How many times have you wished that you had the chance to visit a new dive destination before the rest of the world "discovered" it. Sangalaki is such a place. The Island of Sangalaki is located off the East coast of the Indonesian portion of Borneo. The Sangalaki Dive Lodge resort is uncrowded, the diving is spectacular, and exotic marine life that you've probably only seen in National Geographic is plentiful. You'll see Cuttlefish, Blue Ribbon Eels, Frogfish, Turtles, Manta Rays, Sharks, dozens of Species of Nudibranchs, hundreds of species of hard and soft corals schools of brightly colored Fusaliers and zillions of colorful reef fish.

The Island of Sangalaki and it's surrounding reefs are protected as an Indonesian Marine Park. Without the destructive effects of explosives and cyanide fishing, Sangalaki has remained a pristine example of an untouched tropical marine ecosystem. In a world where every resort claims to be situated in a "divers paradise", Sangalaki truly deserves the honor. Sangalaki is the prime nesting site for Green Sea Turtles in South East Asia. Sangalaki Dive Lodge sponsors conservation programs to protect the endangered turtles. Sangalaki is perhaps most famous for its manta rays. At Manta Point, the familiar shape of manta is visible from every direction as their wing tips break the surface at regular intervals. These gentle plankton feeders are totally oblivious to humans as they glide through the water. Though most mantas are approximately 11.5ft wide with a white belly, there are a few all-black giants with a wingspan of more than 20ft!

Samaman Island.
If you love to see rare little macro subjects, you'll love doing some dives at Samama, a 15 minute boat ride from Sangalaki. Its primo muck diving, without the muck. There are lots of lovely corals there with great macro mixed in.

Kakaban Island is a very large Island about 20 minutes from Sangalaki that is reminiscent of the Rock Islands of Palau. The sides of the island are sheer limestone cliffs covered with dense jungle right down to the water's edge. There are very few sections of beach around the Island, but it mostly just drops straight away down the wall. While Sangalaki has shallow reefs, the name of the game at Kakaban is wall diving. One favorite site is Barracuda Point which features schooling Barracudas, and Jacks, Leopard Sharks, Gray Reef Sharks and the occasional Hammerhead, all in a ripping current that lets you fly along the wall like Superman. There's even a permanent safety line at the end of the drift to help you ascend back to the calm shallows.

Next stop is Kakaban’s Blue Light Cave. This is a really exciting dive. It starts at an entrance to a vertical shaft on top of the reef. You step off the edge into a black hole that goes straight down. The hole opens into the ceiling of the main cave. You swim out along the ceiling of the cave toward the wall. As you approach the exit of the cave, you can see the blue light of the sea. The exit is a long vertical crack in the wall opening onto the wall. Then you finish the dive along a beautiful section of the wall. It’s a thrilling experience - the Blue light Cave of Kakaban is unforgettable. The lake at Kakaban is an exceptional marine environment. A prehistoric uplifting trapped a lake of seawater in which the marine life has adapted into a totally unique ecosystem.

The lake is populated by at least four species of stingless jellyfish, with three species of Halimeda green algae covering the lake bottom. Here mangrove roots coexist with tunicates, sponges, tubeworms, bivalves, crustaceans, anemones, sea cucumbers, sea snakes and at least five species of gobies. Barracuda, blue-fin tuna and hammerhead sharks are frequent visitors to Kakaban's Barracuda Point.

Maratua, about an hour from Sangalaki by boat is a large island with a massive lagoon The island only rims part of the lagoon, the rest is fringed by reef and wall. A Channel into the Lagoon is an incredible drift dive and the surrounding walls are loaded with hard and soft corals.

Best Time to Travel : There is no best or worst time for Raja Ampat diving. Conditions remain largely the same throughout the year and at no time are there the numbers of divers present in this vast area that you would rather avoid. Occasionally the sea might pick up a little between the months of July and September but these are only minor swells which should not cause much inconvenience.