In December we had the opportunity to go diving in the heart of the coral triable, Raja Ampat Indonesia. We come across some pretty crazy looking corals, and one super old gigas clam, however the real stars of Raja Ampat were the extra larges shoals of fish.
There were a few dive sites in particular that stood out as active fish magnets and we have the video to prove it. Dense balls of fish in Raja Ampat was filmed at various dive sites around the Raja Ampat Archipelago, including Mioskon Island, Blue Magic, Cape Kri, Batu Lima and Frewin Bonda.
Of all our dives, We would rate the shallow reefs of Mioskon Island our overall number one dive site in Raja Ampat. Not only was there a ginormous gigas clam next to an itty bitty pontohi seahorse, but there was a humungous school of snapper roaming the shallows (video at 1:40).
In terms of fish density Frewin Bonda came in a close second, the schools weren’t as large as some of the other dive sites but we found the greatest diversity of fish. The Frewin Bonda dive site is a touch North West of Batu Lima (at the top of the map) and you dive along an overhanging rock wall which almost touches the surface of the water. We choose to start the dive about 100m before the wall and enjoyed the shallow reef before getting to a steeper drop off (video at 4:00)
Coming in third we really liked Cape Kri. At the bottom of this large slope (around 35m) we found schools of surgeon fish and sweetlips. Near the top of the reef where currents were really picking up there were a few large humphead wrasse and schools of anthias (Video at 1:15). And as an honorable mention, which didn’t make the video was our dive at Batu Lima. If you are looking for a winged pipehorse, or another pontohi seahorse, make sure to check out this macro dive site.