A tattered skull and crossbones fluttered high on the stern mast of the double-mast prahu KLM Shakti as it cut through tranquil waters off the western tip off Papua. This is the secret islands of Raja Ampat, an area steeped in a shadowy past and present. It’s a life of intrigue and adventure out here, the glorious bay we entered was framed by looming cliffs and primeval jungle.

In terms of diving and snorkeling exploration, remoteness, and biological diversity, there are few places remaining worldwide that compare to eastern Indonesia. Many scientists, photographers, and divers consider this area as the holy grail of the Indo-Pacific region, yet it’s still largely unexplored both above and below the surface. In fact, the most precise descriptions of these islands come from the writings of Alfred Russell Wallace who blundered through the region in 1860 searching for rare specimens of the bird of paradise!

The sea surrounding Raja Ampat, translated as ‘the Four Kings,’ (Waigeo, Batanta, Sulawati, and Mysool Islands) is literally the world’s epicenter of marine life. The massive species number is primarily due to the islands’ location. Marine fauna originating from Micronesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and western Indonesia, have congregated over millions of years in Raja Ampat due to plate tectonics, the warm, equatorial waters, stable climate, and variety of habitats. More fish and invertebrate species are expected amongst the reefs of these four islands than anywhere else on Earth. The two highest fish counts ever recorded on single dives, 283 and 281 species, were within Raja Ampat’s waters. Simply put, the reefs are overwhelming.

Raja Ampat covers a gigantic area, nearly 10 million acres, and has an endless supply of dramatic dive sites. Undoubtedly, a good quantity of un-described species exist among these waters as well. It is literally a last frontier for those seeking the planet’s untainted marine communities, home to pygmy seahorses, tassled wobbegongs, stealthy mantas, and mellow turtles. The desire to stay one step ahead and venture even further to where few footsteps have fallen and where even fewer divers have blown bubbles is an innate yearning, and Raja Ampat had all of the means to satisfy this desire.

The sea surrounding Raja Ampat is not only amenable to high diversity but is also a healthy ecosystem. Along the larger volcanic islands, vast tracts of mangroves supporting a wide array of epiphytic, parasitic, and climbing plants. Early each morning the bird calls from the forest canopy were outrageously loud, giving a prehistoric aura to the area. The intricate mangrove root systems revealed sponges, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, and fishes in a variety of life stages. The thick mangroves serve as a gigantic filter, protecting nearby reefs from runoff during the monsoon season and as a nursery for hundreds of species of small reef fish which shelter and feed there. Though I enjoyed exploring these mucky habitats at high tide, searching for weird critters, it was hard to concentrate knowing that Indo-Pacific crocodiles, the world’s largest and toothiest living reptile, also dwelled in the mangroves and adjacent sea-grass beds.

The raison d’étre in Raja Ampat, the vibrant coral reefs. It’s tricky to adequately illustrate any one dive site in such a lush and vibrant marine environment like Raja Ampat, but a few have recurred in my dreams and begged to be put down in words.

Backrolling into tropical 30 meter is always a rush, but it’s even more so to be instantly surrounded by dense schools of size-able fish. In blue water at Sardine Reef, chevron barracuda, slender unicorn fish, bigeye trevally, and longfin bannerfish formed concentrated shoals. But the substantial patch reef, with its hundreds of species of vibrant reef fishes and thousands of invertebrates, couldn’t be ignored. From a brown-spotted cat-shark, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel, and giant bumphead parrotfish, to petite nudibranchs, spider crabs, mantis shrimp, toadfish and jawfish, it was sensory overload.

The tiny islet of Kerupiar, another spectacular spot, sat amidst the myriad of islands and swirling currents, supporting a little bit of everything imaginable. Dropping in on an incredible assortment of hard corals, the reef quickly morphed into a magnificent wall dripping with soft corals, gorgonians, and barrel sponges. Jacks, batfish, fusiliers and anthias obstructed views of not only the wall’s inhabitants but also several hawksbill turtles and blacktip sharks. Drifting with the strong current gave me little time to admire it all, but a field of colossal boulders soon appeared so I hunkered down in the lee with a large school of ribbon sweetlips. Two tawny sharks had squeezed under the rocks just underneath me but my attention was shortly called elsewhere. Upon ascending past a slope of seawhips and garden eels, an immaculate plantation of table and leather corals flourished as far as the eye could see a tiny piece of paradise. David soon pointed out a tiny manta, no more than 1.5 meters wing to wing, that swooped in out of nowhere.

Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy previously counted more coral species on the reef of Batu Born than are known from any other place of similar size on Earth. Needless to say, descending onto this gently sloping reef brought seemingly endless fauna. Hundreds of vivid reef fish zipped in and out of this three-dimensional coral city going about their daily business. Out in the blue Spanish mackerel, great barracuda, and dogtooth tuna, prowled amongst redtooth triggerfish and fusiliers.

Like large predatory carpets, funky tassled wobbegongs were found lounging on several large table corals. Yet again, towards the end of the dive, floating amongst an absurdly beautiful zone of corals and gorgonians. It mesmerized even the most seasoned `been there, done that’ diver amongst us. Beginning on a wall smothered in sponges, corals, crinoids, or tunicates, we drifted leisurely around some bends, noting a few reef sharks below and an occasional green or hawksbill turtle munching on a sponge. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the dive we ascended into one of the most intricate and aesthetic coral gardens in the Pacific Ocean. Ranging from 20 to 5 feet deep, it was difficult to believe that the beauty there wasn’t a mirage. While I meditated on the splendor of the shallows, thousands of silver sides encased me in a whirlwind of silver and blue.

The entire trip went by in a blink of the eye and it was time to head for Sorong, Papua’s main port. As we sailed out of the stunning limestone islands of Wayag, or `God’s Country’, lusting for more undiscovered paradises. The possibility of Raja Ampat becoming a World Heritage site, which has been proposed by several NGOs. As with other areas within Southeast Asia, the use of dynamite and cyanide is not unheard of, though we didn’t see any signs of their use. The lack of larger predators does indicate the shark finners long arms have reached even these remote spots. But Raja Ampat is one of the few areas on Earth that’s retained an impressive proportion of intact forests and reefs, making its overall health well worth protecting.

Nelson Bay is on the southern shoreline of Port Stephens, near to the ports headlands. Made up of a series of volcanic peaks and sand dunes formed around forty million years ago, Port Stephens became an estuary about 70,000 years ago when the sea level rose about 60 meters.

A harbor more than 2.5 times the size of Sydney Harbor and nearly 23 kilometers long, it is the largest estuary in New South Wales. The incredible tidal flow in a harbor of this size, combined with its rich volcanic soils, provides nutrients and strong currents to nurture a wide variety of marine life. Due to this rich and strong tidal flow, Nelson Bay is one of the few places you can go where the shore diving rivals and even outdoes the boat diving.  It is no wonder that so many people start hunting down cheap airline tickets and an empty holiday home for their visit to Nelson Bay.There’s a profusion of unusual life beneath the slate blue waters. Standing on the shore gives you no clue as to what waits below. Dive in and be surprised!

The most popular site at Nelson Bay is Halifax Park. On any weekend day there’ll be a swarm of divers kitting up waiting for high tide. It’s an outstanding shore dive, probably one of the best in New South Wales and such an easy dive that everybody will enjoy it. The slope is gentle and the life is prolific at every level so each diver can suit themselves to their profile and be assured that they will have a fantastic time. At times the visibility will be up to 20 meters which makes this site almost like a tropical dive.

From the rocky entry you swim down a gentle slope with periodic drop offs that range down to a depth of about 30 meters. At about 4-5 meters beautiful sponge gardens start with an incredible density of soft corals and sponges and a mass and diversity of fish life. It’s a nursery for young wobbegong and Port Jackson sharks, cuttlefish and many species of tropical and temperate fish. At every level there are bommies covered in soft growth and almost obscured by schools of fish.

Schools of juvenile old wives and bream mix it up with large golden trevally and drummer. If you look closely at the bommies there are strange nudibranchs, unusual crinoids, tiny brittle and basket stars. Halifax also has the greatest concentration of eels of anywhere that I’ve ever dived. Their curiosity often brings them out to swim amongst the divers — it can be startling to look down and find an eel swimming between your legs!

Further into the bay from Halifax Point is Fly Point. At about five meters or so the weed clears to a sandy bottom. Swimming on a bearing of 33″ takes you down over a ledge to beautiful sponge gardens. This is a wide flat area filled with all sorts of soft coral. Its home to hundreds of decorator crabs, all carefully camouflaged with bits of sponge. There’s all manner of uncommon life from pineapple fish, sea spiders and sea fleas to strange and unusual crabs. The last few times we’ve been to Nelson Bay even a turtle has been seen at Fly Point.

This is also a fabulous night dive. As you descend in the darkness over the fields of brown sargassum weed and sea grass, keep your eyes peeled for sea hares and octopus. I love this part of this dive: the weed waves slowly back and forth, enticing me — what interesting things might be hiding in there? Watch out for lurking numb rays though: this is not a place to put your hand in the sand without looking first!

