{"id":6827,"date":"2019-12-14T04:15:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T04:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=6827"},"modified":"2019-12-14T07:10:07","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T07:10:07","slug":"what-a-wonderful-world-raja-ampat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=6827","title":{"rendered":"What A Wonderful World – Raja Ampat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The last few weeks have given us fabulous adventures both above and below the waterline. First there was Wayag with its\u2019 stunning landscape and since then we\u2019ve continued to explore other islands and underwater paradises.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Under the surface, Raja Ampat teems with life in an explosion of diversity and colour that takes our breath away.  We marvel at this pristine marine environment that we\u2019re so privileged to get a glimpse of – particularly when so much of the world\u2019s reefs are damaged and dying.  Our photos can never do it justice, but I hope this blog gives you an idea of some of the underwater beauty we\u2019ve been lucky enough to witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After leaving Wayag we make our way south to Kawe, mostly famous for lying on the equator and all those equator parties.  There\u2019s even a monument to mark the line on one of the small islands we pass, and yes, we\u2019re now back in the Southern Hemisphere and racking up those equator crossings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The monument marking the equator at Kawe Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We anchor in a beautiful deserted bay and tie our stern line to one of the coconut palms on the beach to avoid dragging onto the surrounding reef.  There\u2019s a local turtle who comes to visit, and some beautiful snorkelling all around the bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our anchorage at Kawe – good job we have long stern lines!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Inquisitive turtle coming to check us out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’m not sure what type of crinoid this is, but it looks like a crazy owl to me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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more colourful crinoids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From there we make our way to Palau Motus, christened \u201c4G Lagoon\u201d by our friends on \u201cSarabande\u201d. (You can tell that cruisers get somewhat excited when we find internet coverage).  Sadly the internet turns out to be very patchy, more 2G than 4G, but it\u2019s a pretty stop and for once we\u2019re anchoring in under 15M of water and a sandy bottom to boot. Oh joy! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anchored inside Motus lagoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We catch up with our cruising buddies at Besir Bay to celebrate Carol\u2019s birthday, do a quick provisioning run to Waisai and then re-join \u201cSarabande\u201d and \u201cJams\u201d  back in our usual position at Penemu Island, tied up to the rock walls.  While here we hike the short way to the look-out on the small island to the east of Penemu, above the lagoon near two of our favourite dive sites (named \u201cBullseye\u201d  and \u201cBullseye Ridge\u201d by SV Delos).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking north over the lagoon – there’s a homestay tucked away in here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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we anchor our dinghies in this little lagoon and dive around the outer walls of these small islands. There’s an underwater ‘window’ to swim back into the lagoon at the end of the dive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSarabande\u201d are heading back to Australia for Christmas, so we have a farewell party on the \u2018jetty that leads to nowhere\u2019 (literally!) just north of our anchorage.  Most of our merry band play ukulele with varying degrees of proficiency, and with my guitar plus one from \u201cSarabande\u201d we hack away at a few songs. What we lack in skill we make up for in gusto and it\u2019s great fun. The night finishes with our own firework display (it\u2019s legal to buy them in Waisai, we must re-stock for New Year\u2019s Eve!) much to the entertainment of the locals and the live aboard boats anchored in the bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The substantial ‘Jetty to Nowhere’ on Penemu island. It may not lead to anywhere but it’s a good party venue!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s the diving that truly makes this place special. We do several dives and each one brings a new delight and another opportunity to appreciate every moment we have on this beautiful planet of ours. We hope you enjoy the photos…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blue-girdled angelfish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Resting turtle unfazed by the attention<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the beautiful but venomous lion fish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This has to be the teletubby of starfish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Clown triggerfish sleeping off a big night amongst the coral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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These lined sweetlips like to pose – but they always look a bit mystified by the attention.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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crazy colours<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I thought these were egg sacs but it’s bubble coral. Fancy that?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Giant Sweetlips just hanging out with their pals – these big boys weigh in around 15kg each I reckon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From big to small. A tiny nudibranch – much prettier than his land cousin, the slug.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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a duo of pretty clams<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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thousands of reef fish feeding on plankton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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beautiful lettuce coral gardens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Barry the Barracuda!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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pinnate spadefish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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spotted sweetlips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hard to believe these dendrophyllia anemones are underwater – they look just like a bed of marigolds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And even more beautiful close up -ain’t nature grand!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last few weeks have given us fabulous adventures both above and below the waterline. First there was Wayag with its\u2019 stunning landscape and since then we\u2019ve continued to explore other islands and underwater paradises. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-1M7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6827"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6847,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827\/revisions\/6847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}