After our diving and exploration days in Banda, we’ll be continuing our journey north to Koon for two dives and onward to Misool, one of the “Four Kings” (islands) of Raja Ampat. Scientists believe that the area where the diving takes place in Misool, including the rest of Raja Ampat, has the most coral and fish diversity in the world! According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on earth. The Raja Ampat area is known for mantas, blacktip reef sharks, and muck diving (blue ring octopus, bobtail squid, pygmy seahorses, cuttlefish, nudibranchs, pipefish, etc.). We’ll spend several days in Misool and then make our way north to Penemu to visit the famous view point and dive a few dives in Dampier Strait before heading to the port in Sorong for our last night on board the Coralia.
Dates
2-14 November, 2025
Duration
12 nights/13 days
Package Cost:
$8,495.00 USD per person – Upper Deck Master Suites: (double occupancy)
$8,295.00 USD per person- Main Deck Master Suites (double occupancy)
$6895.00 USD per person – Lower Deck Double & Twin (double occupancy)
$6595.00 USD per person – Lower Deck Twin (double occupancy)
Price Includes
- 12 nights/13 days on board the Coralia
- 3-4 dives a day (includes tanks and weights only, other equipment not included) *Some days may be 2 dives depending on transit times and land excursions
- 3 delicious meals a day plus snacks, water, tea, coffee, soft drinks
- Accommodations in luxurious cabins
- Private charter for our group only
- Group size limited to 16 including trip organizers
- Presentations on marine wildlife
- Local Indonesian expert dive guides
- Certified dive guides and amazing cruise directors
- Photography tips and editing advice provided
- Friendly and fun atmosphere
Price Excludes
- Dive rental gear
- Massages
- Alcoholic beverages
- Park Fees: $345 USD per person (paid on board)
- Airfare: International and Domestic
- Dive Insurance and Travel Insurance
- Crew tips
- Hotels in Ambon, Sorong or Jakarta before/after trip (if required)
- Onboard purchases
Trip Details
We had the BEST time on the Coralia in 2023 and 2024; we’re doing it again in 2025!
Hop on board the beautiful Coralia liveaboard. The Coralia is a classic Phinisi. It was built in Bira, Sulawesi, by the Konjo tribe, who have been building cargo ships for centuries. Blending ancient techniques and wisdom with modern design and safety features, Coralia is one of the few Phinisi equipped with two engines.
Coralia’s name comes from the word ‘coral‘ and the Latin ending of ‘-ia’, so ‘Coral-ia‘ means ‘Nation of Corals’.
The Coralia offers eight luxurious cabins with a maximum capacity of 16 guests and ample areas to relax on board. Nothing is too much trouble onboard with 22 crew members, including two incredible cruise directors.
The Coralia won first place in six categories of the Readers Choice Awards in 2023, including “Best Quality of Liveaboard” and previously won the Dive Travel Awards “Best Liveaboard” in 2019 and 2021. We now know WHY she and the crew won best liveaboard, because they ARE THE BEST!
Our itinerary will take us on a one-way journey through Ambon, the Banda Islands, and Raja Ampat, offering a huge variety and some of the best diving in Indonesia.*Various photos were provided by Debbie & Jerry, Our Ocean Images and Coralia Cruise Directors
Note: Two of the master suites have a separator that can be used to separate the bed into two twins for friends sharing. Please ask if interested in this option and we can share more details.
How to Secure Your Spot
Please note that this trip has limited spots, so you will need to get in quick to secure your booking. The following payments will be required:
- $1,000 USD per person deposit
- Second payment due April 15, 2025
- Final payment due July 15, 2025
Payment
To secure your place on this trip, you will need to pay a $1,000 USD deposit.
We will be in touch via email for your payment and trip details. We would recommend purchasing your flights into Jakarta (CGK) and then onto Ambon (AMQ), as soon as possible to secure reasonably priced flights. To book and check for available spaces, email us at: amanda@amandadelaforce.com
Tentative Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Ambon, board the Coralia, settle into cabins, unpack dive gear and camera gear, boat briefing, and dive briefing. TBD afternoon dive in Ambon
Day 2–3: Diving in Ambon Bay and transit to the Banda Islands
Day 4–7: Banda Islands
- Day 5: two to three dives and the Spice Islands tour
- Day 7: two dives and transit to Koon
Day 8: Koon, two dives, and transit to Misool
Day 9–11: Misool
- Day 11: two dives and transit to Penemu
Day 12: Penemu View Point, one dive at Melissa’s Garden, and transit to Sorong
Day 13: Disembark in Sorong
*Itinerary is subject to change based on weather, captain, and other factors out of our control.
