Raja Ampat · Indonesia · Reef
Biodiversity House Reef
House reef from the jetty at 2 m down to 20 m
Area photo: Buena Ventura · CC BY 3.0
The reef in front of the Biodiversity jetty, starting at 2 metres and dropping to 20. It runs unbroken from the jetty all the way along to Batu Lima, which makes it an unusually long house reef: you can dive it as a short shallow potter or swim a good distance of it in one go.
Where it is and how deep
0.4519° S, 130.6937° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The reef begins right in front of the jetty at about 2 metres and drops away to 20, so the entry is as simple as walking in and dropping down the edge. Being a house reef, the dive is yours to shape: hang on the shallow shelf for a long, slow look at the coral, or run out along the deeper edge first and come back over the top with air still in hand.
It also keeps going. The reef is continuous from the jetty all the way to Batu Lima, so instead of circling one patch you can pick a direction and cover ground, then turn on time or pressure. That length is what separates this from most house reefs, and it makes the site useful for check dives, for photography and for filling a gap between boat trips. Visibility and the species list for this reef are not published, so plan on the area figures and on whatever the water is doing at the jetty on the day.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Raja Ampat: October to April is the drier stretch and November to April the manta season at Manta Ridge; July to mid-September can bring strong winds and rough seas.
Questions divers ask
Can you shore dive the Biodiversity House Reef?+
Yes. The reef starts directly in front of the Biodiversity jetty at about 2 metres and drops to 20, and it continues along the shoreline as far as Batu Lima.
Sources
- Biodiversity House Reef dive site — ScubaGo
More dive sites in Raja Ampat
Pinnacle
Trevally and tuna in numbers that block out the light
Pinnacle
Cleaning stations on the summit, mantas on the flanks in season
Coral garden
Shallow mixed coral reef, best between 3 and 14 m
Wall
Soft corals, black coral and gorgonians from 26 m to 2 m
Reef
Five Rocks: a repeat-request reef to around 24 m
Wreck
A WWII American P-47D lying between 26 and 33 m
Pinnacle
Fish clouds swirling through a boulder corridor
Pinnacle
Manta cleaning stations in the channels between three pinnacles
Similar dives elsewhere
Lettuce-coral gardens and a large colony of blue eels at 13–21 m.
Coral gardens on a gentle slope, with the best of the reef above 18 m
Huge schools of yellow snapper over a southern slope
Reef, mini wall and coral garden from 12 m down to 30 m