Cape Kri
Dampier Strait, Waigeo · 5-30 m · often 10-20 m · Oct-Apr common
The 2001 Allen fish-count site. A point with current, a wall, and more species than a brief can list. Not a first checkout if the strait is running.
These are famous, mapped sites. Current and monsoon change; boats publish the day. Depths are typical published bands, not a live plan.
Arborek jetty or Melissa's Garden is the correct first Raja water.
Points
Melissa's Garden
Fam Islands · 2-20 m · often 10-20 m · year-round, weather
A soft-coral garden on a shallow plateau, also dived on scuba. Knees are the hazard. One of the kinder famous names.
Manta Sandy
near Arborek · 5-15 m · often 10-20 m · seasonal cleaning
A sandy cleaning station with distance rules for snorkel and scuba. No chase, no blocking. Closures and time limits appear.
Blue Magic
Dampier Strait · 12-30 m+ · often 15-25 m · current windows
A current-swept seamount / pinnacle with a pelagic reputation. SMB, brief, and the right to skip it.
Sardine Reef
Dampier Strait · 5-25 m · often 10-20 m · current days
A rounded reef in current, famous for fish density. A Dampier classic beside Cape Kri.
The Passage (Fam)
Fam Islands · 5-20 m · often 8-15 m · tide windows
A channel through karst, dived and snorkelled on tide. Scenery is the point; current is the condition.
Arborek Jetty
Arborek village · 1-8 m · often 8-15 m · year-round
A village jetty that became a night-and-day fish nursery icon. Homestay culture; manners toward the village matter.
Misool / Fiabacet area
South Raja Ampat · 5-30 m · often 15-25 m · seasonal liveaboards
A remoter southern product: walls, caves, and a conservation-area story. Not a Dampier day-boat.
Tips
- PIN before the first giant stride — The park is the product.
- Garden or jetty first — Cape Kri and Blue Magic wait.
- Ask the manta rules that week — They tighten.
- Misool is a second map — Do not squeeze it into a Dampier slogan.
Raja Ampat is a strait, a garden, a jetty and a southern afterthought that is really a second province.