More About the Region
- Ambon is part of the Muluku island chain and was the original headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in the early 1600s. The British and Dutch have controlled the island however, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive.
- The Ambon area offers world-class muck diving in Ambon Bay.
- The Banda Islands are also known as the Spice Islands. Here, nutmeg and mace were produced during the Dutch, English, and Portuguese colonization.
- 600+ species of coral are found in Raja Ampat – the entire Caribbean Sea has only 58 species.
- 1,669 species of fish have been recorded to date (December 2019).
- 374 fish species were identified during one 90-minute dive at Cape Kri in Dampier Strait.
- 42 fish species are native to the region.
- 17 °C temperature range – the corals in Raja Ampat are regularly subjected to variations in temperatures from 19 (66 °F) to 36 (97 °F) degrees Celsius. The coral seems to be naturally adapted to massive fluctuations in temperature that are far higher than the ones predicted by climatologists over the next 50 years.
- The official language is Bahasa Indonesia, although there are over 300 different native languages spoken in Indonesia.
Current Entry Requirements
The requirements, as of June 2023, for entering Indonesia for international travelers (foreign citizens) are as follows:
1. All COVID vaccination entry requirements have been dropped.
2. Travelers from most countries will need to apply for a tourist visa. Please check the requirements for your passport.
- This can be completed online prior to arrival, often listed as eVOA. You can apply here for the eVOA.
- It is possible to receive a tourist visa on arrival (VOA).
- The cost for the eVOA/VOA is 500,000 IDR which is approximately $32 USD.
3. Requirements to apply for VOA or eVOA:
- A legal and valid passport that must be valid at least 6 months before the expiration date.
- An international ticket for return or onward travel.
Getting There
To/From North America:
Travel to Indonesia is typically flown via Tokyo, Hong Kong, or other Asian gateway cities (depending on the airline) and connecting onward to Jakarta (CGK). Sometimes you’ll find routes from the east coast through the Middle East (Doha/Abu Dhabi, etc.).
Arrival in Jakarta by November 1, 2025 (late afternoon at the latest).
It is recommended to arrive in Jakarta a day prior to your flight to Ambon. The Anara airport hotel is recommended if you arrive a day or two early in Jakarta.
Flights to Ambon and from Sorong:
Connect onward to Ambon (AMQ). Most of the flights to Ambon are typically red-eyes from Jakarta. To avoid an overnight stay in Ambon, the current suggested flights are:
- Will update when the 2025 schedule is out
You will be met by Coralia staff, who will bring you directly to the boat. If you’d like to arrive in Ambon a day before, you are more than welcome to. We’ll share suggested hotels as the trip gets closer. The Coralia staff will pick you up from the hotel and bring you to the boat on November 2, 2025.
Departure on November 14, 2025 can be at any time. The Coralia staff will bring you back to the airport for your departing flight. If you are continuing onto another resort or elsewhere in Raja Ampat, just let us know so we can coordinate with the Coralia team for the transfers.
Flights on Garuda still offer 23kg extra per person for dive gear. Be ready to show your scuba certification cards at check-in and show that your extra baggage is made up of dive equipment.
Please keep in mind that flying on early morning flights departing from Sorong will restrict the number of dives you will be able to do on the last full day on board. Generally, there will be two morning dives on the last day, commencing around 12pm.
Group Leaders
Amanda Delaforce and Kim Randall. Both with a wealth of travel and underwater experience. Kim is located in the States. Amanda is located in Australia. They met on a trip in the Maldives and have been passionate about diving, marine encounters and photography ever since. This is a new trip and they look forward to sharing this unforgettable experience with you. Please refer to the testimonials page for comments on other marine expedition trips.
Amanda is a marine biologist and wildlife ecologist having worked across both NSW and QLD Marine Parks (Australia) over the last 20 years. Amanda has previously been involved in various humpback whale research projects along the East Australian Coast including Eden, Port Stephens, Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay.
