The site can be found by looking for 3 very small islands sticking out from the ocean by Palau Keruwo, in the southeast of the Penemu chain, just west of the Dampier Strait.
If you have done any research into Raja Ampat dive sites, then you have probably heard of Melissa’s Garden. This dive site gets its name from the daughter of Raja Ampat diving pioneer Max Amer. The site can be found by looking for 3 very small islands sticking out from the ocean by Palau Keruwo, in the southeast of the Penemu chain, just west of the Dampier Strait.
One of the most beautiful dive sites we have ever seen, with a spectacular coral garden formed in the shape of an oval between the three islands.
With a maximum depth of 25 meters, other than the coral garden this site also has some great sloping reef edges that run down to a nice white sandy bottom. Whether you are exploring the coral garden or the slopes, this entire site is teeming with coral and fish life.
The spaces between the hard corals in the plateau coral garden become a labyrinth for small fish to hide in, so keep your eyes peeled at all times for anything that could be hiding around this site.
As for the marine life you can find on this site the list is very extensive. In the past here we have seen mushroom coral pipefish, pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, ghost pipefish, anemone fish, barracuda, angelfish, pinjalo snapper, lionfish, surgeon fish, parrot fish crocodile fish, ribbon eels, fusiliers, anthias, wobbegong sharks, damsels, giant clams, blacktip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, rabbitfish… and if all of that was not enough for you, occasionally we even see a passing manta here.
Current can be highly variable on this site, but generally we will try and drop into the site on the south side of the largest island and descend straight down along the sloping reef to the sandy bottom. At this location the sloping reef kind of creates an underwater bay, perfect for getting away from any current.
When we hit the sandy bottom there is a nice little patch of garden eels to check out before we start to swim along the sloping reef, keeping it on our left-hand side. There is plenty of beautiful reef to check out as we navigate around the oval shaped site.
We will want to spend about half of the time doing this, slowly raising our profile up to 20 meters then to 15 meters.
We want to save a good portion of our dive to check out the shallower coral garden between 10 and 5 meters though as this is the real highlight of the site. Staghorn coral, cabbage coral and plate coral dominate the area and form an amazing landscape. This is also perfect for the dives end as the shallowest part at 5m can be used to do your safety stop.
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Topography: Coral Garden Plateau with Fringing Sloping Reef.
Max Depth: 25 meters.
Typical Current: Medium Plus
Best For: Raja Ampat’s Most Impressive Coral Garden.
Snorkeller friendly.
9 Days 8 Nights
Dive in Melissa’s Garden with our 9 Days 8 Nights itinerary to the South of Raja Ampat.
12 Days 11 Nights
Dive in Melissa’s Garden with our 12 Days 11 Nights itinerary to North, Central & South of Raja Ampat.
7 Days 6 Nights
Dive in Melissa’s Garden with our 7 Days 6 Nights itinerary to the Central of Raja Ampat.
8 Days 7 Nights
Dive in Melissa’s Garden with our 8 Days 7 Nights itinerary to North, Central & South of Raja Ampat.
9 Days 8 Nights
Dive in Melissa’s Garden with our 9 Days 8 Nights itinerary, an extended itinerary to the North of Raja Ampat
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