For the true macro enthusiast there is nowhere more interesting than the Pipeline. This area is home to some of the most unusual life you’ll have the chance to see. A submarine cable runs for 250 metres from the shore in a northerly direction. Between the sea wall and the pipe are vast gardens of the spectacular soft corals Capnella. These are host to decorator crabs and seahorses amongst other things. You may also find unusual tubeworms, angler fish, and blue-lined octopus.

Due to the strong currents generated by the vast tidal flow, the dives in and around Nelson Bay can only be dived on the slack. If you time your trip right you can dive twice a day — one site at say 7.30 on the morning high and a second on the night high at about 8pm. The norm is not to dive on the low tide as the visibility drops quite dramatically. But we die-hard Sydney divers are sometimes used to diving in only a few meters of vis, so if you’re keen there are options for a low tide dive, particularly if the high tide vis has been good.

Little Beach is just such a site —good for a low tide dive, as it’s shallow and has an amazing conglomeration of rubbish such as wheelbarrows and shopping trolleys that form a somewhat ‘unusual’ artificial reef! If the vis has been good on the high tide it should still be reasonable on the low tide at Little Beach. Though for quite a bit of this dive you’ll be over sand, you may be surprised at what you’ll find. No-one ever seems to mention that some pretty interesting underwater creatures can be found on the sand — pipe fish, seahorses, angler fish, blennies, anemone crabs, hairy stone crabs and unusual nudibranchs to name but a few.

Following a triangular pattern from the ’swimming only’ sign at Little Beach will take you round the most interesting parts of this dive. There’s a rope attached to the bottom of the pole which leads from one section of the artificial reef to another but it’s not always easy to find! However, if you end up following the wrong rope or can’t find a rope like we’ve done on many attempts, it doesn’t matter you’re bound to see something interesting and different regardless. Despite the shallow and sometimes murky water, I’ve had some great dives there — been surrounded by schools of golden trevally, followed a hunting octopus, and watched squid laying eggs.

Between dives, take the time to explore Port Stephens. Climb Tomaree Head. The views from the Tomaree lookout are spectacular. The climb to the top will take around 30 minutes. Drive out to Stockton Beach — at 32 kilometers you’ll be in the largest continuous sand dunes in the state. It is advisable to stay in a beach hotel nearby to make the most of your stay here.

Along the beach, half in the surf, lies the wreck of the Sygna, a 53,000 tone Norwegian bulk carrier, the largest ship ever wrecked on the Australian east coast. Its dive able, but only on those super-flat winter days, and it definitely has a shark feel! Or you can walk across the spit to Fingal Lighthouse, accessible only at low tide, and look back towards the coast for breathtaking views. All in all, there’s plenty to do while you’re waiting for high tide to come round again.

An Australian owned, operated & built dive resort located on one of the Pacific’s most beautiful & peaceful islands. If you’re looking for lots of crowded dive boats, then stay away from Kosrae, chances are that you & your dive buddies will be the only ones out there, at least until the rest of the world discovers this hidden gem. Imagine yourself diving a steep vertical wall with hundreds of Pacific barracudas encircling you, feel your eyes widen in amazement at the huge and remarkably colorful coral reef systems, or watch the resident spinner dolphins as they jump and twirl for your entertainment. Leisurely drift dives with visibility from 25 to 60 meters are typical on Kosrae, with our purpose- built dive boat waiting to bring you aboard at the end of the dive.

You’ll enjoy the comfort of a full shade canopy and a powerful engine to transport you to the best dive sites. Our intimate 16- room grounds are located in tropical gardens, staffed by friendly faces ready to attend to your every comfort. Rest easy in our air- conditioned rooms, all with two double beds, cable TV, mini bar, and tea/coffee-making facilities. Venture out from your room into our full restaurant and bar, and take a dip in the swimming pool. At Nautilus, we aim to please: and your pleasure is our uncompromising goal. The restaurant offers cool, air-conditioned comfort, or outside dining by the pool. Western and local foods – think breadfruit chips and incredibly fresh sashimi.

The Tugs, Empire Gladstone Wrecks, The Cave & Reefs. Dive the Safest and most accessible wrecks on the south coast of NSW. Suitable for open water to advanced divers and great for underwater photographers! Other sites include the wharf at Merimbula — easiest shore dive around giant, cuttlefish, morwongs, rays, groper, moray eels, and beautiful soft corals.

Dive Short Pt Bommie, the Pestles, Nth Head, The Pinnacle, Big Kangarutha and more! After your dive relax in the newly refurbished, fully self-contained units at the Divers Lodge. We have accommodation for up to 24 people and each unit has its own lock-up room, wash off area, color TV, microwaves, lounge, dining, bathroom, kitchen etc. Package deals for groups, clubs and dive schools, special mid-week rates available. Dive courses done regularly.