Recommended for: Diving , food , crew

6.8 Review score
Peter S
United States

Very good boat in a traditional Indonesian way

The worlds best dive spot - raja ampat

Recommended for: Great diving, good food, comfortable boat

9.6 Exceptional
Jungyun P
South Korea

Greatest moment ever!

Dive guides were so good. They showed me lots of fish, mantas, small creatures....Felt safe and secure even when there were very strong currents thanks to the help of dive masters there. The crew were super kind and friendly, making me smile all the time.

Recommended for: Crew, Dive Master Service, BBQ Dinner

9.2 Superb
Albert B
Spain

Good quality-price for Raja Ampat

It is a very advisable live-aboard. Raja Ampat must be dived this way due the sheer size of the area. I believe the Pearl of Papua is the right balance between price and quality

Recommended for: Good service, friendly staff, good food

9.2 Superb
Robert A
Philippines

Never a dull moment!

On top of the diving 3-4x a day, the crew also planned out other activities like treks, beach BBQ’s, village excursions and even jumping at the equator!

Recommended for: Experienced chef, friendly staff and cruise director, great dive sites

9.6 Exceptional
Marie C
Australia

Fabulous diving and wonderful crew

Blue ringed octopus on our check out dive! Soft coral heaven at Black Rock; hard coral heaven at Melissa’s Garden; spectacular variety and abundance of reef fish; 3 excellent night dives; hike up to the stunning lookout at Wayag. Cuttlefish, octopus, tiny bobtail squid, pygmy seahorses, shrimps of all types including mantis shrimp, leaf fish, scorpionfish, pipefish, comet fish, big moray eels, some white tip and black tip sharks and a grey reef shark. Unfortunately no oceanic mantas and only brief encounters with 2 reef mantas. Not as much big pelagic life as we expected, but still spectacular schools of barracuda, trevally and reef fish. Contrary to the website, Manta Suite and Seahorse cabins have NO windows, and there is no masseuse onboard. Sundeck could do with more shade and more comfortable chairs, but it was still fine for our small group. Demands of large tips came as an unpleasant surprise on the last day. But overall a wonderful trip with excellent crew - I wish it had been a few days longer!

Recommended for: Great diversity of bizarre and beautiful critters, only 11 passengers, very friendly helpful crew who set up and lift your dive gear

9.2 Superb
Becky Y
Hong Kong

Home away from home!

Pearl of Papua is a very nice and big dive boat. Everywhere was so clean---especially the en-suite bathroom that I shared with my roommate!(There was even an adapter for me with my North American plugs---very considerate!) On hot sticky days and in between dives, we could hide in the salon (dining room) with its AC, reading up on its collection of novels in many languages, learning about what we saw UW in its many marine life catalogs and watching its voluminous collection of current Hollywood DVDs (I did!).There was a camera table with many outlets, There is even a sink to wash our hands and all kind of drinks and all sort of snacks available at all hours! Another thing notable about Pearl of Papua was the fact that they provide 2 tanks of fresh water for us to soak our dive gears in after each dive and…tanks with Dettol (disinfectant) after our last dive on the liveaboard! (Not too many dive boats would do that!) Very nice touch indeed. They even had a permanent huge tank with fresh water just dedicated for the myriad of divers’ cameras to soak in and an air hose for the UW photographers to use (Again, the first time I saw on a dive boat!) Now, the food was divine and every meal was different! Our chef, Cindy (the first woman I saw, working on a liveaboard, anywhere in the world. Bravo!) was a genius who put out 5-star restaurant meals 3X a day for a whole week! I think that all of us had all gained weights, eating non-stop! Cindy was also a very good dancer too at our end of the week BBQ Party on the Bat Island!---That was another memorable feast by itself and the crew had gone over the top making unique sand sculpturing and demonstrating the thrilling Raja Ampat soccer to us! Our mouths were agape <--- definitely THE highlight and a very fitting ending for the trip! This liveaboard had 13 divers who came from all over the world, very diverse and with varied ages and backgrounds. I have been on many liveaboards, but this one is different as we all got along famously---everyone chatted with everyone else, there were no disagreements and we all tried to get along together. By the end of the trip, we seemed to be like a great big multi-cultural family! I‘d like to give our Fearless Bald-headed crew leader (whose name escaped me just now!) credits for doing such a good job to make sure that all our wishes and request were attended to and that the crew, under his tutelage, couldn’t have done more to make sure all the divers happy! You know, the 13 of us are still writing emails to one another, sharing photos and talking about the dive trip! Remarkable trip!

Recommended for: Food, camaraderie, boat

10 Exceptional
Douglas R
United States

Great Staff & Dive Guides

Flexibiliry in dealing with individuals and special conditions. Made 3 land stops to explore or party! The boat is relaxed with a lounging area on the upper deck.

