Cannon Expeditions

Dive · Sample expedition

Raja Ampat by liveaboard.

Up to 27 dives in the richest reef system on Earth — mantas, reef sharks, and coral density that doesn't exist anywhere else.

Duration

12 days

From

$6,400 pp

+ air, double occupancy

Effort

●●●○○

Dive Level 3

Season

Oct–Apr

Boat size

≤ 16 divers

Prerequisites

AOW, 30+ dives

Comfortable in current

This is a starting point, not a package. Every Cannon trip is rebuilt around you — your dates, your logbook, your budget. The numbers here are from itineraries we've actually priced.

Raja Ampat holds more fish and coral species than anywhere else scientists have counted — and it's far enough away that getting there is a two-day project. That's the filter that keeps it extraordinary. You'll do three to four dives a day from a boat that moves while you sleep, waking up each morning somewhere new: manta cleaning stations, current-swept coral corners, jetties swarming with silversides at dusk.

Why Level 3: the marquee sites — Cape Kri, Blue Magic, Boo Windows — are current-driven. That's why the fish are there. You'll want reef-hook experience, a controlled negative entry, and the calm to hang in blue water at a safety stop. If you're not there yet, tell us — a Philippines or northern Red Sea trip will build exactly these skills.

Day by day

The shape of the trip.

Days 1–2

Getting far away. Fly to Sorong, West Papua — usually via Jakarta. We book the overnight and the buffer so a late bag doesn't cost you the boat.

Day 3

Board and check dive. Meet the boat, build your kit, and do an easy shakeout dive. Weights right, camera sorted, nerves gone.

Days 4–6

The Dampier Strait. 3–4 dives a day: Cape Kri's fish tornado, mantas at Blue Magic, sweetlips stacked under Sawandarek's jetty. This is the current-rich heart of the north.

Day 7

The Fam Islands. Melissa's Garden's hard-coral plateau in the morning; in the afternoon, climb the Piaynemo viewpoint for the karst-island postcard you've seen — from above it, not on it.

Days 8–10

Misool. The overnight steam south pays off: Boo Windows, Magic Mountain's oceanic mantas, soft-coral walls that look lit from inside. The best diving of the trip, saved for when your buoyancy is dialed.

Day 11

Last dives and the no-fly buffer. Morning dives, then 24 hours off-gassing built into the schedule — non-negotiable, and we plan something good to fill it.

Day 12

Home. Sorong → Jakarta → home, with the connections we watched from the first booking.

Included

  • — All diving: up to 27 dives with guides, tanks, and weights
  • — Nitrox (worth it here — long repetitive days)
  • — Full board on the boat, cabin with en-suite
  • — Raja Ampat marine park fees and permits
  • — Airport transfers in Sorong, overnight hotel on arrival
  • — Our routing, booking, and on-call support throughout

Not included ($)

  • — International and Indonesian domestic flights (we book them; expect $1,400–2,200 from the US West Coast)
  • — Dive gear rental if you don't bring your own (~$30/day)
  • — Crew gratuities (customary: $250–350 for the trip)
  • — DAN dive-accident insurance — required on every trip we book
  • — Alcohol beyond the boat's included beer, and your visa on arrival

Honest notes

What the brochures skip.

Make this one yours.

More days, a different month, a cabin upgrade, a Bali decompression week after — this outline bends. Tell us your logbook and your dates.

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