Amanda has been taking guests diving and swimming with marine species including humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, dolphins and reef and oceanic sharks while also viewing amazing coral communities and fish in stunning and remote locations. Amanda can provide a wealth of information on the humpback and blue whales while out on the zodiac day expeditions. She holds her coxswains certificate and has been a divemaster for over 23 years.
She works closely with marine conservation and citizen science groups such as Manta Project Australia, Project Manta Maldives, Grey Nurse Shark Watch Australia and Whale Shark Researchers in the Maldives.
Amanda is a passionate underwater marine and wildlife photographer; countless dives and ocean encounters means she knows where to look for inspiration. She has a genuine love and admiration for animals she encounters which are reflected in the experiences she shares with others.
This is her first trip to this amazing location and has been a dream trip for many years. I hope you are as excited as she is to take you on this unforgettable journey. Follow her on Instagram, check out her photography and shop page on her website.
Kim Randall, a native Californian and an avid traveler, discovered her love of the ocean and marine life at an early age, by pleading with her parents to send her to a sailing and diving summer camp. It was here she became certified to scuba dive. While she was always active and into playing sports as a child and young adult, she developed knee issues which prevented her full involvement in them. Scuba diving and water related non weight bearing activities changed all of that!
Kim went on to pursue a career in education, and became a global educational technology consultant. She works with professional learning organizations including Designed for Learning, Discovery Education, Nearpod, and the Krause Center for Innovation, providing relevant and engaging training centered around effective use and pedagogy of educational technologies in the classroom.
When she wasn’t consulting and working with educators, she was (and still is) found planning dive trips around the world. In 2009 she joined the team producing the tv series “Into the Drink”, a diving and travel show filming on location in incredible diving destinations around the world. Kim traveled with the crew and guests on many of the trips, supporting with underwater photography and guest relations. Her love of diving, marine life, underwater photography, and traveling across the globe continued to flourish with this incredible experience. It was through mutual friends filming on one of the boats, that Kim and Amanda became friends, dive buddies, and shared a passion for photography.
With her love of travel, trip planning and diving, she organically loved Google Earth & Maps when they launched in 2005 and became an avid user of both tools. Fast forward to 2018, She co-authored a book geared towards educators called Bring the World to Your Classroom: Using Google Geo Tools. Kim has been an elementary and middle school teacher as well as a technology integration specialist and holds a California Multiple Subject teaching credential. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area but often found in her spare time traveling to new places near and far, scuba diving, and dabbling with topside and underwater photography. This is her first trip to Antarctica and the only remaining continent she hasn’t visited yet. Kim is so excited for this adventure. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, check out her photography www.kimrandall.photography or contact her at designedfordiving@gmail.com.
Bookings, Payment, Cancellation Policy and Force Majeure in relation to the Tour
TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. Insurance
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd highly recommends you purchase personal travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://app.diveassure.com/#/registration/main/process/0/int/0/18669/en-intl
- Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
- The affiliated and established companies such as Coralia Liveaboards, hold the relevant insurances and maintain responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling, or swimming you are doing so under the affiliated company’s policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.
2. Bookings and payments
- Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $1000.00 USD per passenger
- All deposits are non-refundable.
- Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
- Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminder prior to this date.
- Each guest will be required to complete a Dive Trip Questionnaire (which may require a Dive Medical) prior to receiving a final tour confirmation. This must be completed and returned to Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd prior to final payment being made. Disclosure of your medical history and known conditions is vital, as well as a review of any other conditions that could impact your trip. Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd reserves the right to refuse trip participation on medical grounds based on any falsification or exclusion of pertinent information which impacts the trip program.
3. Amendment and cancellation policy
- The trip cost is 100% non-refundable within 100 days of the departure date. This applies to deposits and/or further payments. No exceptions can be made.
- If you cancel your trip 100 days or more before the trip commencement date, and we/you are able to resell/fill your place, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee) will be issued for use on another Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd trip which departs within 2 years of the cancellation date.
- If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.
4. Force Majeure
- If our In-Country Providers cancel or if a Force Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.
5. Liability and obligation
- Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the booking process or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can it be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving and snorkeling tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bear the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death. - Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions, and choose to engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
- We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of participating in the trip or the Activities. Nor shall we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
- Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy and agree to the booking and trip conditions prior to providing any deposits. By placing a booking with Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and our cancellation policy.
Trading as “Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd”
