2012 City Seahorse
Raja Ampat Value Added Charters
- Photo / Video / Dive -
 Oct. 19 - Nov. 02, 2012, 14 days & nights, $5335
Also LIMITED SPACE available for:
Nov. 05 - Nov. 19, 2012, 14 days & nights, $5335
+ Ambon Muck Diving Extension (see right column below).
In 2011 the 14 day trip was most popular. I've scheduled only two for 2012.
cityseahorsetours@gmail.com
Visit www.cityseahorse.com/raja-ampat-diving/ 
On our 2011 trips, many people were interested in critters, so we spent more time at critter sites. On these sites we typically offer "open deck" diving, which means you can dive any time you like, as much as you like!
We saw so much that I need to look at my video to remember it all.
Some highlights from 2011 trips.
See underwater photos and Topslide photo gallery on Facebook.
- Some of the best night dives in all my years of diving! We found a site that was really HOT! Absolutely full of critters, especially at night. We saw many pairs of ghost pipefish, Spanish Dancers with 2 species of shrimp, feeding Melibe Nudibranch, hundreds of decorator crabs - many kinds, multiple species of octopus & cuttlefish. The site was sprinkled with many colorful nudibranchs, commensual shrimp in anemones & crinods, Elegant Squat Lobsters, sea snakes, mantis shrimp... the list is unending.
- Blue Ring Octopus. We kept finding them, day and night, at different sites.
- Ghost Pipefish. Many pairs of ghost pipefish (ornate, roughsnout, Halimeda, robust, velvet within a small area). See Ghost Pipefish Crash Course below.
- Active cuttlefish & squids at many sites - mating, placing eggs in the reef. I think everyone got good shots!
 - Pair of Harlequin Shrimp - dragging a starfish into their hole. We were able to visit this site two different days.
- Chocolate Mint frogfish. Green and brown frogfish were seen jogging across the shallows at night.
- Manta Ray cleaning station
- Turtle and batfishes eating small jellyfish.
- Clouds of silversides and hunting jacks.
- Walking sharks - the Raja Ampat Epaulette sharks were out in abundance.
- Bats at full moon. Early risers came up to a a steady stream of fruit bats crossing in front of a big full moon in a starry sky - on their way back to their roost for the day. Only missing the witch on a broomstick!
Whereever you go in Raja Ampat the topside scenery is outstanding.
There are rock island lagoons where you need a guide or would be lost!; white sand beaches with the most powdery white sand you'll every see and no people!; jungly rainforests full of exotic birds and marsupials; and picturesque tiny islands surrounded by turquoise lagoons.
Sunrises and sunsets can be amazing... and you should experience the stars at night! We sit on the top deck of our liveaboard underneath skies blazing from horizon to horizon with stars. Also an amazing surface ending to a night dive!
Waters are unbelievably warm (28-30C / 82-86F) and calm, often with seas mirroring the blue sky and fluffy clouds, making your diving and cruising days very comfortable.
 The highlight of Raja Ampat's diving is variety.
Reefs, muck dives, walls, pinnacles, piers & jetties, narrow shallow channels, walls.... You can expect to see everything from gorgeous reefs spilling over with colorful corals and small reef fishes to black sand slopes and their odd denizens such as the Mimic Octopus, Pygmy Cuttlefish, Ornate Ghost Pipefishes, Solar Powered Nudibranchs and snake eels.
Some dives are fish soup with mind boggling scenes containing many species of schooling and solitary fishes as well as giant clams and Tasselled Wobbegong Sharks (carpet sharks).
Other dives are full of tiny creatures such as pygmy seahorses (multiple varieties), nudibranchs, pipefishes, lionfishes, shrimps, juvenile fish, shells (such as the allied cowrie that lives on soft corals), tiny gobies and blennies.
On every City Seahorse charter I emphasize flexibility and diving with as few limitations as can be managed safely. We will try for 4+ dives/day. Unlimited diving time. Staying at the good sites for photography, video and adventure.
Guests participate in the selection of itinerary and dive sites. Open deck days are our guests' favorites, allowing divers to dive when they want.
Contact Deb to reserve your space for 2012 now.
cityseahorsetours@gmail.com
Visit www.cityseahorse.com/raja-ampat-diving/
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Ghost Pipefish ID - Crash Course
I've been very lazy. Rather than get up and fetch an ID book, I Googled "ghost pipefish ID" and found Dr. Richard Smith's great little article about ghost pipefish.
Written for Asian Diver magazine (issue 104), Richard has uploaded a portion of his Species Crash Course - Ghost Pipefish online to his website.
Check out Richard's Ghose Pipefish Crash Course
Richard is a marine biologist and underwater photograher. The article is simple and illustrated with Richard's photos and drawings.
A Note from DebF
Our value added charters offer excellent trips with personal services at prices that are a great value.
For 2012 I've organized full charters for groups in Europe at very nice prices.
Dates for full charters should be booked a minimum of 6-12 months in advance. Be sure to contact me if you have a group of 12-16 and would like a private charter organized for your club or group of dive buddies. All you need to do is round up the divers, I will arrange flights in Indonesia, any hotels or add-on trips for you.
I also offer individual dive trips anytime of the year with only the ships, resorts and dive operators I trust to give you a great holiday. I'd rather lose business than sell anyone a trip during the wrong season or to a place I would not love myself!
Read comments from our guests at
www.cityseahorse.com/raja-ampat-reviews
Best Wishes for Fishes,
Deb Fugitt,
Owner, City Seahorse, Inc.
cityseahorsetours@gmail.com
www.cityseahorse.com/raja-ampat-diving
Telephone: 1-817-626-0636
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