Misool Eco Resort

Raja Ampat translates as “Four Kings” — a reference to the four main islands of an archipelago in West Papua that sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global centre of marine biodiversity. The numbers are staggering: over 1,500 species of fish, 700 species of molluscs, and 600 species of coral — more than the entire Caribbean — compressed into the waters around this island chain. Marine biologists who have spent careers studying reef systems describe Raja Ampat’s dive sites as unlike anything else they have encountered.

Misool operates 4 hours south of Sorong (the regional gateway) in a remote sector of the archipelago that most liveaboard dive boats never reach. The 18 overwater bungalows sit above a lagoon of extraordinary clarity — the water is so clear that coral gardens are visible 8 metres below the bungalow steps without entering the water. The bungalow design is simple: dark timber, mosquito nets, a private deck over the water, and very little else. Attention is not wasted on room interiors when the primary experience is everything outside them.

The resort’s 1,220-square-kilometre no-take marine reserve has been the subject of scientific study. A 2022 publication in Frontiers in Marine Science documented the recovery of coral and fish populations within the reserve boundary compared to surrounding areas — including species and population densities that had been lost from the broader region. The resort employs rangers to patrol the reserve against illegal fishing boats; guests fund this directly through their stay fees.

Above water, the karst limestone towers of Raja Ampat — rising hundreds of metres from the sea in characteristic mushroom shapes — are navigable by kayak through sea caves and mangrove channels. Birdwatchers come for the endemic Red and Wilson’s Birds-of-Paradise, accessible by early morning guided hike to nearby islands. Access is by liveaboard transfer from Sorong, which is reached by direct flight from Makassar, Manado, or Jakarta.