Wild stays – Blue Manta Liveaboard, Indonesia
The Blue Manta liveaboard is designed for those who want to experience the remote and pristine waters of Raja Ampat and Misool. Departing from Sorong, it carries divers deep into one of the most biodiverse marine environments on the planet. With its steel hull and spacious design, the boat provides a stable and comfortable base for exploring this hidden corner of Indonesia.
Life aboard the Blue Manta is designed around the rhythm of the ocean. Days begin with the first light of dawn, the calm sea reflecting the pastel hues of the sunrise. After a morning dive, breakfast is served as the boat moves to the next remote dive site, where another world awaits beneath the surface. The crew and dive guides know these waters intimately, ensuring each dive is safe, well-planned, and filled with the kind of encounters that make Raja Ampat a dream destination for divers.
With space to relax between dives, warm waters lapping at the hull, and the ever-changing landscape of Indonesia’s islands drifting past, time on the Blue Manta is more than just a dive trip. It is an immersion into one of the last true marine wildernesses, a chance to explore a world that few have seen and even fewer truly understand.
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Need to know
The Blue Manta is a spacious and stable liveaboard that offers divers the chance to explore the remote waters of Raja Ampat and Misool. The boat will also travel to Komodo and the Banda Sea depending on the seaon.
Departing from Sorong, it provides access to some of the world’s most pristine reefs, where manta rays, reef sharks, and vibrant coral gardens thrive.
With comfortable cabins, expert dive guides, and carefully planned itineraries, the experience is both seamless and immersive. Days are spent diving among breathtaking marine life, while evenings unfold with sunsets over Indonesia’s untouched islands.
Best For
Experienced divers who want to see some of the best reef diving in the world from a comfortable and friendly base.
Amenities
The boat has a large crew who make sure your stay is perfect. The boat has a dedicated camera room, large spacious dive deck as well as sun deck for relaxing after a day of diving.
Getting There
The boat is based in Sorong on the Indonesian island of Papua. It is a four hour flight from Jakarta to Sorong where the boat crew will meet you and transfer you to the boat. When you come to leave the boat will arrange transfers back to the airport and last day dives are planned to maximise surface intervals around flights.
Getting Around
The boat will travel to all of the dive sites, usually cruising over night so you wake up on site ready to dive. There are some shore excursions so you can explore the islands that you are diving around.
Prices From
Starting around £293 a day for diving and accommodation. Nitrox is extra but worth the money as there are no chamber options in the area. You can also pay for WiFi which is the only way to stay online for some areas that Blue Mata explores.
Location
Raja Ampat is often described as the crown jewel of Indonesian diving, a place where limestone karsts rise from the sea, and coral reefs stretch as far as the eye can see. The waters here are alive with movement. Schools of barracuda swirl in the currents, reef sharks patrol the drop-offs, and manta rays glide effortlessly through cleaning stations. Below the surface, soft corals bloom in a dazzling array of colours, while tiny critters such as pygmy seahorses and nudibranchs hide among the reef.
Further south, Misool is a world of overhangs, caves, and towering pinnacles covered in gorgonian fans. The reefs are untouched, thriving in the warm waters where nutrient-rich currents fuel an explosion of life. Sites such as 4 Kings, with its iconic swim-throughs, and Magic Mountain, a submerged ridge where oceanic mantas gather, make this region a highlight of any journey.
Rooms
The Blue Manta offers spacious and comfortable cabins designed for relaxation between dives. These rooms are probably the largest liveaboard rooms I have ever encountered.
Each room is air-conditioned with an en-suite bathroom with hot showers, providing a private retreat after a day in the water.
Large windows allow natural light to fill the space, and the cabins are well-appointed with soft bedding, ample storage, and modern amenities.
The boat also has a dedicated camera room so there is no need to be charging or setting up your camera in your room. This makes a huge difference and allows you to seperate the diving and relaxing completely.
