Batanta island is the smallest of the four islands which make up Raja Ampat (Four Kings) and has different diving to the current fuelled, adrenaline driven coral sites of the Dampier Straits around Mansouer and Kri. Here it's small critter diving. For us that also means simple, no current, dive off the boat knowing you'll be able to swim back to where you started.
By accidental luck where we chose to anchor, close to a small island is one of the best spots in the locality. A simple slope covered with hard and soft corals yielded a nurse shark sleeping in a bommie with a super size lobster as company. If you're a tasty lobster it makes good sense to choose a shark as your room mate. Plus this is still a no take area.
I was happy to find some beautiful nudibranchs and flatworms, see a pair of good size cuttlefish swim past who seemed oblivious to our presence and some marvellous coloured clown fish on their host anemones. We dived this site four times and found something new each time. What we didn't do and should have was a dusk dive when the colourful Mandarin fish come out to dance.
Anchoring >30m to avoid coral
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