Below — Underwater Raja Ampat
Ten days aboard a liveaboard in the richest reefs on earth: buoyancy before composition, strobes after both, and surface intervals spent editing.
The workshop
Raja Ampat is the underwater summit — coral density and fish biomass without equal anywhere — and the only honest way to photograph it is from a liveaboard with dive discipline at the centre. This workshop pairs a marine-guide crew with photographic teaching in the water and at the light table: buoyancy first, marine etiquette always, strobes and housings once the hovering is boring.
Qualified divers work the reef passes and cleaning stations; the wide-angle reefscape is the syllabus's heart, with macro nights for the critters. Surface intervals run edits; logbooks and contact sheets are kept side by side.
Amara Okafor
Nairobi · Wildlife · long lens ethics
Amara worked as a field guide before she carried a camera, and it shows: she reads animals before light. Her rule for students is simple — the sighting owes you nothing.
- The reference reef system, worked at liveaboard rhythm
- Manta cleaning stations with stationary-discipline teaching
- Housed-system fleet and strobe tuition included
- Nightly light-table edits between dives
- Certification: Advanced Open Water + 50 logged dives (verified at booking)
- Housed system if owned — the workshop fleet covers the rest
- Dive insurance including evacuation (mandatory)
- Reef-safe everything
- Nine nights aboard, full board
- Up to 26 dives with guides at 4:1
- Housing and strobe fleet access
- Park and port fees
- Nitrox for the certified
- Flights to Sorong
- Dive and travel insurance (both mandatory)
- Crew gratuities
- Personal dive kit beyond housings
Accommodation
A traditional-rigged phinisi liveaboard: eight cabins, a camera room with dedicated charging, and a light table that sees more use than the sun deck.
Meals
Full board from the galley — the spice route is honoured nightly.
Getting around
The boat is the itinerary; Sorong transfers included at both ends.
Sorong (embarkation), Raja Ampat, Indonesia
“Two hundred dives before this trip, and I learned more about underwater light in ten days than in all of them. The stationary manta sessions rewired my patience completely.”
“The camera room, the light table, the 4:1 guiding — everything was arranged so the photography could be the point. My reefscape from Day 4 hangs at a metre and a half now.”
Questions, answered
Why the 50-dive requirement?
Raja Ampat's currents and the housing workload demand automatic buoyancy — the camera consumes the attention a newer diver still owes the water. The reef intensives in our other listings build toward this trip.
Is the January timing about mantas?
January sits in the calm-sea window with manta activity high at the known stations — plus the plankton blooms that bring them also feed the schooling theatre at the passes. It's the season the guides themselves choose.
4 seats remaining.
Departures are deliberately small and tend to fill from the newsletter. Booking places no charge — we confirm your seat personally, then arrange payment.