Food
Days on the Blue Manta start early, and before the first dive, there is a light breakfast waiting in the dining area. Fresh fruit, toast, and coffee provide just enough energy to slip into the water as the sun rises over the horizon. After surfacing and warming up with a hot shower, the real breakfast is served. This is a more substantial spread with eggs cooked to order, pancakes, local dishes like nasi goreng, and plenty of fresh juice. It’s the perfect way to ease into the day before heading back out for another dive.
Lunch is a welcome break, with a mix of Indonesian and international dishes, often including freshly grilled fish, rice, salads, and warming soups. The meals are relaxed, with time to chat about the morning’s sightings and watch the islands drift by as the boat moves to the next dive site. By mid-afternoon, after another dive, a snack is waiting. Something sweet or savoury, like banana fritters, fresh bread, or cake, along with tea and coffee to keep energy levels up was always on offer.
As the sun sets and the night dive wraps up, supper is the highlight of the day. The meals are hearty, designed to refuel after hours in the water, with dishes such as curries, grilled meats, stir-fries, and fresh vegetables. One evening, the crew sets up a BBQ on deck, with freshly grilled seafood and meats, eaten under the stars with the gentle sound of the ocean in the background.
Diving from Blue Manta
Diving from the Blue Manta is effortless, with a well-organised and supportive crew making sure everything runs smoothly. Each day follows a steady rhythm with briefings in the lounge 30 minutes before gearing up on the spacious dive deck, where tanks are already set up and waiting. The dives are run from sturdy tenders, with the crew helping to steady equipment and ensure entries and exits are easy.
Many of the dives involve strong currents, deep walls, and drifts through channels teeming with marine life, making this a destination best suited for advanced divers with good buoyancy control and confidence in open water.
The crew will help with kit when you surface, washing suits down and filling cylinders for your next dive. You will always find a numbered warm towel at your kit station and a warm drink waiting for your return. At the end of the week, all the kit is washed down and dried ready for your departure. This means that if you are continuing with your travels you do not have wet dive kit with you.
Marine life
The waters of Raja Ampat and Misool are among the most biodiverse on the planet, and diving here feels like entering a living kaleidoscope of marine life. The reefs are bursting with colour, from vast coral gardens to towering sea fans swaying in the currents.
Schools of fusiliers and jacks move in shimmering walls, while barracuda hover in the blue, watching the drift of divers below. Manta rays are a highlight, particularly at well-known cleaning stations where these graceful giants circle just metres away. Both oceanic and reef mantas can be seen here, their black-and-white markings striking against the deep blue of the open water.
Sharks are a common sight, with white and blacktip reef sharks patrolling the shallows, and wobbegongs, strange, tasselled carpet sharks are camouflaged perfectly against the seabed.
In the deeper waters, grey reef sharks and the occasional hammerhead glide past, while macro lovers will find no shortage of tiny treasures hidden among the corals. Pygmy seahorses cling to sea fans, ghost pipefish hover near crinoids, and flamboyant nudibranchs add splashes of colour to the reef.
Night dives reveal an entirely different world, with hunting octopuses, swimming flat worms, and bioluminescent plankton lighting up the darkness. In the shallows, a glance into the overhangs may reveal the rare Raja Ampat walking shark, another species unique to this part of the world.
The less loveable
While the Blue Manta offers an incredible diving experience, there are a few challenges to consider. The journey to Sorong is long, often requiring multiple flights and layovers, making it a remote destination that takes time and effort to reach.
Once on board, the diving is world-class, but the remoteness also means limited access to emergency medical facilities. There is no decompression chamber in Raja Ampat, so divers must be extra cautious with their dive profiles and safety stops.
The crew is well-trained in emergency procedures, and oxygen is available on board, but in the event of a serious incident, evacuation to a proper medical facility would take time. This makes proper dive insurance and conservative diving practices essential for anyone planning a trip on the Blue Manta.
