My Adventures and Travels

 Raja Ampat is known as a divers paradise. Several people asked me if it's worth going if you only snorkel and my answer is YES!! Raja Ampat is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, and you can see a lot from the top! Of course, if you dive then you'll want to do so here as well. Here's where I went: Sauwandarek (most fish) Yenbuba (cool drop off, best to imagine creepy things lurking in the deep Melissa's Garden-nice with strong current. Reefs were a bit below so harder to see Lau Lau Reef then Friwebonda: AMAZING REEFS and by far my favorites I will now add the disclaimer that I am inexperienced in underwater photography, and my camera is a basic point-and-shoot that happens to be waterproof. 

 Listen, normally I am not the type of person to leave a whole post on a resort. Because,  1. I'm a teacher and I can't afford to stay nice places 😆 2. Actually I do budget a lot of money for travel but I'd rather go basic for 3 weeks than all-out for one week. This is an exception. When I checked into my room I felt like I should have been there on my honeymoon.  (There's always the future....Mr. Right, are you reading this right now?!?) Anyway I'm making an exception because otherwise what will I do with these gorgeous room pictures, right?? The place I stayed is called Papua Diving-and they have 2 places you can stay, Sorido Bay or Kri Eco Resort. Due to covid, Kri Eco Resort hadn't reopened-it might be where I had stayed if it was an option-so I stayed at Sorido! Without further ado, here are those pics.  While Sorido Bay had a couple of bungalows for families, I didn't see those. Most lodging is these smaller individual bungalows spread out along the b

 Although I started the school year in summer of 2020, ie during covid, I decided to travel within Indonesia for the first time during our October break. One of the other teachers goes to Raja Ampat every year and was able to secure a deal if he could get a big enough group, and I jumped at the chance. Although getting here and staying here was NOT cheap, I didn't want to pass it up. Googling "Raja Ampat" told me all I needed to know!  Sad dock. We were literally loading which is why some people are still on shore. This post is mostly the nuts and bolts, in case you're planning a trip of your own. Raja Ampat is pretty remote. From Jakarta we flew into Sorong (4 hours) which is on the island of Papua. From there, the resort arranged our pickup from the airport to the dock. Which *may* have actually collapsed while we were actually standing on it getting ready to board our boat!! We took the boat about 1.5 hours to a govt sign in and to pay the fee for our "yearly