Misool

The whole operation runs from one private island in the Batbitim group, about five hours by boat from Sorong, on the site of a former shark-finning camp. Three scheduled boat dives leave the resort each day, with a dusk or night dive added each evening, and every site sits inside the resort's own 300,000-acre patrolled no-take reserve. There is no shore-dive or public day-boat infrastructure in the area and no second based operator could be confirmed, so the diving day is the resort's schedule.

The terrain is pinnacles, walls and channels cut between limestone islets. Magic Mountain rises from beyond 60 m to within 3 m of the surface and works as a cleaning station where both oceanic and reef mantas circle with attendant golden trevallies; the Four Kings stand in the deep water of the Wayilbatan channel; Wedding Cake breaks the surface and channels moderate-to-strong current that draws dogtooth tuna, giant trevally and grey reef sharks. Nudi Rock at Fiabacet carries dozens of nudibranch species on its soft coral, and Verena's Garden at Farondi hides an air chamber inside the island's wall, lit through small holes in the rock.

It suits divers comfortable in moving water: Eagle's Nest can run strong current and its plateau offers multiple places to hook in, and while no minimum certification is published, the signature sites assume drift experience. It is also remote — the nearest hospital is in Sorong, roughly a five-hour boat transfer away, and the resort requires dive insurance covering evacuation. Divers who want a choice of operators, homestays or a town behind the jetty should look to the Dampier Strait side of Raja Ampat, about 190 km north, instead.