Raja Ampat from Kri Island - May/June 2006


After our trip around on the liveaboard Shakti, we stayed on Kri for a few days to relax but accidently fitted in another 19 dives. Cape Kri is the epicentre of Raja Ampat diving and also swept by some of the strongest currents in the area. Within 2 days we had been caught up in a vicious down current at the end of a dive which kept us on our toes for the rest of our time there... which was free of any repeat.

The diving menu was rich in Mantas and the expert guides knew where all the local seahorse lived. The simple life on Kri was stress free and civilised enough for us with plenty of diving, good food and new friends.

Many thanks for a great stay to Rob, Otto, Nikson and all the staff and Max for treating us to the luxury of Sorido and its desserts!! :-)

Just click on the first picture and then step through the whole album

An exhibitionist Porcelain crab feeding on an anemone where it can't hide
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Weirdest slug of the trip... he's heading to the right
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Behind you!
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I had to include a proper shark, but it didn't hang around and pose
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The perfect batfish... i.e. one which wasn't biting my feet
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The dense mangrove forest on Batanta
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The objective of our waterfall walk on Batanta
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Who spotted these Seahorses in the first place? they must have been doing something awful...
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A normal Bargibanti pygmy seahorse, this one has eaten all the pies
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An expectant shrimp, full of Barbie pink eggs
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Snorkling under the jetty on Kri is well worthwhile, but best done at slack.
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Just around the the corner from here there's the air conditioned luxury of Sorido... and enough sockets for all our battery chargers! We stayed at the 'Eco' end of Kri. The beach was made even more attractive by the deadly cone snails hunting in the shallows...
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We had mega Mantas at Kri
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Gasp!
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Phew!
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  How can it see where it's going with its skirt over its head?
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This is the best picture I got of a Pontohi seahorse, one of the 5 kinds in the area. This is a much better view than I got on the dive, they are just far too small!
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An ultra vivid flabelline slug, they just don't look real
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If I had found the perfect disguise I'd wear it not wave it above my head
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A bamboo shark, out hunting at night
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Safety in numbers? You're bound to attract attention if you wear your pajamas all day
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A pair of large bumphead parrots, part of a group of about 30 who browsed around us
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The batfish family patrolling the reef
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Jacks proved a real challenge to photograph but not to catch... they were ready for dinner most nights
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The worst thing about pygmy seahorses is that they almost always look away
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Dawn herds the morning fish migration
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This titanic struggle could go on for some time...
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..well nearly always
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A yellow Bargibanti seahorse looking really cross
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  This slug was eye catching without and extra illumination
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We had wobbegongs on every dive, although they rarely make a good picture ;-(
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These Chromodoris Coi slugs are my favourite, because they taste of caramel
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A robust ghost pipefish, very nonchalant because obviously I can't see him :-)
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Just a dusting of glitter for this party slug
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These showy red slugs just appear dark, dull brown without extra light.
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This spider was actually on the resort staff, he kept the toilets clear of insects and nervous guests
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A Swallow tail slug
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Lunch was often waiting beneath the walkways on Kri
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The house next door, quite a cool neighbourhood
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The second obligatory Christmas tree worm
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The crabs did scuttle up the legs of our bedroom... but they didn't try to eat our stuff
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With only 7 guests crowding wasn't a problem whilst we were there
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The Kri acade had only one game, this primative surfing simulator... hang some etc!
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Keep repeating... spiders are our friends, and don't let it smell your fear...
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A bubble coral shrimp
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The first obligatory Christmas tree worm
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A nice but fairly standard cuttlefish
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There's a crab with see through legs down there
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The undercut limestone rocks of Raja Ampat are its signature surface feature
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This slug is off for a rest after laying eggs
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Are you stalking me?
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A beatifully elegant leaf like slug from our trip to 'the passage'
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Cuttlefish on the other hand are always ready to do something to impress
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This Two eyed Goby is fooling no one, except his friends
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Words can not fully describe the aroma experienced whilst standing on top of a mountain of fruit bat crap... this one looks like he needs a breath of fresh air too
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This mantis shrimp looks drunk but might just be looking around for his glasses
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This little fish decided I was good cover and started hunting in my shadow
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This looks like a banded sea snake but the dots show it's a snake eel, feeding under our bedroom
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Flares are in for Mantas this year
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When you see a group of bumpheads tear a reef to pieces you realise that a certain ammount of wear and tear on corals is par for the course :-(
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A Fisher Price teething slug... I don't even know which end is which, but thats fine since I'm not going to kiss it
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Dog tooth tuna look evil, this one more than usual - he's been offered a part in Hellraiser.
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At least the Barracuda look cool... these are just little ones
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They cruise the blue waiting for bait fish to look the other way
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These mean looking Giant Trevally have the deadest eyes... well apart from a few divers I know ;-)
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Rob Spray.