I spent a fantastic week aboard ILIKE. From the first morning when I stepped out onto the deck, I knew this was going to be a trip that would stay in my memory for a long time. The air was warm, the sea was crystal clear and the feeling of being in Raja Ampat was amazing. Perhaps the world's most legendary diving destination is hard to describe without overusing words like magical, surreal or perfect. But it was exactly that; Perfect! Magical! and Unreal!
We were a small group of Swedes and Norwegians, sixteen people who quickly became a tight-knit group. There was something beautiful in the simplicity of the routine: wake up early, coffee in hand, listen to the briefing and then head out in the Rib towards yet another reef that looked and felt like it was taken from some underwater dream.
Misool
Misool was like diving straight into an explosion of colors. I knew the soft corals were something special there, but seeing them in real life was something else entirely. It was like swimming in an aquarium, where every wall was smocked with marine life. The days flowed together in the best way. Andiamo, Boo Window, Eagle's Nest… just the names gave me a tingle in my stomach. On some dives there were reef tops that opened up into millions of fish, on others there were very small ones, pygmy seahorses, nudists in every imaginable color. It didn't matter where we dived, every place had something new to offer and lots to discover.
Melissa's Garden
And then came the day we reached Penemu. I had been longing to return to Melissa's Garden, one of my absolute favorite places ever. It's hard to explain why that particular reef is so special, but there's something about the harmony there. The way the colors blend together, the way the anthias dance like a living cloud, the way the whole place feels like the heart of Raja Ampat.
Dampier Strait
The last few days took us to Dampier Strait, and there was action: manta rays sweeping over us on Manta Ridge, schools of barracuda moving like silver arrows, and that slightly chaotic feeling when the current takes hold of everything and you just have to go with it and smile. Which I did the whole time. It was also here that I felt that gratitude you only feel on certain trips, when everything falls into place. Right place, right time, right people.
To live on board DISLIKE was as much a part of the experience as the diving itself. There were evenings on deck, laughter around the dinner table, shared glances after particularly memorable dives. That feeling that right now, right here, life is very good.
When we finally sailed back towards Sorong, my body felt tired of that soft, salty way. A week in Raja Ampat can change something in you. For me, it did it again.
