The wild south of Raja Ampat: mushroom-shaped karst islets, lagoons, ochre handprints on the cliffs, and reefs where the sharks have come back.
Misool is the southernmost of Raja Ampat's four big islands, a day's sailing from the Dampier Strait. Off its southeast coast lies a maze of limestone islets, undercut by the sea into mushroom shapes.
Much of the sea here is a no-take marine reserve, set up in the mid-2000s by local communities working with a resort and patrolled by local rangers. Over fifteen years shark and manta numbers have risen dramatically, and the reefs show it.
The diving is on walls covered in soft corals and giant sea fans, through swim-throughs and caves, and over pinnacles where schools of fish hang in the current.
Above water, ochre rock paintings of hands, fish and figures, of unknown age, decorate the cliffs; and inland lakes cut off from the sea hold stingless jellyfish you can snorkel among.
How a typical liveaboard itinerary runs.
Leave Sorong or the Dampier Strait overnight and wake among the karst islets of southeast Misool.
Dive the walls and swim-throughs, where giant sea fans and soft corals light up in the torch beam.
Drift around current-swept pinnacles with reef sharks, schools of fusiliers and, with luck, mantas.
Take the dinghy along the cliffs to see the ochre handprints and paintings, then explore the lagoons.
Climb over a rocky rim into a marine lake and snorkel slowly among the stingless jellyfish.
Most visitors come on a liveaboard from Sorong. There are also a few resorts and homestays in the south, reached by boat transfer, and occasional public ferries to Misool's villages.
The Raja Ampat marine park tag covers the whole area; the reserve may have its own conservation fee, usually handled by your boat or resort.
No fishing, no collecting shells, and no touching. Follow the rangers' and guides' rules on every site.
Raja Ampat practical notes →
