Raja Ampat, north and south: Misool to Wayil

The team meet you at the airport or your hotel and bring you to the tender. Lunch on board with the safety briefing, then the first crossing to Mioskon to settle in.

• Boarding from 08:00
• Safety briefing over lunch
• First anchorage at Mioskon

Mantas glide under the boat here. Dive a Second World War aircraft wreck that the reef has taken over, or go ashore for a short jungle trek to a waterfall. The afternoon is on deck as the boat sails south.

• Manta rays off Batanta
• WWII aircraft wreck dive
• Jungle trek to a waterfall
• Afternoon sail south

Misool is the marine reserve the rest of Raja Ampat is measured against. Boo Window is a swim-through in a coral wall; Magic Mountain a seamount where oceanic mantas pass through the schooling fish. Above water, the white beaches of Yillet island and nothing else.

• Boo Window swim-through
• Magic Mountain seamount
• Oceanic mantas
• Yillet island beach

A short hike to the viewpoint over Wayil's heart-shaped lagoon, or the karst islands by kayak and speedboat. Wedding Cake and Four Kings are the dives, with a night dive on offer for anyone who wants the nocturnal reef.

• The heart-shaped lagoon viewpoint
• Kayaks among the karsts
• Wedding Cake and Four Kings dives
• Optional night dive

Balbulol is a labyrinth of limestone and hidden lagoons with a rare stingless-jellyfish lake in the middle of it. Farondi's caves are lined with soft corals and nudibranchs. A day for the tender and the torch as much as the reef.

• The Balbulol labyrinth by tender
• The jellyfish lake
• Farondi's soft-coral caves
• Overnight passage north

Back in the north. Snorkel or dive Keruo Channel and Melissa's Garden, then the short climb to the Star Lagoon viewpoint for the view on every Raja Ampat poster.

• Keruo Channel
• Melissa's Garden
• Star Lagoon viewpoint

South Kawe is where mantas queue at the cleaning stations. In Aljuy Bay you can visit a working pearl farm, or dive after dark in water so rich with nutrients that the rare things come out.

• Manta cleaning stations at South Kawe
• Aljuy Bay pearl farm
• Night dive in Aljuy Bay

Sardine Reef and Cape Kri for the densest fish in the archipelago, turtles and reef sharks. A stop at Arborek jetty to see village life and the reef under the dock. For the last dive, Batu Lima after dark, where the walking shark lives.

• Sardine Reef and Cape Kri
• Arborek village and jetty
• Night dive at Batu Lima for the walking shark

Breakfast on board, goodbyes, and the transfer to the airport or your hotel by ten.

• Breakfast on board
• Check-out by 10:00
• Airport or hotel transfer