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Thursday, September 5, 2019

Reef Fish of Raja Ampat islands

Raja Ampat is a great destination for visitors who like marine life. Its coral reef is home to hundreds of beautiful fish such as anemonefish, moorish idol, striped surgeonfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, lionfish, and tasselled wobbegong. Sometimes bigger fish such as humphead wrasse and manta can be seen passing by the coral reef.
Global warming and marine polution has triggered massive coral bleaching in various coral reef sites in Great Barrier Reef and Okinawa. Fortunately, Raja Ampat reefs are still in very good condition. It is still the richest marine environment in the world.
Striped surgeonfish and convict surgeonfish
Striped and Convict Surgeonfish

When I guide tourists on a snorkeling tour in Raja Ampat, I always try to take pictures of the fish and other marine creatures that I see. Back at home when I am not busy, I create sketches of these sea animals. I mostly draw them using pencil on paper and added colors using my Derwent watercolour pencils. After that I redraw them digitally using a stylus on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A. I choose Autodesk sketchbook as drawing app. The artworks are later uploaded into my nature art shop in Redbubble. Anyone can see and order the artworks at this link: Reef Fish Art
Moorish idol
Moorish Idol

Snorkeling Vacation in Raja Ampat
I offer snorkeling tours for anyone who is interested in taking a vacation in Raja Ampat. The duration of the tour can be as short as 3 days to as long as 1 or 2 weeks. During the tour, we could enjoy snorkeling at Warduwer beach, Mioskon, Friwen, Kabui bay, and even Piaynemo islands.
Tour participants need to bring snorkeling mask, snorkel pipe, and swim fins (flippers). Underwater world of Raja Ampat is very beautiful so, I highly suggest that participants bring camera such as the Nikon W300, or GoPro. After snorkeling, we can try to identify the fish that we photograph. Snorkeling participants who are interested in art can also make drawings of the fish and color them using watercolours.
Clown Anemonefish
Anemonefish

Additional Activities
In addition to snorkeling, I can organize hiking tour to the forest for tour participants to watch paradise birds and other tropical birds of Raja Ampat such as Red Bird of Paradise, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Blyth's Hornbill, Yellow-faced Myna, Hooded Butcherbird, Eclectus Parrot and Palm Cockatoo, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, and etc. Tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling need to bring binoculars for the purpose.
Cost
I cannot give the price of the tour because it will depend on the number of participants and the duration of the tour. In general the cost is 5,000,000 rupiahs per person for 3 days/ 2 nights for accommodation, food, and transportation between Sorong airport and the guesthouse in Raja Ampat.
The cost does not include airfare,  charterred boat tour for snorkeling trips to remote islands in Raja Ampat.
Booking
If you are interested, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by sending text message to my cell phone: +6281332245180. Sending text by whatsapp to that number is also possible.
Also read: Snorkeling at Raflow Resort of Raja Ampat

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