Recommended for: Everything went smoothly! They really baby you and set up all the equipment.

8.4 Very good
Dmitrii E
Russia

Good team, good place for good diving.

I read a lot of stories about this place. And now my dream has done. I think, you should dive there to see the most beautiful soft and hard corals on our planet.

Recommended for: Safety, interesting, beautiful corals

9.6 Exceptional
Dorota L
Poland

Safe and marvelous diving and great staff

diving spots: Melisas Garden, Cape Kri, MAgis Rock hiking on island in Wayag Archipelaguo and marvelous view from the top.

Recommended for: safe diving (all spots were controlled by divemasters before diving of the whole group - guests); staff on board helpful and kind, overall atmosphere

9.2 Superb
Helga B
Italy

Wonderful week

Wonderful dives, great choice of diving sites.

Recommended for: Dives, company, staff

8.4 Very good
Azura A
United States

Good value

Great way to dive in Raja for an affordable price. With this in mind, it is a more budget liveaboard but you go to the places the other more expensive liveaboards go. If seeing Raja is your goal, the pearl is just fine.

Recommended for: Diving, staff, guests

8.4 Very good
Qi Tian T
Singapore

Awesome experience

Diving, spotting dolphins/whales on the boat, BBQ on an island. Really friendly crew, great company.

Recommended for: Crew, diving, food

7.6 Good
Joe M
United Kingdom

Some amazing dives, good service from the crew

Seeing Manta Rays up close on a number of dives.

Recommended for: The dive sites, the friendly crew, the fellow divers

9.2 Superb
carolyn P
United States

The crew and the diving was wonderful!

Lovedthedivingand all the Awesome folks

Recommended for: Friendly crew, Outstanding dive guides, Amazong food and plenty of ut

8.8 Fabulous
michael M
United Kingdom

Tremendous diving ,phenomenal biodiversity great crew and stunning scenery

Great dive masters, endless reefs incredible biodiversity.islands of paradise beachesOMG, Mantas cuttle fish nudibranchs fish eagles frankly hte whole trip was a highlight

Recommended for: oceanic mantas ,unbelievable coral,giant schools of fish

7.6 Good
David G
Australia

We had a great experience. Well cared for by the staff, both in and out of the water. Unfortunately we couldn't go south due to bag weather. The chef was great as there was pleanty of good food.

Good diving with a knowledgable instructor and good food. The bed was comportable but the room could have had more over head storage.

Recommended for: Diving and wonderful scenery.

9.2 Superb
Erik R
Sweden

Good diving, nice boat and crew

The dives Mayhem & Blue Magic

Recommended for: diving, crew sundeck

8.8 Fabulous
Shaun K
United States

Excellent trip, professional and friendly staff

Everything about this trip was outstanding, my travel companion and me will be back again.

Recommended for: The food, excellent cook. The diving, very pristine coral. The staff, friendly and caring.

7.6 Good
Vishal B
India

Awesome

Seeing the Manta's

Recommended for: Manta's, Manta's , Manta's

10 Exceptional
Anonymous

World's best diving!

A trip that I will always keep in my mind with the most wonderful dives I have ever done!

Recommended for: Great dive sites, amazing corals, excellent service on the liveaboard Pearl of Papua!

9.2 Superb
Alexander H
Germany

Amazing Divetrip

Amazing natur and a good people

Recommended for: Blue Magic in Misol, islands, diving in a fishsoup

9.2 Superb
Jean-Christophe D
Switzerland

A fabulus week!

Vevey good! Professional and friendly staff, fabulous sites under and over the sea.

Recommended for: Dives Staff Food

7.2 Good
Linus N
Sweden

Budget liveaboard

Great friendly crew, great dive instructor, well organised, Food allright but not enough variation Not so good: All the pollution, smell of diesel, smoke, fumes, also visible for guests around the vessel, black stuff and oil pumping straight out in the sea, so you can't really swim near to the boat,, the engines and generator needs fixing, filters etc, and when you are in this natural reserve and you see the pollution that you are causing it dosent really make you feel as good as you should in this beautiful setting,

Recommended for: The diving, warm showers, the price

8.8 Fabulous
Lisa B
Germany

had a good time!

Wd do it again!

Recommended for: diving crew food

7.6 Good
Sean E
United Kingdom

Raja Ampat diving tour

This was the most exotic location dive trip weve done in 15 years diving around the world - it didnt disappoint. The area is stunning both in and out of the water.

Recommended for: Great itinerary, experienced dive trip leader and the best diving

Pearl of Papua, Indonesia

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Pearl of Papua Reviews